Benefits of barrier fuel on fuel cycle economics

Conference · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1988 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA)

OSTI ID:5561524

Crowther, R L; Kunz, C L

Barrier fuel rod cladding was developed to eliminate fuel rod failures from pellet/cladding stress/corrosion interaction and to eliminate the associated need to restrict the rate at which fuel rod power can be increased. The performance of barrier cladding has been demonstrated through extensive testing and through production application to many boiling water reactors (BWRs). Power reactor data have shown that barrier fuel rod cladding has a significant beneficial effect on plant capacity factor and plant operating costs and significantly increases fuel reliability. Independent of the fuel reliability benefit, it is less obvious that barrier fuel has a beneficial effect of fuel cycle costs, since barrier cladding is more costly to fabricate. Evaluations, measurements, and development activities, however, have shown that the fuel cycle cost benefits of barrier fuel are large. This paper is a summary of development activities that have shown that application of barrier fuel significantly reduces BWR fuel cycle costs.

• OSTI ID: 5561524
• Report Number(s): CONF-880601-; CODEN: TANSA; TRN: 89-027761
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA), Vol. 56; Conference: American Nuclear Society annual meeting, San Diego, CA (USA), 12-16 Jun 1988; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
BWR TYPE REACTORS
FUEL MANAGEMENT
CORROSION
ECONOMICS
FABRICATION
FISSION PRODUCTS
FUEL CANS
FUEL CYCLE
FUEL ELEMENT FAILURE
FUEL-CLADDING INTERACTIONS
OPTIMIZATION
PERFORMANCE
RELIABILITY
STRESSES
ACCIDENTS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
ISOTOPES
MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
REACTORS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
210100* - Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Boiling Water Cooled