| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2023 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Ceramic Materials for Nuclear Energy Research and Applications
|
| Presentation Title |
Cluster Dynamics Modeling of Defects and Fission Gas in Gd Doped UO2 under Irradiation |
| Author(s) |
Vancho Kocevski, Michael W. D. Cooper, David A. R. Andersson |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Michael W. D. Cooper |
| Abstract Scope |
Uranium dioxide (UO2) is the primary nuclear fuel in LWRs, and its excess reactivity can be controlled by adding burnable absorbers, such as Gd2O3 forming UO2/Gd2O3 system. These burnable absorbers have large neutron absorption cross-section lowering the high reactivity of reactors initial fuel load. However, there is limited understanding of how added Gd2O3 influences the properties of UO2 during burnup. To understand the behavior of defects and fission gas in UO2/Gd2O3 system during burnup, we use cluster dynamics modeling supported by density functional theory calculations. First, the formation energies of two Gd point defects and 13 bound defects were calculated. The temperature-dependent defect concentrations were evaluated using the defect formation energies and the entropies obtained using UO2-Gd pair potential. Subsequently, the defect energies and entropies were introduced in the cluster dynamics code CENTIPEDE for modeling the influence of Gd on the defects and fission gas behavior in UO2/Gd2O3 during burnup. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Nuclear Materials, Modeling and Simulation, Ceramics |