Fuel relocation recovery implementation in Bison

Zahoor, Mudasar; Casagranda, Albert

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2018.09.041

Title: Fuel relocation recovery implementation in Bison

Abstract

During the initial rise to power in light water reactors (LWR), thermal gradients within a pellet cause radial and axial cracks to form in the fuel. The effect of these cracks is to reduce the pellet-cladding gap and accelerate the interaction between the fuel and cladding. This process is known as fuel relocation and may also include contributions from pellet eccentricity and cladding ovality. Since the cladding experiences both elevated temperatures and high external pressure due to the coolant, the cladding typically creeps inward further reducing the pellet-cladding gap. Once the gap is closed and pellet cladding mechanical interaction (PCMI) begins, both the thermal and mechanical behavior of the fuel is affected. The compressive forces exerted on the fuel due to contact with the cladding cause the fractured fuel sections to move back toward their original position which is termed relocation recovery. A model for this phenomenon is implemented in the BISON fuel performance code and applied to a set of validation test cases. In conclusion, the predicted fuel rod diameter is compared to experimental measurements to evaluate the influence of relocation recovery over a range of operating conditions.

Authors:

^[1];

^[1]

Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Publication Date:: 2018-09-25

Research Org.:: Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)

OSTI Identifier:: 1480510

Report Number(s):: INL/JOU-18-45000-Rev000
Journal ID: ISSN 0022-3115

Grant/Contract Number:: AC07-05ID14517

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Journal of Nuclear Materials

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 511; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0022-3115

Publisher:: Elsevier

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; 22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 42 ENGINEERING; 97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING; Fuel relocation; Fuel recovery; Cladding; Creep

Citation Formats


                    Zahoor, Mudasar, and Casagranda, Albert. Fuel relocation recovery implementation in Bison.  United States: N. p., 2018. 
Web.  doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2018.09.041.

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                    Zahoor, Mudasar, & Casagranda, Albert. Fuel relocation recovery implementation in Bison.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2018.09.041

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                    Zahoor, Mudasar, and Casagranda, Albert. Tue .  
"Fuel relocation recovery implementation in Bison".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2018.09.041.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1480510.

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@article{osti_1480510,

  title        = {Fuel relocation recovery implementation in Bison},

  author       = {Zahoor, Mudasar and Casagranda, Albert},

  abstractNote = {During the initial rise to power in light water reactors (LWR), thermal gradients within a pellet cause radial and axial cracks to form in the fuel. The effect of these cracks is to reduce the pellet-cladding gap and accelerate the interaction between the fuel and cladding. This process is known as fuel relocation and may also include contributions from pellet eccentricity and cladding ovality. Since the cladding experiences both elevated temperatures and high external pressure due to the coolant, the cladding typically creeps inward further reducing the pellet-cladding gap. Once the gap is closed and pellet cladding mechanical interaction (PCMI) begins, both the thermal and mechanical behavior of the fuel is affected. The compressive forces exerted on the fuel due to contact with the cladding cause the fractured fuel sections to move back toward their original position which is termed relocation recovery. A model for this phenomenon is implemented in the BISON fuel performance code and applied to a set of validation test cases. In conclusion, the predicted fuel rod diameter is compared to experimental measurements to evaluate the influence of relocation recovery over a range of operating conditions.},

  doi          = {10.1016/j.jnucmat.2018.09.041},

  journal      = {Journal of Nuclear Materials},

  number       = C,

  volume       = 511,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {2018},

  month        = {9}

}

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Figures / Tables:

Figure 1: An ideal Relocation-Recovery curve: segment ‘AB’ is the relocation phase, segment ‘BC’ is the recovery phase and segment ‘CD’ represents the completion of relocation recovery process. The dashed line through point ‘B’ represents the time of contact between pellet and cladding.

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