Effects of pellet-to-cladding gap design parameters on the reliability of high burnup PWR fuel rods under steady state and transient conditions


Tas F. B., ERGÜN Ş.

ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT, cilt.72, ss.88-93, 2013 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 72
  • Basım Tarihi: 2013
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.enconman.2012.10.026
  • Dergi Adı: ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.88-93
  • Hacettepe Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

As an important improvement in the light water nuclear reactor operations, the nuclear fuel burnup rate is increased in recent decades and this increase causes heavier duty for the nuclear fuel. Since the high burnup fuel is exposed to very high thermal and mechanical stresses and since it operates in an environment with high radiation for about 18 month cycles, it carries the risk of losing its integrity. In this study; it is aimed to determine the effects of pellet cladding gap thickness and gap pressure on reliability of high burnup nuclear fuel in Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs) under steady state operation conditions and suggest optimum values for the examined parameters only and validate these suggestions for a transient condition.