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Nuclear

Theses/Dissertations

2015

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Assessment Of Reactivity Equivalence For Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuels In Light Water Reactors, Nathan Michael George May 2015

Assessment Of Reactivity Equivalence For Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuels In Light Water Reactors, Nathan Michael George

Doctoral Dissertations

The neutronic behavior of accident tolerant fuel (ATF) concepts was simulated in light water reactors (LWRs) to establish design parameters to match reactivity lifetime requirements of standard UO2 [uranium dioxide]/Zircaloy fuel. The two concepts discussed in this dissertation are fully ceramic micro-encapsulated (FCM) fuel and alternate cladding concepts. To compare the required fuel alterations against standard UO2/Zircaloy fuel, a 2D lattice-physics based reactivity equivalence method was established to estimate excess reactivity at the completion of each weighted batch cycle.

In the case of FCM fuel, the uranium-based tristructural isotropic (TRISO) kernel and the surrounding particle layers/matrix material …