Effect of rod internal gas state on FFRD behavior of high burnup fuel during LOCA conditions

垣内 一雄 ; 成川 隆文*; 宇田川 豊  ; 勝山 仁哉  ; 三原 武  ; 天谷 政樹  

Kakiuchi, Kazuo; Narukawa, Takafumi*; Udagawa, Yutaka; Katsuyama, Jinya; Mihara, Takeshi; Amaya, Masaki

Phenomena of fuel fragmentation, relocation, and dispersal (FFRD) of high burnup light water reactor fuels have been observed under simulated loss of coolant accident (LOCA) experiments. If the fuel fragments accumulate densely in the ballooned cladding during LOCA, the power of fuel rod may increase locally, which may increase the peak cladding temperature. Furthermore, if a large number of fuel fragments were dispersed from fuel rod to reactor core, the coolability of reactor core during and after the accident may be influenced. While recent studies suggest large impact of rod internal gas state on fuel fragmentation and dispersal, there have been few experimental data that enable to evaluate such impact. We thus performed three LOCA-simulated burst tests (Test no. MMDA3 / MMDA4 / LZRT5) using irradiated PWR and BWR UO fuel rods whose plenum volumes were designed to be 1 cc and 5 cc, respectively, as the main test parameter, at the Reactor Fuel Examination Facility (RFEF) of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). The tests highlighted the crucial role of plenum volume in fuel rod in FFRD: the burst appearance changed from a pin hole of MMDA3 with the 1cc plenum to a rupture opening of MMDA4 with 5 cc plenum, entailing increase in probable more substantial fragmentation and fuel fragments dispersal. Based on results from MMDA3 and MMDA4, the gas state, which was influenced by both the plenum volume and the gas communication, may significantly affect the amount of fuel fragment dispersion.