Development of Behavior Analysis Code for MA Transmutation Nitride Fuel in Accelerator-Driven System

Abstract

Partitioning and transmutation techniques for minor actinides have been developed to reduce the radiotoxicity and volume in high-level radioactive wastes. Minor actinide nitride fuel has been chosen as a candidate for the transmutation of long-lived nuclides using an accelerator-driven system. Understanding the irradiation behavior of nitride fuel is important for its design and development; however, experimental data on irradiation tests of actinide nitrides and their solid solutions are scarce. Recently, in JAEA, a nitride fuel performance analysis module based on the light water reactor fuel performance code FEMAXI-7 has been developed to simulate the irradiation behavior of the nitride fuel. In this study, performance analysis was carried out focusing on the pellet-cladding mechanical interaction (PCMI), which was pointed out as the most effective factor in fuel safety during irradiation. Simulation results show that PCMI does not cause the creep rupture of the cladding.