Assessment of INSPYRE-extended fuel performance codes against the SUPERFACT-1 fast reactor irradiation experiment

Design and safety assessment of fuel pins for application in innovative Generation IV fast reactors calls for a dedicated nuclear fuel modelling and for the extension of the fuel performance code capabilities to the envisaged materials and irradiation conditions. In the INSPYRE Project, comprehensive and physicsbased models for the thermal-mechanical properties of UePu mixed-oxide (MOX) fuels and for fission gas behaviour were developed and implemented in the European fuel performance codes GERMINAL, MACROS and TRANSURANUS. As a follow-up to the assessment of the reference code versions (“pre-INSPYRE”, NET 53 (2021) 3367e3378), this work presents the integral validation and benchmark of the code versions extended in INSPYRE (“post-INSPYRE”) against two pins from the SUPERFACT-1 fast reactor irradiation experiment. The post-INSPYRE simulation results are compared to the available integral and local data from post-irradiation examinations, and benchmarked on the evolution during irradiation of quantities of engineering interest (e.g., fuel central temperature, fission gas release). The comparison with the pre-INSPYRE results is reported to evaluate the impact of the novel models on the predicted pin performance. The outcome represents a step forward towards the description of fuel behaviour in fast reactor irradiation conditions, and allows the identification of the main remaining gaps.

LUZZI Lelio;  BARANI Tommaso;  BOER Brian;  DEL NEVO Alessandro;  LAINET Marc;  LEMEHOV Sergei;  MAGNI A.;  MARELLE Vincent;  MICHEL Bruno;  PIZZOCRI Davide;  SCHUBERT Arndt;  VAN UFFELEN Paul;  BERTOLUS Marjorie; 

2023-03-14

KOREAN NUCLEAR SOC

JRC126996

1738-5733 (online),   

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1738573322005198?via%3Dihub,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC126996,   

doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2022.10.038 (online),