Assessment of the analysis capability for core-wide PWR pellet-clad interaction screening of Watts Bar Unit 1

Nathan Capps; Shane Stimpson; Kevin Clarno; Brian D. Wirth; Joe Rashid

doi:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2018.04.018

Assessment of the analysis capability for core-wide PWR pellet-clad interaction screening of Watts Bar Unit 1

Nathan Capps, Shane Stimpson, Kevin Clarno, Brian D. Wirth, Joe Rashid

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

This article demonstrates the application of the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications simulation environment to screen for pellet-clad interaction amongst the core-wide fuel rods within a pressurized water reactor, with emphasis on the multi-dimensional analysis capabilities of the BISON fuel performance code. The VERA codes utilized in this effort include the BISON fuel performance code and the VERA sub-element, which combines the MPACT neutron transport code and the COBRA-TF thermal-hydraulics code. This effort has involved screening Cycles 6 and 7 of Watts Bar Unit 1, which were selected on the basis that pellet-clad interaction failures had occurred during reactor start up in both cycles, despite the moderate power levels. These failure instances at Watts Bar Unit 1 offered an interesting test of the code's veracity and a particularly challenging condition for this assessment.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	131-144
Number of pages	14
Journal	Nuclear Engineering and Design
Volume	333
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2018.04.018
State	Published - Jul 2018
Externally published	Yes

Funding

This manuscript has been authored by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy. The US Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US Government purposes. This research was supported by the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors ( www.casl.gov ), an Energy Innovation Hub (http://www.energy.gov/hubs) for Modeling and Simulation of Nuclear Reactors under U.S. Department of Energy Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725. This research used resources of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory , which is supported by the Office of Science of the US Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725. This research was supported by the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (www.casl.gov), an Energy Innovation Hub (http://www.energy.gov/hubs) for Modeling and Simulation of Nuclear Reactors under U.S. Department of Energy Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725. This research used resources of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is supported by the Office of Science of the US Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725.

Funders	Funder number
Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors
Energy Innovation Hub
Modeling and Simulation of Nuclear Reactors
US Department of Energy
UT-Battelle LLC
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Science
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Keywords

CASL
Missing pellet surface
Pellet-cladding mechanical interaction
Stress corrosion cracking

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10.1016/j.nucengdes.2018.04.018

Cite this

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title = "Assessment of the analysis capability for core-wide PWR pellet-clad interaction screening of Watts Bar Unit 1",

abstract = "This article demonstrates the application of the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications simulation environment to screen for pellet-clad interaction amongst the core-wide fuel rods within a pressurized water reactor, with emphasis on the multi-dimensional analysis capabilities of the BISON fuel performance code. The VERA codes utilized in this effort include the BISON fuel performance code and the VERA sub-element, which combines the MPACT neutron transport code and the COBRA-TF thermal-hydraulics code. This effort has involved screening Cycles 6 and 7 of Watts Bar Unit 1, which were selected on the basis that pellet-clad interaction failures had occurred during reactor start up in both cycles, despite the moderate power levels. These failure instances at Watts Bar Unit 1 offered an interesting test of the code's veracity and a particularly challenging condition for this assessment.",

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Assessment of the analysis capability for core-wide PWR pellet-clad interaction screening of Watts Bar Unit 1

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