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Properties of the high burnup structure in nuclear light water reactor fuel

  • Thierry Wiss EMAIL logo , Vincenzo V. Rondinella , Rudy J. M. Konings , Dragos Staicu , Dimitrios Papaioannou , Stéphane Bremier , Philipp Pöml , Ondrej Benes , Jean-Yves Colle , Paul Van Uffelen , Arndt Schubert , Fabiola Cappia , Mara Marchetti , Davide Pizzocri , Fabian Jatuff , Wolfgang Goll , Takeshi Sonoda , Akihiro Sasahara , Shoichi Kitajima and Motoyasu Kinoshita
Published/Copyright: October 17, 2017
Radiochimica Acta
From the journal Radiochimica Acta Volume 105 Issue 11

Abstract

The formation of the high burnup structure (HBS) is possibly the most significant example of the restructuring processes affecting commercial nuclear fuel in-pile. The HBS forms at the relatively cold outer rim of the fuel pellet, where the local burnup is 2–3 times higher than the average pellet burnup, under the combined effects of irradiation and thermo-mechanical conditions determined by the power regime and the fuel rod configuration. The main features of the transformation are the subdivision of the original fuel grains into new sub-micron grains, the relocation of the fission gas into newly formed intergranular pores, and the absence of large concentrations of extended defects in the fuel matrix inside the subdivided grains. The characterization of the newly formed structure and its impact on thermo-physical or mechanical properties is a key requirement to ensure that high burnup fuel operates within the safety margins. This paper presents a synthesis of the main findings from extensive studies performed at JRC-Karlsruhe during the last 25 years to determine properties and behaviour of the HBS. In particular, microstructural features, thermal transport, fission gas behaviour, and thermo-mechanical properties of the HBS will be discussed. The main conclusion of the experimental studies is that the HBS does not compromise the safety of nuclear fuel during normal operations.

Keywords: High burnup structure; LWR fuel; thermal transport; thermo-mechanical properties; gas release; microstructure

Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted with many colleagues at JRC Karlsruhe (former JRC-ITU) for all the work performed over almost 3 decades to study the high burnup structure; it is impossible to mention all of them! Most of them will appear in the citations. The authors acknowledge in particular the contribution by AREVA for supplying irradiated LWR fuel samples was essential, as well as the important role played by the HBRP special irradiation and post-irradiation examination programmes.

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Received: 2017-5-30
Accepted: 2017-9-7
Published Online: 2017-10-17
Published in Print: 2017-11-27

©2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Preface
  3. Novel approaches for the in situ study of the sintering of nuclear oxide fuel materials and their surrogates
  4. Properties of the high burnup structure in nuclear light water reactor fuel
  5. Synroc tailored waste forms for actinide immobilization
  6. Radionuclides containment in nuclear glasses: an overview
  7. New insights into phosphate based materials for the immobilisation of actinides
https://doi.org/10.1515/ract-2017-2831
Keywords for this article
High burnup structure; LWR fuel; thermal transport; thermo-mechanical properties; gas release; microstructure

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Preface
  3. Novel approaches for the in situ study of the sintering of nuclear oxide fuel materials and their surrogates
  4. Properties of the high burnup structure in nuclear light water reactor fuel
  5. Synroc tailored waste forms for actinide immobilization
  6. Radionuclides containment in nuclear glasses: an overview
  7. New insights into phosphate based materials for the immobilisation of actinides
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