@inproceedings{33946177ca5f4ac584d7fee753016b66,
title = "ROD internal pressure quantification and distribution analysis using Frapcon",
abstract = "The discharge rod internal pressure (RIP) and cladding hoop stress (CHS) distributions are quantified for Watts Bar Nuclear Unit 1 (WBN1) fuel rods by modeling core cycle design data, inter-cycle assembly movements, operation data, and as-built fuel enrichments and densities of each fuel rod in FRAPCON-3.5. An alternate model for the amount of helium released from zirconium diboride (ZrB2) integral fuel burnable absorber (IFBA) layers is derived and applied to FRAPCON output data to quantify the RIP and CHS for these fuel rods. SCALE/Polaris is used to quantify fuel rod-specific spectral quantities and the amount of gaseous fission products produced in the fuel for use in FRAPCON inputs. Fuel rods with ZrB2 IFBA layers (i.e., IFBA rods) are determined to have RIP predictions that are elevated when compared to fuel rods without IFBA layers (i.e., standard rods) despite the fact that IFBA rods often have reduced fill pressures and annular fuel blankets. Cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) are prepared from the distribution of RIP predictions for all standard and IFBA rods. The provided CDFs allow for the determination of the portion of WBN1 fuel rods that exceed a specified RIP limit. Lastly, improvements to the computational methodology of FRAPCON are proposed.",
keywords = "Cladding hoop stress, FRAPCON, IFBA, Rod internal pressure, SCALE, Spent nuclear fuel",
author = "Bratton, {Ryan N.} and Jessee, {Matt A.} and Wieselquist, {William A.} and Ivanov, {Kostadin N.}",
year = "2016",
language = "English",
series = "Physics of Reactors 2016, PHYSOR 2016: Unifying Theory and Experiments in the 21st Century",
publisher = "American Nuclear Society",
pages = "2588--2602",
booktitle = "Physics of Reactors 2016, PHYSOR 2016",
note = "Physics of Reactors 2016: Unifying Theory and Experiments in the 21st Century, PHYSOR 2016 ; Conference date: 01-05-2016 Through 05-05-2016",
}