Engineering topics
Williamson, R. L.
Publications and source records attributed to Williamson, R. L..
BISON Validation for LOCA and PCMI Behaviour Using Measurements From the Halden Reactor Project
BISON is a finite element-based nuclear fuel performance code that has been under development at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) since 2009. The code is applicable to both steady and transient fuel behavior and has been used to analyze a variety of fuel forms in 1D spherical, 1.5D and 2D axisymmetric, or 3D geometries. Efforts are underway to validate BISON for application to Light Water Reactor fuels using, to a large extent, experimental data from the Halden Reactor Project. Recent validation activities have included both Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA) and Pellet Clad Mechanical Interaction (PCMI) experiments. Two such validation cases, the IFA-650.10 LOCA test and the IFA-629.4 power ramp test (PCMI), are summarized in this paper.
Development of a RIA Experimental Benchmark for BISON
This milestone report documents FY-17 efforts for the Reactivity Initiated Accident (RIA) Challenge Problem to demonstrate PWR RIA Fuel Performance capability. The challenge problem implementation plan identified a series of experimental comparisons to validate RIA capability in BISON. The specific cases chosen for FY-17 are CABRI REP Na-2, 3, 5, and 10. Work was also performed on the Nuclear Safety Research Reactor (NSRR) FK-1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 cases.
BISON FY17 Accident Capability Development
The CASL-funded development work accomplished for milestone L2:FMC.P15.04 and described herein includes important new capabilities necessary for LOCA analysis, specifically: 1) an empirical model for axial fuel relocation as a consequence of cladding ballooning, and 2) energy deposition in Zircaloy cladding due to the highly exothermic steam oxidation reaction at high cladding temperatures. A separate chapter documents each of these new capabilities, with further documentation included in the BISON user documentation.
UFD Proof-of-Concept Demonstration
The BISON Spent Nuclear Fuel modeling capability has been demonstrated through simulations of the complete nuclear fuel lifecycle including in-reactor irradiation, spent fuel pool cooling, vacuum drying and finally dry cask storage. The importance of hydrogen in the cladding and the formation of hydrides at various stages of the fuel lifecycle have been a focus of the initial development work. In addition, the integration in BISON of a hydride damage model has improved the prediction of the cladding mechanical behavior. The work described in this report was performed under funding from the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program. This report is issued in satisfaction of the level 2 milestone M2MS-17IN0201012 on UFD Proof-of-Concept Demonstration for the INL Engineering-Scale Fuel Performance (BISON) Workpackage.