Analysis of the Behavior of BWR Fuel and Core with SiC Cladding and Channel Box - 14124

The behaviors of BWR fuel and core with SiC fuel components were analyzed in terms of fuel rod performance, neutronics and operational transient and compared with that of Zircaloy fuel components. The analyses showed that despite the differences between SiC and Zircaloy cladding rods in terms of performances, there was no noticeable issue regarding the use of SiC for cladding. The k-infinity of a fuel assembly with SiC components was analyzed, and its results confirmed an increase of reactivity in the SiC fuel assembly due to the smaller neutron absorption cross section. Converted into an extension of discharged burnup, such reactivity increase thus contributes to an improvement in fuel cycle cost. Finally, the behavior of BWR plant with SiC fuel components under a typical transient event was analyzed. The results showed that the BWR plant behavior with SiC is the same as the one with Zircaloy. These results indicate that there is no noticeable problem in the application of SiC to the fuel components, cladding and channel box of BWR, based on the analyses conducted. (authors)