Development of fuel rod failure character analysis code for pressurized water reactors

Qin, Guoxiu; Wang, Qimin; Chen, Xilin; Li, Fan; Li, Weizhe; Guo, Xin-Heng

doi:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2020.110515

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…A suitable method for power distribution determination in the reactor core based on measurement and analysis of the short-living fission products in lightly irradiated fuel pins has been developed on the experimental facility for gamma scanning at the LR-0 experimental reactor [2][3][4]. The analysis of fuel rod failure character is the key to a real-time detection system for fuel rod failure in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) of great significance for the safe operation of nuclear reactors [5,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fission Product Release From High and Low-Enriched Uranium Fuels of the IVG.1M Research Reactor

Medetbekov B.S.

2023

Eurasian phys. tech. j.

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The research involved conducting resource tests on two experimental water-cooled technological channels (WCTCs) utilizing low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel within the IVG1.M research reactor. This testing was a crucial step in the reactor's conversion from highly enriched uranium (HEU) fuel to LEU. The research focused on two key parameters, namely the specific activity and the relative release of fission products (FPs) into the coolant, to evaluate the tightnessof the fuel element cladding.A gamma-spectrometric sampling method was proposed to determine the relative releaseof FPs, which involved assessing the specific activity of the coolant, calculating the release rate (Release), the born rate (Born), and the R/B ratio of FPs. Comparative gamma-spectrometric measurements were conducted to analyze the content of FPs and activation products (AP) in the coolant of WCTCs utilizing both LEU and HEU during the tests.From the comprehensive list of detected radionuclides in the IVG.1M reactor coolant, well-identified reference radionuclides recommended for monitoringfuel element cladding tightness were carefully selected. The results of the study provided insights into the specific activity and relative release of FPs, demonstrating that quantitative values for the relative release of FPs from WCTCs using LEU and HEU fuel were comparable.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fission Product Release From High and Low-Enriched Uranium Fuels of the IVG.1M Research Reactor

Medetbekov B.S.

2023

Eurasian phys. tech. j.

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“…Under normal operating conditions, the fission products are contained within the fuel cladding which prevents them from escaping into the primary coolant and maintains the coolant's specific activity within the management limit. While the performance of the fuel rods keeps improving, the fuel cladding is inevitably defective during operation for a variety of reasons (Qin et al, 2020), including the following: 1) power ramp defects caused by stress corrosion cracking (SCC) or pellet-cladding interaction (PCI); 2) circumferential cracking caused by hydrogen embrittlement; 3) fabrication defects; and 4) fretting defects caused by interaction with the grid spacer or debris in the primary coolant (Lewis et al, 2017). When the fuel cladding is defective, FPs can migrate from the fuel cladding gap to the primary coolant, considerably increasing the specific activity of the coolant.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If the specific activities or defect sizes exceed the critical values, the reactor must shut down according to the regulation (Likhanskii et al, 2006;Qin et al, 2019). Otherwise, it may increase the risks of occupational exposure and harm the safety of reactor operation (Iqbal et al, 2007;Qin et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Improved Method for PWR Fuel Failure Detection Using Cascade-forward Neural Network With Decision Tree

et al. 2022

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When a fuel rod is damaged, determining the degree of fuel failure makes sense. The operators can decide whether to continue operating the reactor or shut it down based on the severity of the fuel failure. The isotopic ratio of two radioactive fission products (FPs) is a typical technique for evaluating the degree of fuel failure, although this is not applicable in the case of little fuel failure but large tramp uranium mass. The feedforward neural network (FFNN) has been used to identify fuel failures in order to overcome the shortcomings of the isotopic ratio method, although there is still inadequacy in the ability to distinguish between an intact fuel rod and a defective fuel rod with a small defect. In this study, we propose a cascade-forward neural network with a decision tree for fuel failure detection that performs well at classifying the degree of fuel failure and, in particular, at differentiating between an intact fuel rod and a defective fuel rod with a small size defect. The input of the neural network is the specific activity of FPs measured in the coolant. The degree of fuel failure is determined by the neural network’s output, which is labeled using one-hot encoding. The training set is constructed using the Booth-type diffusion model and the first-order kinetic model. The performance of the improved neural network is demonstrated. It is shown that the improved method is more accurate and responsive than the previous neural network when recognizing the onset of fuel failure. Finally, the most important nuclides are determined through the sensitivity analysis, and the neural network is simplified according to the importance of nuclides and the limitation of the radioactive detector in practical application.

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“…It is called the failure of a fuel rod. This will increase the probability of nuclear leakage accidents [ 1 ]. Fuel failure issues have significant operational impacts on nuclear power plants, including operating cost, radiation exposure, and plant availability [ 2 , 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on In-Service Inspection of Nuclear Fuel Assembly Failure Using Ultrasonic Plate Wave

Xiao

Zhou²,

Wang³

et al. 2022

Sensors

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As protection for nuclear power plants is quite necessary, the nuclear fuel is sealed in zirconium alloy thin wall cladding. During service, fuel rods might be damaged caused by wall-thickness thinning, cladding corrosion and cracking, etc. This will cause the coolant to enter into the fuel rod, which may lead to the failure of the fuel assembly. However, current diagnostic methods have limitations due to the special structure of the fuel assembly and the underwater and radioactive environment. In this paper, a novel inspection method is proposed to recognize the failure of a fuel rod. The fuel rod failure can be detected based on the presence or absence of coolant inside the fuel rod by using an ultrasonic plate wave. The inspection model and process algorithm are proposed for in-service inspection. The relationship between signal and scanning position is established and analyzed. Both ultrasound field simulation and experiment have been carried out for validation. The corresponding results illustrate that the failed nuclear fuel rod of the whole fuel assembly (including the internal rods) can be effectively detected without the influence of the near-field region by using the proposed method.

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Development of fuel rod failure character analysis code for pressurized water reactors

Cited by 5 publications

References 20 publications

Fission Product Release From High and Low-Enriched Uranium Fuels of the IVG.1M Research Reactor

Fission Product Release From High and Low-Enriched Uranium Fuels of the IVG.1M Research Reactor

An Improved Method for PWR Fuel Failure Detection Using Cascade-forward Neural Network With Decision Tree

Study on In-Service Inspection of Nuclear Fuel Assembly Failure Using Ultrasonic Plate Wave

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