Enabling BWR fuel rod analysis in the BISON fuel performance code

Gamble, Kyle A.; Toptan, Aysenur; Simon, Pierre-Clément A.; van Wasshenova, Daniel J.; Hales, Jason D.

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2025.156038

Enabling BWR fuel rod analysis in the BISON fuel performance code

Journal Article · Tue Jul 22 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Journal of Nuclear Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2025.156038· OSTI ID:3012981

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Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Westinghouse Electric Company LLC, Cranberry Township, PA (United States)

Nuclear fuel vendors around the world are pursuing approaches to sustain the existing nuclear reactor fleet consisting primarily of pressurized-water reactors (PWRs) and boiling-water reactors (BWRs). To support the industry's efforts, advanced modeling and simulation tools need to be capable of analyzing both legacy reactor concepts. BWR fuel rods are significantly different than those used in PWRs, which can affect fuel performance analysis. BWR fuel rods include: (1) an extensive use of gadolinia dopant as a burnable absorber, (2) an axial variation in fuel enrichment and gadolinia content, (3) the inclusion of a liner on the inner cladding surface to mitigate the impact of pellet-clad mechanical interaction (which impacts hydrogen and hydride distribution), (4) a lower initial fill gas pressure, (5) bottom-entry control rods, and (6) a lower coolant pressure that results in the two-phase flow boiling phenomenon. Although the primary focus of BISON has been in the area of PWR and advanced reactor fuel analyses, this paper presents the developments in BISON to support BWR fuel performance analysis. An overview of the models that account for the effects of gadolinia is highlighted. Internal mesh generation capabilities to include a liner is presented. Normal operating and transient (reactivity insertion accident) demonstration problems are presented to illustrate the impact of gadolinia, the hydrogen and hydride evolution due to the presence of the liner, and BISON's ability to simulate axially varying enrichments and dopant concentration. Bottom-entry control effects are captured by the axial power peaking factors present in the demonstration cases. Comparisons to integral experiments from the Halden IFA-681 experiments are discussed as initial validation. Reasonable comparisons are obtained for fuel centerline temperature and rod internal pressure as a function of time. In conclusion, simulations of additional experiments containing Gd₂O₃-bearing fuel are necessary to completely validate the code for BWR applications.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC07-05ID14517

OSTI ID:: 3012981

Report Number(s):: INL/JOU--24-78114

Journal Information:: Journal of Nuclear Materials, Journal Name: Journal of Nuclear Materials Journal Issue: NA Vol. 616; ISSN 0022-3115

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Enabling BWR fuel rod analysis in the BISON fuel performance code

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