Modelling the in-reactor Performance of Gd-doped Fuels with the TRANSURANUS Code

In the paper we present an update of verification calculations for the TRANSURANUS fuel performance code. In the first part we briefly describe the most relevant submodels that have been adapted with emphasis on the radial power profile in Gd-doped fuels. In the second part, the code predictions are compared against experimental results of instrumented irradiations at the OECD Halden reactor. More precisely, the complete power histories of two UO2- Gd2O3 fuel rods irradiated in IFA 681 are simulated. A first analysis is also made for the UO2-Gd2O3 fuel rods of the irradiation experiment IFA 676 that is dedicated to fuel for WWER type reactors, and the behavior of the different sub-types of UO2-Gd2O3 fuel is compared to each other. We analyze the influence of the sub-models that are specific for the simulation of Gd-doped fuel covering a) the thermal conductivity, b) the radial power profile at low burn-up and c) an additional assumption for delayed fuel relocation.

SCHUBERT Arndt;  GYORI Csaba;  VAN DE LAAR Jacques;  VAN UFFELEN Paul; 

2010-07-27

OECD Halden Reactor Project

JRC55899

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC55899,