Study on the mechanism of diametral cladding strain and mixed-oxide fuel element breaching in slow-ramp extended overpower transients

Uwaba, Tomoyuki ; Maeda, Seiichiro ; Mizuno, Tomoyasu; Teague, M. C.*

Cladding strain caused by fuel/mechanical interaction (FCMI) was evaluated for mixed-oxide fuel elements subjected to 70-90% slow-ramp extended overpower transient tests in EBR-II. Calculated transient-induced cladding strains were correlated with cumulative damage fractions (CDFs) using cladding strength correlations. In a breached high-smeared density solid fuel element with low strength cladding, cladding thermal creep strain was significantly increased to approximately half the transient-induced cladding strain due to the tertiary creep when the CDF was close to the breach criterion (= 1.0). In low-smeared density annular fuel elements, FCMI load was significantly mitigated and resulted in little cladding strain. The CDFs of the annular fuel elements were lower than 0.01 at the end of the overpower transient, indicating a substantial margin to breach. A substantial margin to breach was also maintained in a high-smeared density fuel element with high strength cladding.