Title: Assessment of thermo-mechanical performance of fuel elements with the use of CNFR and FRAPCON codes

Authors: Daniel Artur Pinheiro Palma; Amir Zacarias Mesquita; Aquilino Senra Martinez; Alessandro da Cruz Gonçalves

Addresses: Brazilian Nuclear Energy Commission - CNEN, Rua Gal Severiano, 90, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ' Nuclear Technology Development Centre - CDTN/CDTN, Campus da UFMG - Belo Horizonte, Brazil ' Department of Nuclear Engineering - COPPE/UFRJ, Av. Horácio Macedo, 2030, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ' Department of Nuclear Engineering - COPPE/UFRJ, Av. Horácio Macedo, 2030, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract: One of the tasks of the Brazilian Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) is to perform independent calculations related to the thermo-mechanical behaviour of the fuel elements used in the Angra I and Angra II nuclear power plants. For this purpose, well-established computer codes are used to ensure that the safety analysis reports submitted by the operator do not violate any aspect related to plant safety. In this paper, the eighth reload cycle of the Angra I Power Plant was simulated using the Brazilian Code of Reactor Physics (CNFR), a neutronic simulation code developed in Brazil specifically for nuclear power plants in operation in the country and made available for use by the CNEN. This cycle was chosen because the loading of nuclear fuel used took place entirely with fresh fuel. The fuel burnup simulated with the CNFR code and the power history considered were coupled to the FRAPCON code to simulate the thermo-mechanical behaviour of the fuel rod considered. The results obtained were consistent with those reported by the operator using the Alpha/Phoenix-P/Anc (APA) methodology.

Keywords: nuclear reactors; PWR; pressurised water reactors; nuclear fuel; CNFR code; FRAPCON code; thermo-mechanical behaviour; fuel elements; nuclear energy; nuclear power plants; NPP; nuclear safety; simulation; fuel burnup; power history; fuel rods; Brazil.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNEST.2015.071613

International Journal of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology, 2015 Vol.9 No.2, pp.116 - 130

Received: 29 Sep 2014
Accepted: 08 Apr 2015
Published online: 04 Sep 2015 *

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