Angra-1 16NGF next generation fuel assembly mechanic tests

Industrias Nucleares do Brasil (INB), Korea Nuclear Fuel Company, Limited (KNFC) and Westinghouse Electric Company LLC (Westinghouse) work together in order to create a product - Nuclear Fuel Assembly- to fulfill the severe conditions required to high burnup operation. In order to operate with more economic load pattern and to increase the profits, a new fuel assemblies design was created in order to withstand the severe operations conditions and allow the utilities uses more reactive cores. A higher discharge burnup means better uranium utilization, reducing the uranium requirements and the amount of fuel assemblies disposed during the utility life. In consequence of higher neutron fluency, all the fuel assembly mechanics and structural features were redesigned. This new concept of mechanical design, where severe structural criteria are required, was tested for static and dynamic conditions. Axial, lateral and tilt characteristics were determined and used to validate FEA models and generate constants to be used in core safety analysis. The tests results were very useful to establish the new fuel assembly limits and to validate numeric models that represent the fuel assembly static and dynamic structural behavior during shipment, handling and operation in Angra-1 core. (author)