Thermal properties of irradiated UO2 and MOX fuels

The thermal conductivity of UO2 and MOX LWR fuels decreases as a result of reactor burn-up. In this chapter, the phenomena causing this degradation are presented and the effect of the most influent parameters is discussed. Information useful for the interpretation and comparison of in-pile or out-of-pile measurements is given, especially as a function of burn-up and for samples having different irradiation temperatures, in-pile histories and microstructures. The impact of the introduction of plutonium or additives (Gd, Cr) in standard UO2 is also addressed. The evolution of the thermal conductivity as a function of burn-up is non-linear and the numerous approaches and approximations that are used to obtain thermal conductivity correlations are summarised and compared.

STAICU Dragos; 

2012-04-19

Elsevier's Science Direct

JRC58590

978-0-08-056027-4,   

http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.cws_home/726301/description#description,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC58590,