Determining the minimum required uranium carbide content for HTGR UCO fuel kernels

McMurray, Jacob W.; Lindemer, Terrence B.; Brown, Nicholas R.; Reif, Tyler J.; Morris, Robert N.; Hunn, John D.

doi:10.1016/j.anucene.2017.02.023

Title: Determining the minimum required uranium carbide content for HTGR UCO fuel kernels

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Abstract

There are three important failure mechanisms that must be controlled in high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) fuel for certain higher burnup applications are SiC layer rupture, SiC corrosion by CO, and coating compromise from kernel migration. All are related to high CO pressures stemming from free O generated when uranium present as UO₂ fissions and the O is not subsequently bound by other elements. Furthermore, in the HTGR UCO kernel design, CO buildup from excess O is controlled by the inclusion of additional uranium in the form of a carbide, UC_x. An approach for determining the minimum UC_x content to ensure negligible CO formation was developed and demonstrated using CALPHAD models and the Serpent 2 reactor physics and depletion analysis tool. Our results are intended to be more accurate than previous estimates by including more nuclear and chemical factors, in particular the effect of transmutation products on the oxygen distribution as the fuel kernel composition evolves with burnup.

Authors:

McMurray, Jacob W. ^[1]; Lindemer, Terrence B. ^[2]; Brown, Nicholas R. ^[3]; Reif, Tyler J. ^[4]; Morris, Robert N. ^[5]; Hunn, John D. ^[5]

Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Materials Science and Technology Division
MPi Business Solutions, Inc., Knoxville, TN (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Reactor and Nuclear Systems Division
X-Energy, LLC, Greenbelt, MD (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Fusion and Materials for Nuclear Systems Division

Publication Date:: Fri Mar 10 00:00:00 EST 2017

Research Org.:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Reactor Fleet and Advanced Reactor Development. Nuclear Reactor Technologies

OSTI Identifier:: 1360065

Alternate Identifier(s):: OSTI ID: 1415238

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Annals of Nuclear Energy (Oxford)

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Name: Annals of Nuclear Energy (Oxford); Journal Volume: 104; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0306-4549

Publisher:: Elsevier

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE

Citation Formats


                    McMurray, Jacob W., Lindemer, Terrence B., Brown, Nicholas R., Reif, Tyler J., Morris, Robert N., and Hunn, John D. Determining the minimum required uranium carbide content for HTGR UCO fuel kernels.  United States: N. p., 2017. 
Web.  doi:10.1016/j.anucene.2017.02.023.

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                    McMurray, Jacob W., Lindemer, Terrence B., Brown, Nicholas R., Reif, Tyler J., Morris, Robert N., & Hunn, John D. Determining the minimum required uranium carbide content for HTGR UCO fuel kernels.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2017.02.023

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                    McMurray, Jacob W., Lindemer, Terrence B., Brown, Nicholas R., Reif, Tyler J., Morris, Robert N., and Hunn, John D. Fri .  
"Determining the minimum required uranium carbide content for HTGR UCO fuel kernels".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2017.02.023.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1360065.

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@article{osti_1360065,

  title        = {Determining the minimum required uranium carbide content for HTGR UCO fuel kernels},

  author       = {McMurray, Jacob W. and Lindemer, Terrence B. and Brown, Nicholas R. and Reif, Tyler J. and Morris, Robert N. and Hunn, John D.},

  abstractNote = {There are three important failure mechanisms that must be controlled in high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) fuel for certain higher burnup applications are SiC layer rupture, SiC corrosion by CO, and coating compromise from kernel migration. All are related to high CO pressures stemming from free O generated when uranium present as UO2 fissions and the O is not subsequently bound by other elements. Furthermore, in the HTGR UCO kernel design, CO buildup from excess O is controlled by the inclusion of additional uranium in the form of a carbide, UCx. An approach for determining the minimum UCx content to ensure negligible CO formation was developed and demonstrated using CALPHAD models and the Serpent 2 reactor physics and depletion analysis tool. Our results are intended to be more accurate than previous estimates by including more nuclear and chemical factors, in particular the effect of transmutation products on the oxygen distribution as the fuel kernel composition evolves with burnup.},

  doi          = {10.1016/j.anucene.2017.02.023},

  journal      = {Annals of Nuclear Energy (Oxford)},

  number       = C,

  volume       = 104,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Fri Mar 10 00:00:00 EST 2017},

  month        = {Fri Mar 10 00:00:00 EST 2017}

}

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