Course 4 Nuclear Fuels for Light Water Reactors and Fast Reactors

2011 International School in Nuclear Engineering

Course 4
Nuclear Fuels for Light Water Reactors and Fast Reactors

Y. Guérin and D. Parrat

Doctorat course outline

I. Nuclear Fuels Fundamental

• a. Description of Nuclear Fuels
  • i. Introduction
  • ii. Main types of fuels
  • iii. Requirements, design, criteria
    
    
• b. Actinide Ceramics and Compounds
  • i. Actinide elements
  • ii. Phase diagrams of actinides oxides, carbide, and nitride - Oxygen potential
  • iii. Physical properties of actinide ceramics
    
    
• c. Fabrication of Nuclear Fuels
  • i. Powder metallurgy, sintering process
    

II. Fuel Element Thermal Performance and Temperature Effects

• a. Thermal conductivity, in reactor temperature profiles
• b. Fuel cracking, gap closure
• c. Thermal restructuring, pore migration, vapor transport
• d. Redistribution of fuel constituents (oxygen, actinide)
  

III. Nuclear Fuel Behavior under Irradiation

• a. Irradiation Effects in Fuel Materials
  • i. Irradiation damage: neutron, fission fragments
  • ii. Behavior of point defects
  • iii. Transmutation, high burnup structure
    
    
• b. Fuel chemistry – Effects of Fission Products
  • i. Elemental yield and chemical state of fission products
  • ii. Effects on the oxygen potential of the fuel
  • iii. Radial and axial migration of FP
  • iv. Fuel cladding chemical interaction
    
    
• c. Behavior of Fission Gases
  • i. Fission gas bubbles: nucleation, re-solution, growth, coalescence
  • ii. Migration mechanisms, intra-granular and inter-granular bubbles, bubbles interlinkage
  • iii. Gas release
  • iv. Solid and gaseous swelling
    

IV. Main limiting phenomena in the different yypes of fuel

• a. In LWR: inner pressure, pellet-cladding interaction
• b. In SFR: margin to fuel melting, fuel cladding chemical interaction, fuel cladding mechanical interaction
• c. In HTR: inner pressure, SiC corrosion, amoeba effect
  

V. Fuel Behavior during some off-normal conditions

• a. In LWR: RIA, LOCA
• b. In SFR: Control rod Withdrawal, Transient Overpower
• c. Run beyond cladding breach: oxide/water reaction, oxide/sodium reaction
  

VI. Modeling of Fuel Behavior

• a. Standard 1D Thermal-mechanical Fuel performances codes
• b. New trends in 2D and 3D mechanical modeling
• c. New approach in multi-scale modeling: ab-initio, dynamic molecular
  

VII. Fuel Challenges for the Future

• a. Innovative fuels and trends in LWR
• b. New designs and requirements for Fast Reactor fuel elements
• c. Recycling of minor actinides
• d. The high challenges of fuel elements for Gas Cooled Fast Reactors
  

VIII. Conclusion

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