M5合金包壳管高温爆破性能

在反应堆运行期间，特别是运行后期，由于燃料芯块与包壳的机械相互作用以及燃料芯块的裂变气体的释放，包壳管将承受较大的双轴应力。为保障在反应堆运行期间的安全性，燃料元件包壳管的完整性非常重要。而内压爆破试验更能体现出燃料包壳材料在堆内时的真实受力状态。     

略谈国外动力堆燃料元件 PCI 破损问题

(一)国外研究 PCI 问题的历史背景及重要意义所谓燃料元件的 PCI(pellet and clad-ding interaction)是指水冷动力反应堆所使用的燃料元件芯块与包壳之间的相互作用。由于 PCI 作用可导致元件破损,因而引起了国外的重视。也就是说,PCI 问题直接涉及到燃料元件在堆内使用的安全性,同时也关系到水冷堆核电站的经济性。众所周知,国外目前运行着的核电站绝     

燃料污垢对典型事故工况的影响研究

新版HAD 102/07—2020核动力厂反应堆堆芯设计中明确要求：设计分析应考虑反应堆冷却剂系统正常运行产生的腐蚀产物在包壳表面的沉积导致的燃料棒传热恶化。因此,有必要分析燃料污垢对事故工况下燃料棒传热性能的影响,特别是以燃料芯块温度和包壳温度为验收准则的典型事故工况。本文开发污垢计算模型,采用等效热导率关系式计算含污垢和氧化层的包壳热导率,即认为污垢、氧化层均匀分散在包壳层中,使得包壳热导率变化,该等效包壳层所引起的温度梯度与实际情况相同。随后,基于对“华龙一号”核动力厂事故分析结果,选取了典型非LOCA事故（弹棒事故、功率运行下单个控制棒失控抽出事故）和LOCA事故进行污垢影响研究。结果表明,考虑污垢后,事故过程中的燃料芯块中心峰值温度和包壳峰值温度均有显著上升,但依然满足事故验收准则要求。     

反应堆Ⅱ类瞬态下燃料棒PCI研究

介绍反应堆Ⅱ类瞬态下燃料棒芯块与包壳相互作用(PCI)分析方法和PCI热-力学计算理论模型,在此基础上对海南核电厂降功率燃料管理方案进行PCI评价,并对影响PCI失效裕量的因素进行分析。结果表明,所有瞬态条件下包壳的应变能密度与技术限值相比较都有裕量;瞬态局部线功率越大,瞬态发生前局部燃耗越深,PCI失效裕量越小;瞬态发生前,降功率时间越长,PCI失效裕量越小;降功率后再升功率,裕量得到一定程度恢复。     

AFA 3G燃料棒芯块与包壳间相互作用分析

介绍了大亚湾核电站18个月换料策略下，在Ⅱ类工况瞬态期间AFA 3G燃料棒芯块与包壳间相互作用（PCI）的分析和预测。文中给出了PCI技术限值，介绍了Ⅱ类工况瞬态分析和热力机械分析的分析方法和程序，并给出了基荷运行、基荷加一次调频运行、负荷跟踪运行以及延伸低功率运行时的负荷过量增加、功率状态下控制棒失控抽出和未检测到的掉棒3种瞬态的PCI主要计算结果和结论。     

Zr-2包壳管爆破力学性能

核燃料元件是反应堆的核心部件，由燃料芯块、包壳及其构件组成。由于燃料元件的运行环境比较恶劣，中子辐照、冷却剂的腐蚀及在开堆、停堆、和运行后期燃料芯块与包壳的机械相互作用和裂变气体产物的释放，使包壳管承受双向应力，均会造成燃料元件的力学性能下降，形成安全隐患，它的安全性能直接影响反应堆的安全可靠性。为更好地模拟包壳在堆内的受力状态，一般采用内压爆破试验来获得包壳材料的断裂强度与延性数据。     

中国铅基研究实验堆燃料元件活性区温度场计算分析

中国铅基研究实验堆(CLEAR-Ⅰ)被确定为中国科学院加速器驱动次临界系统(ADS)专项的主选堆型。燃料元件是铅基反应堆的核心部件之一,因此需确保燃料元件的芯块中心温度和包壳最高温度符合设计准则的要求。本文利用有限元程序ANSYS对燃料元件活性区在正常运行工况和失流事故下的温度场进行了数值模拟与分析。正常运行工况下的模拟结果表明,芯块中心温度远低于UO2的熔化温度限值,包壳最高温度低于材料的使用温度限值,满足设计准则中关于上限使用温度的要求。失流事故下的模拟结果表明,失流事故发生后,芯块中心温度和包壳最高温度都会明显上升。当冷却剂流速降低到0.1m/s时,包壳最高温度将超过正常使用温度;紧急停堆滞后时间超过17.5s时,包壳的最高温度将超过事故温度限值。以上分析结果可作为燃料元件安全评审工作的基础。     

芯块侧偏状态下的燃料棒温度场数值计算分析

燃料芯块侧偏状态下的燃料棒温度分布关系到反应堆燃料设计和安全运行。本文基于燃料棒的稳态扩散方程的一般形式,通过数值计算分析了芯块侧偏对燃料棒传热和温度分布的影响。结果表明:当燃料芯块侧偏时,芯块最高温度的位置向芯块侧偏的反方向偏移且最高温度下降,偏心率越大,最高温度的位置偏移程度越大,温降也越大。当偏心率e为0.5和0.8时,芯块最高温度分别下降1.3%和4.1%。而燃料棒包壳外壁面温度分布不均匀且最高温度随着偏心率的增大而升高,当偏心率e=0.8时,燃料棒包壳外壁面的最高温度为350℃,达到燃料棒的临界工作温度。     

次临界或低功率启动工况下提棒事故分析

由于控制棒抽出引起堆芯内反应性失控增加,从而导致核功率剧增的事故定义为一组控制棒组件抽出事故。这种瞬态可能是反应堆控制系统或棒控系统失灵引起的。多普勒负反应性反馈效应能在保护动作延迟的时间内将功率限制在可接受的水平。该事故中,燃料棒表面可能发生偏离泡核沸腾(departure from nucleate boiling,简称DNB),导致燃料元件包壳烧毁;燃料芯块也可能发生熔化,对包壳产生不利影响。文章对岭澳混合堆芯和提高富集度论证次临界或低功率启动工况下提棒事故进行了分析。分析结果表明,事故瞬态中不会发生燃料芯块熔化或燃料元件包壳烧毁,可以保证燃料元件的完整性,燃料设计满足限制准则。     

破损燃料棒二次氢化行为观察与分析

燃料棒在堆内运行时,由于初次破口会导致包壳发生二次氢化现象,二次氢化是导致燃料棒发生严重破损的重要因素。针对实际工况下的破损燃料棒,在中国原子能科学研究院燃料与材料检验设施（303热室）上开展了相关辐照后检验,并采用热室金相手段,对燃料棒二次氢化行为进行了观察分析。结果表明：二次氢化破口有明显的氢化肿胀现象;氢化物分阶段从内壁扩散到外壁,并形成“日爆”现象;二次氢化部位芯块温度明显升高,并会导致芯块气孔迁移、芯块晶粒长大、柱状晶生长等现象发生;相比未破损棒,破损棒二次氢化部位水侧氧化膜厚度有增加现象,但仍处于正常范围内。     

Experience and plans with PCI protection in KWU LWR plants

The experience with early operational guidelines to eliminate PCI failures in LWR fuel is briefly discussed. For future applications a more detailed PCI surveillance and protection model is proposed. It is designed for the use in administrative guidelines as well as in automatic power density surveillance and limitation systems. Important model parameters are directly derivable form experimental data by using the ‘RSST Approach’ that—in order to prevent PCI failures—at least one out of four ‘predictors’ (i.e. power range, power step, speed of power increase, or time at transient overpower) has to be below a critical value at any operating time. An algorithm is provided for defining and monitoring an adequate ‘conditioned power’ as a reference power for acceptable power ramps.The operational consequences of the new surveillance model are discussed and show, that expected power losses are similar or less than from early guidelines.Finally, relevant features of mechanistic PCI fuel rod models are discussed. Some of the PCI failure prediction models, which have been proposed in the literature, seem to be unnecessarily conservative and—if strictly applied to LWR core surveillance—lead to unduely severe restrictions in plant operation.     

Estimation of fuel and clad temperature of a research reactor during dry period of de-fuelling operation

Heat transfer and fluid flow studies related to spent fuel bundle of a research reactor in fuelling machine has been carried out. When the fuel is in reactor core, the heat generated in the fuel bundle is removed by heavy water under normal reactor operation. However, during the de-fuelling operation, the fuel bundle is exposed to air for some period called dry period. During this period, the decay heat from fuel bundle has to be removed by air flow. This flow of air is induced by natural convection only. In this period, the temperatures of fuel and clad rise. If clad temperature rises beyond a certain limit, structural failure may occur. This failure can result into release of fission products from fuel rod. Hence the temperature of clad has to be within specified limit under all conditions. The objective of this study is to estimate the clad temperature rise during the dry period.In the CFD simulation, the turbulent natural convection flow over fuel and radiation heat transfer are accounted. Standard k-? model for turbulence, Boussinesq approximation for computing the natural convection flow and IMMERSOL model for radiation are used.The steady state and transient CFD simulation of flow and heat is performed, using the CFD code PHOENICS. The steady state analysis provides the maximum temperature the clad will attain if fuel bundle is left exposed to air for sufficiently long time. For safe operation, the clad temperature should be limited to a specified value. From steady state CFD analysis, it is found that steady state clad temperature for various decay powers is higher than the limiting value. Hence transient analysis is also performed. In the transient analysis, the variation of clad temperature with time is predicted for various decay powers. Safe dry time, i.e. the time required for clad to reach the limiting value, is predicted for various decay powers. Determination of safe dry time helps in deciding the time available to the operator to drop the bundle in light water pool for storage. The analysis is found useful in optimizing the de-fuelling process.     

WTRLGD—A computer program for the transient analysis of waterlogged fuel rods under the RIA condition

A computer code WTRLGD has been developed to describe the transient internal pressure of a waterlogged fuel rod during power burst and also to predict the possibility of the rod failure in the mode of cladding rupture. The code predicts transient thermal behavior of the fuel rod on the basis of an assumption of axisymmetry, and thermal-hydraulic transients of the internal water on the basis of a homogeneous volume-junction model modified so as to involve the cladding deformation. Calculated transients of the rod pressure are in fairly good agreement with those measured in the NSRR experiments, simulating the fuel rod behavior under an RIA condition. The comparison between calculation and experiment verifies that the code is an effective tool for the prediction of the failure of a waterlogged fuel rod.     

Spectral shift rod for the boiling water reactor

A Boiling Water Reactor core concept has been proposed using a new fuel component called spectral shift rod (SSR). The SSR is a new type of water rod in which a water level is formed during core operation. The water level can be controlled by the core recirculation flow rate. By using SSRs, the reactor can be operated with all control rods withdrawn through the operation cycle as well as that a much larger natural uranium saving is possible due to spectral shift operation than in current BWRs. The steady state and transient characteristics of the SSRs have been examined by experiments and analyses to certify the feasibility. In a reference design, a four times larger spectral shift width as for the current BWR has been obtained.     

基于MOOSE框架的五方程两相流分析程序开发

基于多物理场耦合框架MOOSE,采用五方程两相流模型开发了模块化程序ZEBRA,实现了高阶时间、空间离散格式两相流动传热问题的求解。采用Bartolomei开展的垂直圆管过冷沸腾实验对ZEBRA进行验证,在不同热流密度、质量流密度、压力工况下,将程序计算值与实验值进行了数值验证和计算分析。结果表明：ZEBRA中五方程模型预测值与实验值符合良好,沸腾起始点和空泡份额的预测合理,表明ZEBRA初步具备了处理两相流问题的能力。     

Oxide thickness-dependent transient cladding hoop stress

A few thrice-burned Zry-4 fuel assemblies which were loaded in one of the PWRs operating in Korea were found to be failed due to PCI during a power ramp following a rector trip, while thrice-burned Zr–Nb fuel assemblies and twice-burned Zry-4 ones were intact. To investigate the effect of fuel rod oxide thickness on power ramp-induced cladding hoop stress, three intact fuel rods were selected, which include an intact twice-burned Zry-4 fuel rod, an intact thrice-burned Zr-4 fuel rod and an intact thrice-burned Zr–Nb fuel rod. With the use of a fuel performance analysis code, burnup-dependent steady-state cladding stress and ramp power-dependent cladding stresses at the power-ramped burnup were predicted for the three intact fuel rods. It was found that the cladding oxide thickness has a considerable effect on the ramp power-dependent cladding hoop stresses. In addition, the cladding maximum stress of the thrice-burned Zry-4 fuel rod with 125 μm oxide thickness exceeded an ultimate cladding tensile strength of the Zry-4 cladding when the pellet–clad friction coefficient-dependent cladding stress concentration ratio was considered. However, the thrice-burned Zr–Nb fuel rod with 50 μm oxide thickness was evaluated to have a considerable margin against the power ramp-induced PCI failure.     

A new phenomenological criterion for pellet–cladding interaction rupture

This study is concerned with structural integrity assessment of Pressure Water Reactor's (PWR) fuel rods under pellet–cladding interaction (PCI) loading condition. An important experimental and research cooperative program between EDF, AREVA-NP and the Atomic Energy Commission CEA is achieved in order to get a better understanding of the mechanisms possibly leading to PCI failure, as well as to qualify a PCI resistant rod design. The objectives of this work are: first, to improve the understanding of the pellet mechanical properties impact on cladding local loading with 3D simulations results, and second, to propose a new phenomenological rupture criterion for a better assessment of the failure risk.

In this study fuel behaviour modelling under nominal and transient loading conditions is achieved with a multi-dimensional simulation tool called ALCYONE, included in the new fuel software PLEIADES currently co-developed by the CEA and EDF. Cladding loading due to mechanical interaction during power transient stage is first analysed through pellet–cladding interfacial stresses computed in the 3D simulation. Then, a 2D model is proposed in order to establish a correlation between interfacial loading and stress concentration in the cladding. In order to assess the failure risk under PCI a phenomenological criterion based on the membrane circumferential stress in the cladding and shear stresses at pellet–cladding interface is proposed. To compute the shear loading at pellet–cladding interface a new parameter (called W_rθ) is introduced. Based on 3D calculations of PCI, it is shown in this paper that pellet fracture properties can have a significant effect on PCI loading.     

The KWU PCI modelling approach

Since PCI fuel rod failures are generally attributed to stress corrosion cracking of the clad, mechanical as well as chemical aspects must be considered in PCI modelling. Transient fission gas release, amplified by a thermal feedback effect, is expected to be very important with regard to both aspects. In view of the limited possibilities to describe analytically the complex mechanisms contributing to PCI failures, KWU uses a semiempirical PCI approach to evaluate the experimental results from ramp tests and power reactor experience and to develop preliminary PCI failure criteria. In parallel to the empirical approach, systematic PCI investigations are performed. To calculate stresses and strains during ramps, including fuel and clad plasticity and creep, the code SENATOR has been developed. The ANSYS code is used for the calculation of local stress and strain effects.     

Modification of thermal hydraulic code,THEATRe, with fuel rod behavior models and its application to reactivity-initiated accident (RIA)

During reactor operation, many complex changes occur in fuel rod which affects its thermal, mechanical and material properties. These changes also affect the reactor response to the transient and accident situations. Realistic simulation of fuel rod behavior under transients such as reactivity-initiated accident (RIA) is of great significance. In this study, thermal hydraulic analysis code THEATRe (Thermal Hydraulic Engineering Analysis Tool in Real-time) has been modified by addition of fuel rod behavior models for dynamic simulation of nuclear reactor. Transient changes in gas-gap parameters were taken into account by modeling the gas-gap behavior. Thermo-mechanical behavior of fuel rod is modeled to take into account the thermal, elastic and plastic deformation. To simulate RIA, point reactor kinetics model is also incorporated in the THEATRe code. To demonstrate the transient fuel rod behavior, AP1000 reactor is modeled and three hypothetical RIA cases are simulated. The RIA is considered at three different reactor power levels, i.e. 100, 50 and 1% of nominal power. The investigated parameters are fuel temperature, cladding stress and strain, fuel and cladding thermal conductivity and heat transfer coefficient in gas-gap. Modified code calculates the fuel rod temperatures according to updated fuel, clad and gas-gap parameters at the onset of steady-state operation and during the transient. The modified code provides lower steady-state fuel temperature as compared to the original code. Stress and strain analyses indicate that the hoop and radial strain is higher at high power locations of the fuel rod; therefore, gap closure process will initially occur in the central portion of the fuel rod and it should be given more emphasis in the safety analysis of the fuel rod and nuclear reactor during accidents and transients.     

三维耦合分析软件的落棒事故分析

作为数值反应堆中必不可少的物理和热工部分,中广核研究院有限公司开发了三维物理热工耦合分析软件,通过动态链接库技术实现了自主研发的核反应堆系统瞬态分析软件和三维核设计软件的耦合,并已与国际基准题结果对比验证。本文为耦合软件的应用,围绕华龙一号的落棒分析问题,开展不同落棒组合的耦合计算分析,并研究停堆棒组落棒和温度调节棒（R）棒组两组落棒对堆芯功率的影响。分析结果表明,非中心对称的棒组落棒事故会导致堆芯径向功率出现不对称,并使得堆芯出口回路温度不同。落棒反应性价值越大,R棒调节后的稳态功率回升相比初始稳态差异越大,DNBR公式计算值的变化趋势与功率呈现相反规律。