Comparative neutronic assessment of U3Si2-based accident-tolerant fuels in a two-batch APR-1400

IF 3.5 3区物理与天体物理 Q3 CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL

Radiation Physics and Chemistry Pub Date : 2026-10-01 DOI:10.1016/j.radphyschem.2026.114509

Khurrum Saleem Chaudri, Mohammad Alrwashdeh, Mohamed Lahdour, Antonio Cammi, Saeed A. Alameri

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Uranium silicide (U3Si2) is a leading candidate for accident-tolerant fuel in light-water reactors due to its higher uranium density and superior thermal conductivity compared with conventional UO2. However, its limited oxidation resistance and phase stability under reactor-relevant conditions have motivated the development of alternative designs, including composite and doped fuel architectures. This study presents a comparative neutronic evaluation of several U3Si2-based fuel concepts for a 24-month APR-1400 equilibrium core using the CASMO4E/SIMULATE3 code system. The CASMO4E/SIMULATE3 calculation route for accident-tolerant fuel analysis is verified against the VERA ATF benchmark, proposed by ORNL. The investigated options include monolithic U3Si2, homogeneous U3Si2–UB2 composite fuel, Cr-doped U3Si2, UO2–U3Si2 composite fuel, and newly proposed multilayer U3Si2/UB2 configurations using natural boron. These multilayer concepts are introduced to suppress excess reactivity, reduce dependence on costly B-11 enrichment, and, in the outer-layer configuration, limit direct exposure of U3Si2 to water or steam.

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两批APR-1400中基于u3si2的耐事故燃料的比较中子评价

与传统的UO2相比，硅化铀（U3Si2）具有更高的铀密度和优越的导热性，是轻水反应堆中耐事故燃料的主要候选材料。然而，在反应堆相关条件下，其有限的抗氧化性和相稳定性推动了替代设计的发展，包括复合和掺杂燃料结构。本研究使用CASMO4E/SIMULATE3代码系统，对几个基于u3si2的燃料概念进行了为期24个月的APR-1400平衡堆芯的比较中子评估。针对ORNL提出的VERA ATF基准，验证了CASMO4E/SIMULATE3用于容错燃料分析的计算路径。研究的方案包括单片U3Si2、均相U3Si2 - UB2复合燃料、掺cr的U3Si2、UO2-U3Si2复合燃料，以及新提出的使用天然硼的多层U3Si2/UB2结构。引入这些多层概念是为了抑制过度反应性，减少对昂贵的B-11浓缩的依赖，并且，在外层配置中，限制U3Si2直接暴露于水或蒸汽中。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Radiation Physics and Chemistry 化学-核科学技术

CiteScore

5.60

自引率

17.20%

发文量

574

审稿时长

12 weeks

期刊介绍： Radiation Physics and Chemistry is a multidisciplinary journal that provides a medium for publication of substantial and original papers, reviews, and short communications which focus on research and developments involving ionizing radiation in radiation physics, radiation chemistry and radiation processing. The journal aims to publish papers with significance to an international audience, containing substantial novelty and scientific impact. The Editors reserve the rights to reject, with or without external review, papers that do not meet these criteria. This could include papers that are very similar to previous publications, only with changed target substrates, employed materials, analyzed sites and experimental methods, report results without presenting new insights and/or hypothesis testing, or do not focus on the radiation effects.