Silicon carbide has enjoyed both fundamental study and practical application since the early days of nuclear materials science. In the past decade, with the increased interest in increasing efficiency, solving the real issues of waste disposal, and the constant mission to improve safety of nuclear reactors, silicon carbide has become even more attractive. The purpose of this paper is to discuss recent research that not only strives to understand the remarkable radiation stability of this material, but also the practical application of silicon carbide as waste form and for fission and fusion power applications.

Radiation effects in SiC for nuclear structural applications

Microencapsulated fuel technology for commercial light water and advanced reactor application

A review of TRISO fuel performance models

Towards sustainable energy. Generation of hydrogen fuel using nuclear energy

This chapter presents a comprehensive review of the physicochemical properties of actinide carbides. It analyzes the different metal–carbon systems one by one, starting from the temperature versus composition phase diagram. The most important ternary systems, including oxide- and nitride-carbides, are also reviewed. Known physical and chemical properties of the single compounds are presented, from the structure of the matter to the thermodynamic functions, and from the transport properties to the mechanical and optical parameters. This chapter addresses not only material features relevant to the application of actinide carbides as nuclear fuels, but also more fundamental properties of interest for basic research.

Thermodynamic and Thermophysical Properties of the Actinide Carbides

Deep-Burn: making nuclear waste transmutation practical

The helium-cooled, graphite-moderated Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) has become the centerpiece of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) program. The NGNP program aims to construct a VHTR prototype, with the participation of industry, by the year 2021.Copyright © 2008 by ASME

Project Deep-Burn: Development of Transuranic Fuel for High-Temperature Helium-Cooled Reactors

Performance of PyC, SiC, ZrC coatings in the geologic repository

Spent fuel elements discharged from the Deep Burn Modular Helium Reactor (DB-MHR) are excellent waste forms for permanent disposal in a geologic repository. The nuclear-grade graphite fuel elements and the ceramic coatings on the fuel particles are highly corrosion-resistant, as-manufactured engineered barriers that should remain intact over geologic time scales and outlast the residual radiotoxicity remaining in DB-MHR spent fuel. The spent fuel is also highly resistant to proliferation because of the very high levels of plutonium destruction and degradation achieved by the DB-MHR fuel cycle. (author)

DEEP BURN: Destruction of nuclear waste using MHR technology. Impact on spent fuel management

The Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP), the Deep Burn Pebble Bed Reactor (DB-PBR) and the Deep Burn Prismatic Block Reactor (DB-PMR) are all based on fuels that use TRISO particles as their fundamental constituent. The TRISO particle properties include very high durability in radiation environments, hence the designs reliance on the TRISO to form the principal barrier to radioactive materials release. This durability forms the basis for the selection of this fuel type for applications such as Deep Bun (DB), which require exposures up to four times those expected for light water reactors. It follows that the study and prediction of the durability of TRISO particles must be carried as part of the safety and overall performance characterization of all the designs mentioned above. Such evaluations have been carried out independently by the performers of the DB project using independently developed codes. These codes, PASTA, PISA and COPA, incorporate models for stress analysis on the various layers of the TRISO particle (and of the intervening matrix material for some of them), model for fission products release and migration then accumulation within the SiC layer of the TRISO particle, just next to the layer, models for free oxygen and CO formationmore » and migration to the same location, models for temperature field modeling within the various layers of the TRISO particle and models for the prediction of failure rates. All these models may be either internal to the code or external. This large number of models and the possibility of different constitutive data and model formulations and the possibility of a variety of solution techniques makes it highly unlikely that the model would give identical results in the modeling of identical situations. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an inter-comparison between the codes and to identify areas of agreement and areas that need reconciliation. The inter-comparison has been carried out by the cooperating institutions using a set of pre-defined TRISO conditions (burnup levels, temperature or power levels, etc.) and the outcome will be tabulated in the full length paper. The areas of agreement will be pointed out and the areas that require further modeling or reconciliation will be shown. In general the agreement between the codes is good within less than one order of magnitude in the prediction of TRISO failure rates.« less

Donald McEachern

Papers

Deep-Burn: making nuclear waste transmutation practical

Project Deep-Burn: Development of Transuranic Fuel for High-Temperature Helium-Cooled Reactors

Performance of PyC, SiC, ZrC coatings in the geologic repository

DEEP BURN: Destruction of nuclear waste using MHR technology. Impact on spent fuel management

Inter-comparison of Computer Codes for TRISO-based Fuel Micro-Modeling and Performance Assessment