Modeling high burnup fuel thermochemistry, fission product release and fuel melting during the VERDON 1 and RT6 tests

A. Germain (1) , J. Sercombe (1) , C. Riglet-Martial (1) , C. Introïni (1) , L. Noirot (1) , Y. Pontillon (1) , Ph. Maugis (2, 3) , C. Guéneau (4)

1 CEA, IRFM, F-13108, Saint Paul lez Durance, France
2 AMU SCI - Aix-Marseille Université - Faculté des Sciences
3 IM2NP - Institut des Matériaux, de Microélectronique et des Nanosciences de Provence
4 CEA Saclay. DSM/DRECAM/SCM, Bât. 125, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France

This paper presents simulations of the VERDON 1 and RT6 tests (temperature increase up to fuel-clad melting, oxidizing and/or reducing conditions within the furnace) performed with high burnup UO 2 fuel (i.e., up to 72 GWd/tU) and considering a coupling between irradiated fuel thermochemistry and a fission gas release model. The thermochemical calculations rely on the Thermodynamics of Advanced Fuels-International Database (TAF-ID) for the description of the phases likely to form from the 15 fission product considered in the fuel (Ba,

Keywords: Nuclear fuel; Modelling; Severe accidents; Thermochemistry; Fission product release; TAF-ID

Domains: Chemical Sciences; Material chemistry

A. Germain, J. Sercombe, C. Riglet-Martial, C. Introïni, L. Noirot, et al.. Modeling high burnup fuel thermochemistry, fission product release and fuel melting during the VERDON 1 and RT6 tests. Journal of Nuclear Materials, 2022, 561, pp.153527. ⟨10.1016/j.jnucmat.2022.153527⟩. ⟨hal-04018896⟩