Engineering topics

Kazimi, M. S.

Publications and source records attributed to Kazimi, M. S..

7 records

DOE OSTI2012

Nuclear design of Helical Cruciform Fuel rods

In order to increase the power density of current and new light water reactor designs, the Helical Cruciform Fuel (HCF) rods are proposed. The HCF rods are equivalent to a cylindrical rod, with the fuel in a cruciform shaped, twisted axially. The HCF rods increase the surface area to volume ratio and inter-subchannel mixing behavior due to their cruciform and helical shapes, respectively. In a previous study, the HCF rods have shown the potential to up-rate existing PWRs by 50% and BWRs by 25%. However, HCF rods do display different neutronics modeling and performance. The cruciform cross section of HCF rods creates radially asymmetric heat generation and temperature distribution. The nominal HCF rod's beginning of life reactivity is reduced, compared to a cylindrical rod with the same fuel volume, by 500 pcm, due to increase in absorption in cladding. The rotation of these rods accounts for reactivity changes, which depends on the H/HM ratio of the pin cell. The HCF geometry shows large sensitivities to U{sup 235} or gadolinium enrichments compared to a cylindrical geometry. In addition, the gadolinium-containing HCF rods show a stronger effect on neighboring HCF rods than in case of cylindrical rods, depending on the orientation of the HCF rods. The helical geometry of the rods introduces axial shadowing of about 600 pcm, not seen in typical cylindrical rods. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2012

PWR cores with silicon carbide cladding

The feasibility of using silicon carbide rather than Zircaloy cladding, to reach higher power levels and higher discharge burnups in PWRs has been evaluated. A preliminary fuel design using fuel rods with the same dimensions as in the Westinghouse Robust Fuel Assembly but with fuel pellets having 10 vol% central void has been adopted to mitigate the higher fuel temperatures that occur due to the lower thermal conductivity of the silicon carbide and to the persistence of the open clad-pellet gap over most of the fuel life. With this modified fuel design, it is possible to achieve 18 month cycles that meet present-day operating constraints on peaking factor, boron concentration, reactivity coefficients and shutdown margin, while allowing batch average discharge burnups up to 80 MWD/kgU and peak rod burnups up to 100 MWD/kgU. Power uprates of 10% and possibly 20% also appear feasible. For non-uprated cores, the silicon carbide-clad fuel has a clear advantage that increases with increasing discharge burnup. Even for comparable discharge burnups, there is a savings in enriched uranium. Control rod configuration modifications may be required to meet the shutdown margin criterion for the 20% up-rate. Silicon carbide's ability to sustain higher burnups than Zircaloy also allows the design of a licensable two year cycle with only 96 fresh assemblies, avoiding the enriched uranium penalty incurred with use of larger batch sizes due to their excessive leakage. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2012

Assessment of different fuel design options with SiC cladding for light water reactors

It is very important to avoid high tensile stresses in SiC if it is to be used safely as the cladding material in LWRs. To achieve this goal, three fuel design options are examined here: fuel pellets with a 10% vol central void, adding 10% vol BeO in UO{sub 2} fuel and replacing the gas gap with Lead-Bismuth Eutectic (LBE) bond. For each case, a neutronic analysis is first applied using CASMO-4E to obtain the required enrichment to achieve a fuel average burnup of 50 MWd/kgU. The fuel performance code FRAPCON, specifically FRAPCON-3.3 and FRAPCON-EP, is modified and then used to simulate the effects of steady-state irradiation in each case for typical PWR peak rod conditions. Key parameters like fuel average temperature and plenum pressure are examined for the relative performance of each approach. The results show that all three options can improve the fuel performance by lowering the fuel temperature as well as the plenum pressure. Fuel pellets with a central void design offers the most advantages since the larger void volume in the fuel rod results in the lowest plenum pressure, which is the limiting condition for safe operation of the SiC cladding. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2012

Sensitivity analysis and optimization of the nuclear fuel cycle

A sensitivity study has been conducted to assess the robustness of the conclusions presented in the MIT Fuel Cycle Study. The Once Through Cycle (OTC) is considered as the base-line case, while advanced technologies with fuel recycling characterize the alternative fuel cycles. The options include limited recycling in LWRs and full recycling in fast reactors and in high conversion LWRs. Fast reactor technologies studied include both oxide and metal fueled reactors. The analysis allowed optimization of the fast reactor conversion ratio with respect to desired fuel cycle performance characteristics. The following parameters were found to significantly affect the performance of recycling technologies and their penetration over time: Capacity Factors of the fuel cycle facilities, Spent Fuel Cooling Time, Thermal Reprocessing Introduction Date, and in core and Out-of-core TRU Inventory Requirements for recycling technology. An optimization scheme of the nuclear fuel cycle is proposed. Optimization criteria and metrics of interest for different stakeholders in the fuel cycle (economics, waste management, environmental impact, etc.) are utilized for two different optimization techniques (linear and stochastic). Preliminary results covering single and multi-variable and single and multi-objective optimization demonstrate the viability of the optimization scheme. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2012

Oxidation of SiC cladding under Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) conditions in LWRs

An experimental assessment of Silicon Carbide (SiC) cladding oxidation rate in steam under conditions representative of Loss of Coolant Accidents (LOCA) in light water reactors (LWRs) was conducted. SiC oxidation tests were performed with monolithic alpha phase tubular samples in a vertical quartz tube at a steam temperature of 1140 deg. C and steam velocity range of 1 to 10 m/sec, at atmospheric pressure. Linear weight loss of SiC samples due to boundary layer controlled reaction of silica scale (SiO{sub 2} volatilization) was experimentally observed. The weight loss rate increased with increasing steam flow rate. Over the range of test conditions, SiC oxidation rates were shown to be about 3 orders of magnitude lower than the oxidation rates of zircaloy 4. A SiC volatilization correlation for developing laminar flow in a vertical channel is formulated. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2012

An improved model for pellet-clad interaction for FRAPCON

The widely used fuel performance code FRAPCON-3 currently makes use of the rigid pellet model for Pellet-Cladding Mechanical Interactions (PCMI). Due to the potential of PCMI to limit fuel lifetime at higher burnups, the FRAPCON Radial-Axial Soft Pellet (FRASP) model is being developed for implementation into an improved version of FRAPCON, the FRAPCON-EP for Enhanced Performance. FRASP solves for the radial, hoop, and axial components of stress and strain for the fuel and cladding, including both elastic and inelastic behavior, in a quasi-static approach. Under PCMI conditions, FRASP couples the axial and radial states of the fuel and cladding via interfacial pressure and friction. Unlike the hard pellet model employed in FRACAS-I, the mechanical model used by FRAPCON-3, FRASP does allow for the stress-induced deformation of the fuel pellet. It also accounts for the radial distribution of stress and strain components through the cladding thickness. FRASP has been implemented into FRAPCON-3 and preliminarily validated against FRAPCON-3.3 for one PWR case and one BWR case with good results. The predicted fuel and cladding strains only slightly different with the new model, generally reducing the dimensional changes of the fuel pellets. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2010

None

Not Specified

Kelly, J. E.↗