Investigation on the effect of eccentricity for fuel disc irradiation tests

A varying degree of eccentricity always exist in the initial configuration of a nuclear fuel rod. Its impact on traditional LWR fuel is limited as the radial gap closes relatively early during irradiation. However, the effect of misalignment is expected to be more relevant in rods with highly conductive fuels, large initial gaps and low conductivity filling gases. In this paper, we study similar characteristics in the experimental setup of two fuel disc irradiation campaigns carried out in the OECD Halden Boiling Water Reactor. Using the multi-dimensional fuel performance code OFFBEAT, we combine 2-D axisymmetric and 3-D simulations to investigate the effect of eccentricity on the fuel temperature distribution. At the same time, we illustrate how the advent of modern tools with multi-dimensional capabilities might further improve the design and interpretation of in-pile separate-effect tests and we outline the potential of such an analysis for upcoming experiments.

SCOLARO Alessandro;  VAN UFFELEN Paul;  FIORINA Carlo;  SCHUBERT Arndt;  CLIFFORD Ivor;  PAUTZ Andreas; 

2021-05-11

KOREAN NUCLEAR SOC

JRC120495

1738-5733 (online),   

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC120495,   

10.1016/j.net.2020.11.003 (online),