The behavioral evolution of nuclear fuels during irradiation must be understood to predict fuel failures and guide the development of new concepts.
Develop and apply engineering-scale thermomechanical models for UO2/Zr LWR fuel, advanced LWR fuels, and advanced reactor fuels (e.g., TRISO fuel). Use BISON and other fuel performance codes. Develop and apply coupled multiphysics methods.
Improve safety and/or performance of LWR fuels through predictive understanding and multiphysics modeling. Improve advanced fuel designs by understanding their expected behavior and performance. Enable system tradeoff studies assessing the performance of the full system across multiple disciplines.
Principal Investigator
Jeffrey J. Powers
Sponsor
Department of Energy (DOE)
