Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Assessment of INSPYRE-extended fuel performance codes against the SUPERFACT-1 fast reactor irradiation experiment

  • L. Luzzi (Politecnico di Milano, Department of Energy, Nuclear Engineering Division) ;
  • T. Barani (Politecnico di Milano, Department of Energy, Nuclear Engineering Division) ;
  • B. Boer (Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK.CEN) ;
  • A. Del Nevo (ENEA, FSN-ING-SIS, CR Brasimone) ;
  • M. Lainet (Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, CEA DEC/SESC) ;
  • S. Lemehov (Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK.CEN) ;
  • A. Magni (Politecnico di Milano, Department of Energy, Nuclear Engineering Division) ;
  • V. Marelle (Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, CEA DEC/SESC) ;
  • B. Michel (Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, CEA DEC/SESC) ;
  • D. Pizzocri (Politecnico di Milano, Department of Energy, Nuclear Engineering Division) ;
  • A. Schubert (European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Directorate for Nuclear Safety and Security) ;
  • P. Van Uffelen (European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Directorate for Nuclear Safety and Security) ;
  • M. Bertolus (Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, CEA DEC/SESC)
  • Received : 2022.07.29
  • Accepted : 2022.10.27
  • Published : 2023.03.25
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Abstract

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.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 through the INSPYRE project under grant agreement No 754329.

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