Assessment of Material Properties for TRISO Fuel Particles in PARFUME

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the material properties that have the largest impact on the failure probability of tristructural isotropic (TRISO)-coated fuel particles under irradiation. For the most part, these material properties were obtained from experimental data of historical TRISO fuel development programs in Europe and the United States. The adequacy of these historical constitutive material properties is being evaluated as part of the Advanced Gas Reactor Fuel Development and Qualification Program. The TRISO fuel performance modeling code PARFUME was used to assess the material properties that have the main influence on the probability of failure of the silicon carbide (SiC) layer of TRISO fuel particles. Although some of these material properties exhibit a large variability according to published data, only a few of them have a significant impact on the SiC failure probability, namely the irradiation-induced creep and dimensional change of the inner pyrolytic carbon layer.