Abstract
The study of fuel behaviour under accidental conditions is a major concern in the safety analysis of the Pressurised Water Reactors. The consequences of Design Basis Accidents, such as Loss of Coolant Accident and Reactivity Initiated Accident, have to be quantified in comparison to the safety criteria. Those criteria have been established in the 1970s on the basis of experiments performed with fresh or low irradiated fuel. Starting in the 1990s, the increased industrial competition and constraints led utilities to use fuel in more and more aggressive conditions (higher discharge burnup, higher power, load follow, etc.) and create incentive conditions for the development of advanced fuel designs with improved performance (new fuel types with additives, cladding material with better resistance to corrosion, etc.). These long anticipated developments involved the need for new investigations of irradiated fuel behaviour in order to check the adequacy of the current criteria, evaluate the safety margins, provide new technical bases for modelling and allow an evolution of these criteria. Such an evolution is presently under discussion in France and several other countries, in view of a revision in the next coming years. For this purpose, a R&D strategy has been defined at IRSN.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
