RIA-simulating experiments on high burnup PWR fuel rods with advanced cladding alloys

Sugiyama, Tomoyuki ; Fuketa, Toyoshi; Ozawa, Masaaki*; Nagase, Fumihisa 

Two pulse irradiation experiments simulating reactivity initiated accidents were performed on high burnup (60 GWd/t) PWR UO rods with advanced cladding alloys. Test OI-10 was performed on an MDA cladded rod with large-grain (25 m) fuel pellets with a peak fuel enthalpy condition of 435 J/g, and resulted in a peak residual hoop strain of 0.7%. On the other hand, Test OI-11 on a ZIRLO cladded rod with conventional pellets resulted in a fuel failure at a fuel enthalpy of 500 J/g due to the pellet-cladding mechanical interaction (PCMI). A long axial split was generated on the cladding over the active length. The fuel pellets were fragmented and dispersed into the coolant water. The fuel enthalpy at failure is higher than the PCMI failure criterion of 209 J/g at the corresponding burnup. The experimental results suggest that the rods with improved corrosion resistance have much safety margin against the PCMI failure compared to the conventional Zircaloy-4 rod.