Abstract
A fuel pellet for a nuclear reactor includes a plurality of tristructural-isotropic fuel particles embedded in a structural silicon carbide matrix. A method of manufacturing a fuel pellet includes the steps of coating a plurality of tristructural-isotropic fuel particles with a coating slurry including silicon carbide powder to form a plurality of coated fuel particles; compacting the plurality of fuel particles; and sintering the compacted plurality of fuel particles to form the fuel pellet.
Claims
1. A fuel pellet for a nuclear reactor comprising: a silicon carbide matrix; a plurality of tristructural-isotropic fuel particles embedded in the silicon carbide matrix; and two or more burnable poisons; wherein: the two or more burnable poisons include at least one short-acting burnable poison and at least one long-acting burnable poison; the at least one short-acting burnable poison has a larger neutron absorption cross section compared to the at least one long-acting burnable poison; and the at least one short-acting burnable poison includes gadolinium oxide and the at least one long-acting burnable poison includes erbium oxide.
2. The fuel pellet of claim 1, wherein each of the tristructural-isotropic fuel particles is separated from other tristructural-isotropic fuel particles by the silicon carbide matrix.
3. The fuel pellet of claim 1, wherein the two or more burnable poisons further include boron.
4. The fuel pellet of claim 1, further comprising: fabricated coated particles that include the two or more burnable poisons; and wherein the fabricated coated particles are mixed with the tristructural-isotropic fuel particles in the silicon carbide matrix.
5. The fuel pellet of claim 4, wherein the fabricated coated particles are bi-structural isotropic particles.
6. The fuel pellet of claim 4, wherein at least one of the fabricated coated particles includes boron.
7. The fuel pellet of claim 1, wherein the two or more burnable poisons are contained in the silicon carbide matrix.
8. The fuel pellet of claim 1, wherein: each of the tri-structural isotropic fuel particles include: a fuel kernel; and four layers of three isotropic materials; and the four layers of three isotropic materials coat the fuel kernel.
9. The fuel pellet of claim 8, wherein: the fuel kernel includes uranium nitride (UN), uranium carbide (UC), uranium oxicarbide (UCO), or uranium dioxide (UO2); and the four layers of three isotropic materials include a porous buffer layer made of carbon, an inner layer of pyrolytic carbon, a ceramic layer, and an outer layer of pyrolytic carbon.
10. The fuel pellet of claim 9, wherein the ceramic layer of each of the tri-structural isotropic fuel particles is formed of silicon carbide.
11. The fuel pellet of claim 10, wherein the ceramic layer formed of silicon carbide of each of the tri-structural isotropic fuel particles includes at least one of the two or more burnable poisons.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee. Although the characteristic features of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself, and the manner in which it may be made and used, may be better understood by referring to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views and in which:
(2) FIG. 1A provides a general description of FCM fuel;
(3) FIG. 1B depicts a fuel pellet in accordance with this disclosure;
(4) FIG. 2 shows the evolution of CANDU Fuels;
(5) FIG. 3 is a schematic of CANDU fuel canister in accordance with this disclosure;
(6) FIG. 4 is a cross section of 37-element CANDU fuel bundle lattice model in accordance with this disclosure;
(7) FIG. 5A is a graph illustrating the correlation between the k-infinity multiplication factor and effective full-power days for a standard reference fuel and various FCM Uranium Nitride (UN) fuel arrangements in accordance with this disclosure;
(8) FIG. 5B is a graph illustrating the correlation between the k-infinity multiplication factor and burn up for a standard reference fuel and various FCM UN fuel arrangements in accordance with this disclosure;
(9) FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating the correlation between the k-infinity multiplication factor and effective full-power days for a standard reference fuel and various FCM UN fuel arrangements with different burnable poisons in accordance with this disclosure;
(10) FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating results obtained by FCM Fuel Fabrication;
(11) FIG. 8A is a graph illustrating the correlation between the fuel temperature coefficient and effective full-power days for a standard reference fuel and various FCM UN fuel arrangements with and without different burnable poisons in accordance with this disclosure;
(12) FIG. 8B is a graph illustrating the correlation between fuel temperature coefficient and burnup for a standard reference fuel and various FCM UN fuel arrangements with and without different burnable poisons in accordance with this disclosure;
(13) FIG. 9 is a graph illustrating the fuel temperature coefficients at 150 effective full-power days for a standard reference fuel and various FCM UN fuel arrangements with and without different burnable poisons in accordance with this disclosure;
(14) FIG. 10 is a table illustrating the comparison of the fuel mass in a single fuel pin per unit;
(15) FIG. 11A is a graph illustrating the correlation between the k-infinity multiplication factor and effective full-power days for a standard reference fuel and various FCM UN fuel arrangements in accordance with this disclosure;
(16) FIG. 11B is a graph illustrating the correlation between the k-infinity multiplication factor and burnup for a standard reference fuel and various FCM UN fuel arrangements in accordance with this disclosure;
(17) FIG. 12A is a graph illustrating the correlation between the k-infinity multiplication factor and effective full-power days for a standard reference fuel and various FCM fuel arrangements with and without different burnable poisons in accordance with this disclosure;
(18) FIG. 12B is a graph illustrating the correlation between the k-infinity multiplication factor and burnup for a standard reference fuel and various FCM fuel arrangements with and without different burnable poisons in accordance with this disclosure;
(19) FIG. 13A is a graph illustrating the correlation between the k-infinity multiplication factor and effective full-power days for a standard reference fuel and various FCM fuel arrangements with and without different burnable poisons in accordance with this disclosure; and
(20) FIG. 13B is a graph illustrating the correlation between the k-infinity multiplication factor and burnup for a standard reference fuel and various FCM fuel arrangements with and without different burnable poisons in accordance with this disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(21) Aspects of the present invention relate to nuclear fuel pellets, methods of manufacturing nuclear fuel pellets, and methods of introducing nuclear fuel pellets into a nuclear reactor.
(22) An FCM fuel, wherein the uranium oxide pellets are replaced with TRISO particle fuel compacted in silicon carbide (SiC) matrix of similar dimension is described herein.
(23) In one embodiment, the SiC matrix comprises two or more burnable poisons. The two or more burnable poisons comprise at least one short-acting burnable poison and at least one long-acting burnable poison, and can be selected from the group consisting of Gadolinium, Erbium, and Boron. The integrity of the SiC matrix is increased by addition of the at least two burnable poisons, which decreased spikes in reactivity. In another embodiment, the burnable poisons include Gadolinium and Erbium simultaneously in the FCM fuel. Preferably, the short-acting burnable poison, Gadolinium oxide (GD.sub.2O.sub.3), and the long-acting burnable poison, Erbium oxide (Er.sub.2O.sub.3), are used. In the presence of both burnable poisons, the reactivity curve was flattened as illustrated in FIG. 6. Gadolinium and Erbium affect the reactivity of the fuel in different and complementary ways. Gadolinium depresses the initial reactivity very strongly at the beginning stages of operations because of its very large neutron absorption cross section, and will be depleted quickly, whereas Erbium has less strong but more prolonged effect because of its smaller absorption cross section. This resulted in a relatively flat reactivity curve vs. time, and extended the Effective Full Power Days (EFPDs) relative to normal fuel.
(24) The burnable poisons can also be introduced as fabricated coated particles containing them and mixing with the TRISO fuel particles. The fabricated coated particles can include, for example, bi-structural isotropic (BISO) containing the burnable poisons. The In one embodiment, a combination SiC matrix comprising mixing Erbium and Gadolinium is disclosed. Boron can also be used in coated particle form. In one embodiment, the analysis of a typical 37-element CANDU fuel bundle (BRUCE-37) revealed that a combination of Gadolinium and Erbium oxides, when used with current 5% enriched uranium, provided a reactivity behavior suitable for use in current CANDUs and an operationally useful life for the fuel bundle of nearly 350 days, which is roughly double the life (EFPDs) of current CANDU fuel. This will have significant impact on the economics of CANDUs, including the production of smaller amount of spent fuel waste.
(25) Turning FIG. 1a, a general description of the TRISO-based FCM fuel obtained by replacing Carbon with SiC as the compact matrix is provided. A TRISO particle is a micro-fuel particle or kernel composed of fissile UN, UC, or UCO coated with four layers of three isotropic materials. The four layers typically include a porous buffer layer made of carbon, a dense inner layer of pyrolytic carbon (PyC), a ceramic layer of SiC to retain fission products at elevated temperatures, and dense outer layer of PyC.
(26) In one embodiment, the fuel pellet as disclosed herein is manufactured by replacing carbon with SiC at the time of placing the TRISO fuel particles in a mold followed by a process of compression under high pressure and temperature to eliminate the void present between each SiC coated TRISO particle.
(27) FIG. 1b depicts a fuel pellet 100 according to aspects of the present invention. Fuel pellet 100 includes a plurality of TRISO fuel particles 120 embedded in a SiC matrix 110. The plurality of TRISO fuel particles 120 are coated in SiC such that substantially all TRISO fuel particles are separated from each other by SiC. The coating layer can, as described above, contain one or more burnable poisons.
(28) Processing of SiC into dense shapes can be done on an industrial scale at a reasonable cost, such as Nano-powder Infiltration and Transient Eutectoid (NITE) process. Once compacted into the SiC matrix, the FCM fuel pellets can be inserted into standard CANDU compatible clads and assembled into standard fuel bundles (canisters). The clad is comprised of a very thin Zr-alloy, Stainless Steel or SiC. All licensed CANDU fuel bundle geometries can be used with the FCM fuel, including the new CANFLEX. The FCM fuel does not crack under irradiation and does not release fission gases, and does not interact with the clad, therefore gapless fuel elements and collapsible fuel clads can be used. A gas plenum may or may not be provided in the fuel rod.
(29) FIG. 2 depicts the evolution of CANDU fuel bundles (or canisters), wherein the Canadian CANDU fuel has evolved from 7-element fuel bundles in the Nuclear Power Demonstration (NPD) reactor, through 19-elements in the Douglas point reactor, 28-elements in the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, to the 37-element bundle in CANDU 6 and Bruce and Darlington plants. Each evolution in design was accompanied by associated increases in fuel power and performance. The 43-element CANFLEX bundle was an extension to this evolution, in which the outer two rings of elements have a slightly smaller diameter and the remaining central elements have a slightly larger diameter than the standard 37 element design. While several of these fuel bundle designs are in use in Hard Water Reactors (HWR), a typical fuel bundle (or canister) design is the CANDU 6 and Bruce and Darlington, 37-element canister as shown in FIG. 3, comprising zircaloy structural end plate (1), zircaloy end cap (2), zircaloy bearing pads (3), fuel pellets (4), zircaloy fuel sheath (5), and zircaloy spacers (6).
(30) FIG. 4 depicts the geometry of the 37-element fuel bundle which contains 1 element at the center, 6 elements on the inner ring, 12 elements on the intermediate ring, and 18 elements on the outer ring, all of which have the same diameter. In the 37-element fuel bundle, the D20 moderator is isolated from the hot pressure tube by a concentric calandria tube made of zircaloy-2. A gas annulus separates the pressure and calandria tubes.
(31) One result of the FCM fuel assembly depletion calculation is a multiplication factor of the fuel assembly. The multiplication factor (k) measures the average number of neutrons from one fission that cause another fission. The remaining neutrons either are absorbed in non-fission reactions or leave the nuclear system without being absorbed. When the value of k is smaller than one (1), the nuclear system cannot sustain a chain reaction because the reaction dies out. Where the value of k is one, each fission causes an average of one more fission, and thus leads to a constant fission level.
(32) At a given level of k-infinity and a fixed TRISO particle kernel diameter, the rate of fuel burnup bears an inverse correlation with the packing fraction of the FCM fuel pellet. In other words, a higher packing fraction corresponds to a slower fuel burnup. Accordingly, a higher packing fraction (such as 40%) is more desirable than a lower packing fraction (such as 30%) because a longer time to burnup is desirable. Additionally, at a given level of k-infinity and a fixed packing fraction, the fuel burnup rate bears an inverse correlation with the TRISO particle kernel diameter. Therefore, a larger TRISO particle kernel diameter (such as 800 m) is more desirable than a smaller TRISO particle kernel diameter (such as 400 m) because a longer time to complete the fuel burnup is desirable. Furthermore, the burnup rate for a FCM UN fuel with a larger TRISO particle kernel diameter is more comparable to the burnup rate for the standard solid UO2 fuel, which is a desirable feature for replacement fuel assemblies.
(33) FIG. 5A illustrates a correlation between the multiplication factor and effective full-power days (EFPD) for five different FCM UN fuel assemblies and the conventional solid U.sub.2O fuel. EFPD is a measure of a fuel assembly's energy generation, and is determined as a ratio between the heat generation (planned or actual) in megawatt days thermal (MWdt) and licensed thermal power in megawatts thermal (MWt). FIG. 5B illustrates the correlation between the multiplication factor and burnup for five different FCM UN fuel assemblies and the conventional solid U.sub.2O fuel. Both FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B show that, at a fixed TRISO particle kernel diameter size, as the heavy metal mass in an FCM UN fuel is increased, k-infinity of FCM UN fuel with above 4 w/o U-235 enrichment is comparable with solid fuel case. The substitution of UN fuel for the regular UO fuel is critical because of the higher density of UN, which allows lower enrichment to be utilized.
(34) FIG. 6 illustrates the correlation between the multiplication factor and EFPD for the different FCM UN fuel assemblies with different burnable poisons and the conventional solid UO2. FIG. 6 shows that, at a fixed TRISO particle kernel diameter size, the Gr.sub.2O.sub.3 in FCM UN fuel depleted very fast and was discarded. The burnable poisons B.sub.4C and Er.sub.2O.sub.3 decreased initial higher reactivity in an FCM fuel. In case of Er.sub.2O.sub.3 (with a packing fraction of 2.7%), and mixed burnable poison, which comprised 0.2% packing fraction (pf) B.sub.4C BISO fuel pellet and 0.5% volume fraction (vf) Er.sub.2O.sub.3 in SiC matrix, the reactivity curve was comparable to the solid fuel case.
(35) Fabrication of FCM fuel is disclosed, wherein FCM fuel is hot-pressed (for 1 hr at 1850 C. and 15 MPa) to form the SiC matrix around TRISO particles by NITE sintering process. Typically, SiC nano-powder (40 nm particle size) with 5% oxide additives (Y.sub.2O.sub.3+Al.sub.2O.sub.3) are used. The oxide additives (Y.sub.2O.sub.3+Al.sub.2O.sub.3) serve as sintering aids, and the nanopowder allows easy flow and provides very high reaction surface area. The silica present as native oxide along with the oxide additives form eutectic, and the density of SiC matrix formed is 98%. A complete dispersion of oxide additives in the SiC nanopowder mixture is preferable in achieving ideal microstructures. FIG. 7 illustrates that when Gadolinium and Erbium are used directly in the compacts in the form of oxide powders and mixed with the SiC powder in the sintering process that produces the compacts of the FCM fuel; such oxide powders aid in the compacting process by depressing the sintering temperature, and serve to replace the Yttrium and Aluminum oxides that are normally used as sintering aids for SiC matrix. As such, FIG. 7 shows that the burnable poisons such as Gd oxides and Er oxides can be used in the sintering of the SiC matrix to replace Y and Al oxides as sintering aids. An FCM fuel in which Gd oxides and Er oxides can be used to serve the process purpose as sintering aids, in addition to serving a reactive purpose as burnable poisons is disclosed.
(36) Fuel temperature coefficient (FTC) is another temperature coefficient of reactivity. FTC is the change in reactivity per degree change in fuel temperature. FTC quantifies the amount of neutrons that the nuclear fuel absorbs from the fission process as the fuel temperature increases. A negative FTC is generally considered to be even more important than a negative moderator temperature coefficient (MTC) because fuel temperature immediately increases following an increase in reactor power. Moreover, FTC correlates with fuel burnup.
(37) FIG. 8A illustrates the correlation between FTC and EFPD for the different FCM UN fuel assemblies with and without burnable poisons and the conventional solid UO2. FIG. 8B illustrates the correlation between FTC and Burnup for the different FCM UN fuel assemblies with and without burnable poisons and the conventional solid UO2. Both FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B show added advantages of burnable poisons wherein, the results of FCM fuel bundle calculation are that a more negative FTC is achieved with respect to the original solid fuel case.
(38) FIG. 9 illustrates the correlation between FTC at 150 EFPC at various temperatures for the different FCM UN fuel assemblies with and without burnable poisons and the conventional solid UO2. FIG. 9 provides further support that results of FCM fuel bundle calculation are that a more negative FTC is achieved with respect to the original solid fuel case.
(39) FIG. 10 shows a table highlighting the comparison of the fuel mass in a single fuel pin per unit.
(40) FIG. 11A illustrates the correlation between the multiplication factor and EFPD for the different FCM UN fuel assemblies and the conventional solid UO2. For example, the k-infinity of the FCM UN fuel assemblies, both at 4.0 w/o U-235 enrichment and 5.0 w/o U-235 enrichment, is very high at around 1.4 and 1.5. FIG. 11B illustrates the correlation between the multiplication factor and burnup for the different FCM UN fuel assemblies and the conventional solid UO2 fuel. For example, the burnup rates of the FCM UN fuel assemblies, both at 4.0 w/o U-235 enrichment and 5.0 w/o U-235 enrichment, are very high as compared to the conventional solid UO2 fuel. FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B show that without the presence of burnable poisons the reactivity of FCM UN fuel assemblies, both at 4.0 w/o U-235 enrichment and 5.0 w/o U-235 enrichment, is very high.
(41) FIG. 12A illustrates the correlation between the multiplication factor and EFPD for the different FCM fuel assemblies, with 4.0 w/o U-235 enrichment, at various concentrations of burnable poisons, and the conventional solid UO2. For example, the k-infinity of the FCM fuel with no burnable poisons is very high, at about 1.5; and k-infinity for FCM fuels comprising burnable poisons is comparable to the conventional solid UO2 fuel. FIG. 12B illustrates the correlation between the multiplication factor and burnup for the different FCM fuel assemblies, with 4.0 w/o U-235 enrichment, at various concentrations of burnable poisons, and the conventional solid UO2. FIG. 12B shows the burnup rates of the FCM fuels with 4.0 w/o U-235 enrichment, with the burnable poisons Gd.sub.2O.sub.3 and Er.sub.2O.sub.3, both at various concentrations, are comparable to that of conventional solid UO2 fuel.
(42) FIG. 13A illustrates the correlation between the multiplication factor and EFPD for the different FCM fuel assemblies, with 5.0 w/o U-235 enrichment, at various concentrations of burnable poisons, and the conventional solid UO2. For example, the k-infinity of the FCM UN fuel with no burnable poisons is very high, at about 1.5; and k-infinity for FCM fuels comprising burnable poisons is comparable to the conventional solid UO2 fuel. FIG. 13B illustrates the correlation between the multiplication factor and burnup for the different FCM fuel assemblies, with 5.0 w/o U-235 enrichment, at various concentrations of burnable poisons, and the conventional solid UO2. FIG. 13B shows the burnup rates of the FCM fuels with 5.0 w/o U-235 enrichment with the burnable poisons Gd.sub.2O.sub.3 and Er.sub.2O.sub.3, both at various concentrations, are comparable to that of conventional solid UO2 fuel.
(43) Obviously, many additional modifications and variations of the present disclosure are possible in light of the above teachings. Thus, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the disclosure may be practiced otherwise than is specifically described above.
(44) The foregoing description of the disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed. The description was selected to best explain the principles of the present teachings and practical application of these principles to enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the disclosure in various embodiments and various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the disclosure not be limited by the specification, but be defined by the claims set forth below.
