Journal
JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS
Volume 487, Issue -, Pages 23-29Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2017.01.053
Keywords
High burnup structure; Grain-size measurement; Xenon depletion; Fuel performance
Funding
- Joint Research Center, Directorate for Nuclear Safety and Security (JRC-Karlsruhe, Germany, GENTLE Project) [198236]
- European Commission
Ask authors/readers for more resources
In the rim zone of UO2 nuclear fuel pellets, the combination of high burnup and low temperature drives a microstructural change, leading to the formation of the high burnup structure (HBS). In this work, we propose a semi-empirical model to describe the formation of the HBS, which embraces the polygonisation/recrystallization process and the depletion of intra-granular fission gas, describing them as inherently related. For this purpose, we performed grain-size measurements on samples at radial positions in which the restructuring was incomplete. Based on these new experimental data, we infer an exponential reduction of the average grain size with local effective burnup, paired with a simultaneous depletion of intra-granular fission gas driven by diffusion. The comparison with currently used models indicates the applicability of the herein developed model within integral fuel performance codes. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available