• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.7
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• pp.2395-2407
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• 2022

The sodium-cooled fast reactor is among the innovative nuclear technologies selected in the framework of the development of Generation IV concepts, allowing the irradiation of uranium-plutonium mixed oxide fuels (MOX). A fundamental step for the safety assessment of MOX-fuelled pins for fast reactor applications is the evaluation, by means of fuel performance codes, of the integral thermal-mechanical behaviour under irradiation, involving the fission gas behaviour and release in the fuel-cladding gap. This work is dedicated to the performance analysis of an inner-core fuel pin representative of the ASTRID sodium-cooled concept design, selected as case study for the benchmark between the GERMINAL and TRANSURANUS fuel performance codes. The focus is on fission gas-related mechanisms and integral outcomes as predicted by means of the SCIANTIX module (allowing the physics-based treatment of inert gas behaviour and release) coupled to both fuel performance codes. The benchmark activity involves the application of both GERMINAL and TRANSURANUS in their "pre-INSPYRE" versions, i.e., adopting the state-of-the-art recommended correlations available in the codes, compared with the "post-INSPYRE" code results, obtained by implementing novel models for MOX fuel properties and phenomena (SCIANTIX included) developed in the framework of the INSPYRE H2020 Project. The SCIANTIX modelling includes the consideration of burst releases of the fission gas stored at the grain boundaries occurring during power transients of shutdown and start-up, whose effect on a fast reactor fuel concept is analysed. A clear need to further extend and validate the SCIANTIX module for application to fast reactor MOX emerges from this work; nevertheless, the GERMINAL-TRANSURANUS benchmark on the ASTRID case study highlights the achieved code capabilities for fast reactor conditions and paves the way towards the proper application of fuel performance codes to safety evaluations on Generation IV reactor concepts.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.509-522
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• 2011

FRAPCON-3.4a and FRAPTRAN 1.4 are the most recent versions of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) steady-state and transient fuel performance codes, respectively. These codes have been assessed against separate effects data and integral assessment data and have been determined to provide a best estimate calculation of fuel performance. Recent updates included in FRAPCON-3.4a include updated material properties models, models for new fuel and cladding types, cladding finite element analysis capability, and capability to perform uncertainty analyses and calculate upper tolerance limits for important outputs. Recent updates included in FRAPTRAN 1.4 include: material properties models that are consistent with FRAPCON-3.4a, cladding failure models that are applicable for loss-of coolant-accident and reactivity initiated accident modeling, and updated heat transfer models. This paper briefly describes these code updates and data assessments, highlighting the particularly important improvements and data assessments. This paper also discusses areas of improvements that will be addressed in upcoming code versions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.10
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• pp.3367-3378
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• 2021

The design phase and safety assessment of Generation IV liquid metal-cooled fast reactors calls for the improvement of fuel pin performance codes, in particular the enhancement of their predictive capabilities towards uranium-plutonium mixed oxide fuels and stainless-steel cladding under irradiation in fast reactor environments. To this end, the current capabilities of fuel performance codes must be critically assessed against experimental data from available irradiation experiments. This work is devoted to the assessment of three European fuel performance codes, namely GERMINAL, MACROS and TRANSURANUS, against the irradiation of two fuel pins selected from the SUPERFACT-1 experimental campaign. The pins are characterized by a low enrichment (~ 2 wt.%) of minor actinides (neptunium and americium) in the fuel, and by plutonium content and cladding material in line with design choices envisaged for liquid metal-cooled Generation IV reactor fuels. The predictions of the codes are compared to several experimental measurements, allowing the identification of the current code capabilities in predicting fuel restructuring, cladding deformation, redistribution of actinides and volatile fission products. The integral assessment against experimental data is complemented by a code-to-code benchmark focused on the evolution of quantities of engineering interest over time. The benchmark analysis points out the differences in the code predictions of fuel central temperature, fuel-cladding gap width, cladding outer radius, pin internal pressure and fission gas release and suggests potential modelling development paths towards an improved description of the fuel pin behaviour in fast reactor irradiation conditions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.884-894
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• 2023

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 physics-based models for the thermal-mechanical properties of U-Pu 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) 3367-3378), 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.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.562-571
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• 2021

In this work, we propose a new mechanistic model for the treatment of helium behaviour which includes the description of helium solubility in oxide fuel. The proposed model has been implemented in SCIANTIX and validated against annealing helium release experiments performed on small doped fuel samples. The overall agreement of the new model with the experimental data is satisfactory, and given the mechanistic formulation of the proposed model, it can be continuously and easily improved by directly including additional phenomena as related experimental data become available.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.11
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• pp.3983-3995
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• 2023

In fast reactors, restructuring of the fuel micro-structure driven by high temperature and high temperature gradient can cause the formation of columnar grains. The non-spheroidal shape and the non-uniform temperature field in such columnar grains implies that standard models for fission gas diffusion can not be applied. To tackle this issue, we present a reduced order model for the fission gas diffusion process which is applicable in different geometries and with non-uniform temperature fields, maintaining a computational requirement in line with its application in fuel performance codes. This innovative application of reduced order models as meso-scale tools within fuel performance codes represents a first-of-a-kind achievement that can be extended beyond fission gas behaviour.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2019

One of proposed Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) concept is fully ceramic micro-encapsulated fuel (FCMF). FCMF using uranium mononitride (UN) has better safety aspects than $UO_2$ pellet fuel although it might not have a better neutronic performance due to the presence of matrix and high neutron-induced interaction of $^{14}N$. Before implementing UN-FCMF technology in Small-PWR, further research must be taken place to make sure the proposed design of fuel assembly has inherent safety features and maintain the fuel performance. This study focusses on the neutronic analysis of UN-FCMF based fuel assembly using Serpent and SCALE codes. It is shown in the proposed fuel assembly design has inherent safety features with respect to the fuel temperature reactivity coefficient, void reactivity coefficient, and moderator temperature reactivity coefficient. It is noted that the use of FCMF leads to a lower ratio of burnup to $^{235}U$ enrichment ratio compared to the $UO_2/Zr$ fuel.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.39-52
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• 2009

Theory-based models and high performance simulations are briefly reviewed starting with atomistic methods, such as Electronic Structure calculations, Molecular Dynamics, and Monte Carlo, continuing with meso-scale methods, such as Dislocation Dynamics and Phase Field, and ending with continuum methods that include Finite Element and Finite Volume. Special attention is paid to relating thermo-mechanical and chemical properties of the fuel to reactor parameters. By inserting atomistic models of point defects into continuum thermo-chemical calculations, a model of oxygen diffusivity in $UO_{2+x}$ is developed and used to predict point defect concentrations, oxygen diffusivity, and fuel stoichiometry at various temperatures and oxygen pressures. The simulations of coupled heat transfer and species diffusion demonstrate that including the dependence of thermal conductivity and density on composition can lead to changes in the calculated centerline temperature and thermal expansion displacements that exceed 5%. A review of advanced nuclear fuel performance codes reveals that the many codes are too dedicated to specific fuel forms and make excessive use of empirical correlations in describing properties of materials. The paper ends with a review of international collaborations and a list of lessons learned that includes the importance of education in creating a large pool of experts to cover all necessary theoretical, experimental, and computational tasks.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.3071-3079
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• 2023

Helium production in the nuclear fuel matrix during irradiation plays a critical role in the design and performance of Gen-IV reactor fuel, as it represents a life-limiting factor for the operation of fuel pins. In this work, a surrogate model for the helium production rate in fast reactor MOX fuels is developed, targeting its inclusion in engineering tools such as fuel performance codes. This surrogate model is based on synthetic datasets obtained via the SCIANTIX burnup module. Such datasets are generated using Latin hypercube sampling to cover the range of input parameters (e.g., fuel initial composition, fission rate density, and irradiation time) and exploiting the low computation requirement of the burnup module itself. The surrogate model is verified against the SCIANTIX burnup module results for helium production with satisfactory performance.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.477-488
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• 2011

A formulation is proposed for modelling the process of intra-granular diffusion of fission gas during irradiation of $UO_2$ under both normal operating conditions and power transients. The concept represents a simple extension of the formulation of Speight, including an estimation of the contribution of bubble motion to fission gas diffusion. The resulting equation is formally identical to the diffusion equation adopted in most models that are based on the formulation of Speight, therefore retaining the advantages in terms of simplicity of the mathematical-numerical treatment and allowing application in integral fuel performance codes. The development of the new model proposed here relies on results obtained by means of molecular dynamics simulations as well as finite element computations. The formulation is proposed for incorporation in the TRANSURANUS fuel performance code.