A PCMI Analysis for a DB-PWR Fuel Rod with TRISO-SiC pellets

The deep burn-pressurized water reactor (DB-PWR) converts the transuranic (TRU) radionuclides, recovered from spent light water reactor (LWR) fuel, into shorterlived fission products (FPs). It can reduce the long-term storage requirements for the high-level waste generated from currently operating nuclear power plants. The TRU recovered from the LWR spent fuel is manufactured as a kernel which is the innermost constituent of a coated fuel particle of a high temperature gas cooled reactor (HTGR). In a DB-PWR, some fuel rods contain SiC pellets in which a large number of tri-isotropic coated fuel particles (TRISOs) are embedded, instead of usual UO2 pellets. The high conversion of TRUs requires the high burnup of the DB-PWR fuels. The high burnup increases the possibility of a pellet and cladding mechanical interaction (PCMI) which may break mechanically the cladding. It is expected that there will be no PCMI between a TRISO-SiC pellet and a Zircaloy cladding during the life time of a DB-PWR fuel rod because the operation temperature in a DB-PWR is much lower than that in a HTGR. This study treats the quantitative analysis of a PCMI between a TRISO-SiC pellet and a Zircaloy cladding at high burnup