| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2025 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Microstructural, Mechanical, and Chemical Behavior of Solid Nuclear Fuel and Fuel-Cladding Interface II
|
| Presentation Title |
Microstructurally Informed Modeling of High Burnup Structure in UO2 Fuel |
| Author(s) |
Walter Cade Brinkley, Nathan Capps, Brian Wirth |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Walter Cade Brinkley |
| Abstract Scope |
There is a push within the nuclear industry to extend burnup limits past the 62 GWd/tU current limit to improve fuel cycle economics. Fuel fragmentation, relocation, and dispersal (FFRD) and fission gas release (FGR) have been identified as behaviors important to the licensing process. These behaviors are interrelated to the production of high burnup structure (HBS), making a predictive model for HBS formation a key part of supporting burnup limit extensions. Radially resolved microstructural characteristics of high burnup fuel pellets and associated time-resolved power histories have been acquired. A method for creating physics-based empirical models from this data has been developed and used for pellet porosity, grain boundary character, and grain size predictions for use in finite element simulations. Additionally, microstructural characteristics of the examined pellets are correlated to a volumetric fraction of HBS, allowing for the prediction of a fuel restructured fraction important to FFRD or transient FGR models. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Nuclear Materials, Modeling and Simulation, |