Uranium-zirconium hydride nuclear fuel performance in the NaK-cooled MARVEL microreactor

Evans, Jordan A.; Sweet, Ryan T.; Medvedev, Pavel G.; Wagner, Adrian R.; Parisi, Carlo; Lange, Travis L.; Perez, Emmanuel; Rice, Francine; Jue, Jan-Fong; Woolstenhulme, Eric; Keiser Jr., Dennis D.; Arafat, Yasir

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155145

Title: Uranium-zirconium hydride nuclear fuel performance in the NaK-cooled MARVEL microreactor

Journal Article · 03 May 2024 · Journal of Nuclear Materials

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155145 · OSTI ID:2349390

^[1];

^[1]; Medvedev, Pavel G. ^[1];

^[1]; Parisi, Carlo ^[1]; Lange, Travis L. ^[1];

^[2]; Rice, Francine ^[1]; Jue, Jan-Fong ^[1]; Woolstenhulme, Eric ^[1]; Keiser Jr., Dennis D. ^[1]; Arafat, Yasir ^[1]

Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Aiken, SC (United States)

The Microreactor Applications Research Validation and EvaLuation (MARVEL) Project is producing a high temperature NaK-cooled nuclear reactor test bed at the Idaho National Laboratory to ultimately improve integration of microreactors to end-user applications. This ambitious effort seeks to design, authorize, construct, test, and operate the reactor within five years. The computational software package chosen for high fidelity fuel performance modeling, BISON, has been upgraded to model the performance of the MARVEL reactor's selected fuel system: 304 stainless steel-clad U-ZrH_x. In this manuscript, we begin by describing the MARVEL fuel element. The known properties and relationships of the fuel element constituents are recapitulated from data available in the literature. These historical relationships assume a particular U-ZrH microstructure which previously was not well-understood; therefore, the fuel's microstructure is experimentally confirmed using electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. This information is then used to analyze the thermomechanical performance of the MARVEL fuel element during a hypothetical extreme accident scenario (a loss of flow accident during a loss of coolant pressure accident) using the nuclear fuel performance code BISON. The analysis shows that the primary phenomenon which could compromise the structural integrity of the MARVEL fuel element is the same as for TRIGA reactors: high temperature internal gas overpressurization-induced rupture of the cladding arising from excessive hoop stresses. Despite modeling the most severe MARVEL accident scenario, the highest anticipated temperature in the fuel, about 718 °C, results in hoop stresses of less than 10 MPa. Based on this analysis, a conservative steady state fuel meat temperature limit of 900 °C precludes cladding damage. The newly incorporated fuel performance simulation capabilities developed in this work may also be extended to model this fuel system under other conditions or reactors.

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

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC07-05ID14517

OSTI ID:: 2349390

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2382661

Report Number(s):: INL/JOU-23-75738-Rev000; TRN: US2500766

Journal Information:: Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 598; ISSN 0022-3115

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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