Behavior of Defective Pressurized Water Reactor Fuel Rods during Power Ramp and Power-Cooling-Mismatch Conditions

Croucher, D.W.

doi:10.13182/nt80-a32555

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 7 publications

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“…The interaction of nuclear fuel with a water coolant is a critical factor in the development of new fuels for light water reactor (LWR) applications. Indeed, in the event of a cladding breach, the interaction of the fuel material with the water-based coolant is inevitable, and can potentially lead to a range of undesirable events, such as the dissolution of U in the coolant, physical pulverization, and “wash-out” of the fuel, and, in an extreme event, contamination of the primary loop with fuel material and fission products, and disruption to the cladding geometry that is ultimately responsible for retaining the thermal hydraulic performance of the core 1 , 2 . Therefore, in addition to assessing its performance under normal operating conditions, an evaluation of an LWR fuel candidate requires an investigation of its behavior in contact with pressurized water at temperatures and pressures typical of the primary loop 3 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Instability of U3Si2 in pressurized water media at elevated temperatures

Migdisov

Nisbet

et al. 2021

Commun Chem

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Following the Fukushima Daiichi accident, significant efforts from industry and the scientific community have been directed towards the development of alternative nuclear reactor fuels with enhanced accident tolerance. Among the proposed materials for such fuels is a uranium silicide compound (U3Si2), which has been selected for its enhanced thermal conductivity and high density of uranium compared to the reference commercial light water reactor (LWR) nuclear fuel, uranium oxide (UO2). To be a viable candidate LWR fuel, however, U3Si2 must also demonstrate that, in the event of this fuel coming in contact with aqueous media, it will not degrade rapidly. In this contribution, we report the results of experiments investigating the stability of U3Si2 in pressurized water at elevated temperatures and identify the mechanisms that control the interaction of U3Si2 under these conditions. Our data indicate that the stability of this material is primarily controlled by the formation of a layer of USiO4 (the mineral, coffinite) at the surface of U3Si2. The results also show that these layers are destabilized at T > 300 °C, leading to the complete decomposition of U3Si2 and its pulverization due to its full oxidation to UO2.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%