HEAT TRANSFER OF CANDU FUEL BUNDLES AFTER A LOSS OF COOLANT ACCIDENT IN AN IRRADIATED FUEL BAY

Abstract

Discharged CANDU fuel is stored under water in irradiated fuel bays (IFBs) to remove their decay heat. If the fuel is exposed to air, a self-sustaining reaction could result when the Zircaloy-4 sheathing reaches temperatures sufficient for a breakaway oxidation. To predict when the transition occurs, a 2-D fuel bundle cross-section model in air was developed using the COMSOL Multiphysics® platform. Breakaway was predicted to occur at its earliest within 2.6 hours for a range of recently discharged bundle powers. It was concluded due to the time required for heat up and cracking of the oxide layer, sufficient margin exists for operators to intervene before a passively cooled, isolated bundle undergoes breakaway. To examine the effect of multiple bundles, a 3-D model based on a quarter of a stand-alone spent fuel rack was developed to calculate the steady-state temperature and mass fluxes of air. The model provided a lower bound for the ambient temperatures because the flow resistance of the bundle was not considered. The correct incorporation of flow resistance is a necessary step before conclusions could be made about the safety of IFBs. However, the analysis using a Computational Fluid Dynamics model for a 0.5 MW fuel rack, indicated that the maximum temperature of the air within the rack was 642 K and located at the centre of the outlet. This result is encouraging to support the safety of IFBs, as the temperature is well below the 873 K, which is approximately the minimum required for a breakaway reaction.