TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessment of INSPYRE-extended fuel performance codes against the SUPERFACT-1 fast reactor irradiation experiment
AU - Luzzi, Lelio
AU - Barani, Tommaso
AU - Boer, Brian
AU - Del Nevo, Alessandro
AU - Lainet, Marc
AU - Lemehov, Sergei
AU - Magni, Arianna
AU - Marelle, Vincent
AU - Michel, B.
AU - Pizzocri, Davide
AU - Schubert, Arndt
AU - Van Uffelen, Paul
AU - Bertolus, Marjorie
N1 - Score=10
Funding Information:
This work has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014–2018 through the INSPYRE project under grant agreement No 754329 .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Korean Nuclear Society
PY - 2023/3
Y1 - 2023/3
N2 - Design and safety assessment of fuel pins for application in innovative Generation IV fast reactors calls for a dedicated nuclear fuel modelling and for the extension of the fuel performance code capabilities to the envisaged materials and irradiation conditions. In the INSPYRE Project, comprehensive and physics-based models for the thermal-mechanical properties of U–Pu mixed-oxide (MOX) fuels and for fission gas behaviour were developed and implemented in the European fuel performance codes GERMINAL, MACROS and TRANSURANUS. As a follow-up to the assessment of the reference code versions (“pre-INSPYRE”, NET 53 (2021) 3367–3378), this work presents the integral validation and benchmark of the code versions extended in INSPYRE (“post-INSPYRE”) against two pins from the SUPERFACT-1 fast reactor irradiation experiment. The post-INSPYRE simulation results are compared to the available integral and local data from post-irradiation examinations, and benchmarked on the evolution during irradiation of quantities of engineering interest (e.g., fuel central temperature, fission gas release). The comparison with the pre-INSPYRE results is reported to evaluate the impact of the novel models on the predicted pin performance. The outcome represents a step forward towards the description of fuel behaviour in fast reactor irradiation conditions, and allows the identification of the main remaining gaps.
AB - Design and safety assessment of fuel pins for application in innovative Generation IV fast reactors calls for a dedicated nuclear fuel modelling and for the extension of the fuel performance code capabilities to the envisaged materials and irradiation conditions. In the INSPYRE Project, comprehensive and physics-based models for the thermal-mechanical properties of U–Pu mixed-oxide (MOX) fuels and for fission gas behaviour were developed and implemented in the European fuel performance codes GERMINAL, MACROS and TRANSURANUS. As a follow-up to the assessment of the reference code versions (“pre-INSPYRE”, NET 53 (2021) 3367–3378), this work presents the integral validation and benchmark of the code versions extended in INSPYRE (“post-INSPYRE”) against two pins from the SUPERFACT-1 fast reactor irradiation experiment. The post-INSPYRE simulation results are compared to the available integral and local data from post-irradiation examinations, and benchmarked on the evolution during irradiation of quantities of engineering interest (e.g., fuel central temperature, fission gas release). The comparison with the pre-INSPYRE results is reported to evaluate the impact of the novel models on the predicted pin performance. The outcome represents a step forward towards the description of fuel behaviour in fast reactor irradiation conditions, and allows the identification of the main remaining gaps.
KW - MOX fuel
KW - SUPERFACT-1 irradiation experiment
KW - Fuel performance codes
KW - GERMINAL
KW - MACROS
KW - TRANSURANUS
KW - Assessment and benchmark
U2 - 10.1016/j.net.2022.10.038
DO - 10.1016/j.net.2022.10.038
M3 - Article
SN - 1738-5733
VL - 55
SP - 884
EP - 894
JO - Nuclear Engineering and Technology
JF - Nuclear Engineering and Technology
IS - 3
ER -