Rim effect on thermal conductivity in high-burnup UO{sub 2} fuel

Journal Article · Mon Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1997 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:552370

Lee, Byung-Ho; Koo, Yang-Hyun; Sohn, Dong-Seong ^[1]

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1. Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Tajeon (Korea, Republic of)

To extend fuel burnup, it is required to predict accurately the thermal and mechanical performance of high-burnup fuel. The in-reactor behavior of fuel is significantly affected by fuel temperature distribution, which is related to the change of fuel microstructure due to the irradiation. One of the most important changes in the microstructure of high-burnup fuel is the formation of a porous rim in the pellet periphery. The rim structure characterized by the subdivided grain and coarsened bubbles 2 affects the thermal behavior of a fuel rod by forming a thermal barrier. The primary objective is to describe the rim structure and provide a method to predict an accurate temperature distribution considering the rim effect.

• OSTI ID: 552370
• Report Number(s): CONF-971125--
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 77; ISSN TANSAO; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
BUBBLES
BURNUP
FUEL RODS
MICROSTRUCTURE
PERFORMANCE
TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
URANIUM DIOXIDE