• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권10호
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• pp.2402-2409
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• 2020

Analytical criteria for the onset of fuel fragmentation and Burst Fission Gas Release in fuel rods with ballooned claddings are formulated. On that basis, the GRSW-A model integrated with a fuel behaviour code is updated. After modification, the updated code is successfully applied to simulation of the Halden LOCA test IFA-650.12. Specifically, the calculation with Burst Fission Gas Release during the test resulted in prediction of cladding failure, whereas it could not be predicted at the test planning, before new models were implemented. A good agreement of the current model with experimental data for transient Fission Gas Release in the tests IFA-650.12 and IFA-650.14 is shown, as well.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제50권7호
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• pp.1190-1197
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• 2018

Analysis of the GRSW-A model coupled into the FALCON code is extended by simulation of central void formation in fuel pellets due to high-temperature fuel restructuring. The extended calculation is verified against published, well-known experimental data. Good agreement with the data for a central void diameter in pellets of the rod irradiated in an Experimental Breeder Reactor is shown. The new calculation methodology is employed in comparative analysis of modern BWR fuel behavior under assumed high-power operation. The initial fuel porosity is shown to have a major effect on the predicted central void diameter during the operation in question. Discernible effects of a central void on peak fuel temperature and Pellet-Cladding Mechanical Interaction (PCMI) during a simulated power ramp are shown. A mitigating effect on PCMI is largely attributed to the additional free volume in the pellets into which the fuel can creep due to internal compressive stresses during a power ramp.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권10호
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• pp.3801-3807
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• 2023

Outcomes of the project "Comprehensive Verification of the FALCON Code for Calculation of Nuclear Fuel Temperature" relating to calculation of fuel temperature during relatively fast thermal transients are presented. Good prediction capabilities of the FALCON MOD01 code coupled with the GRSW-A code are shown as applied to the data of the TF3 and TF5 tests from the Transient Temperature Experiment IFA-507. The IFA-507 related dataset of the OECD/NEA International Fuel Performance Experiments (IFPE) Database is extended by the reconstructed dynamics of the axial power distribution in the rods during the transient phase of the experiment. Based on the code calculation, the time constant of the thermal fuel response to a power transient is estimated.