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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Powering the future: How the DOE is fueling nuclear fuel cycle research and development
As global interest in nuclear energy surges, the United States must remain at the forefront of research and development to ensure national energy security, advance nuclear technologies, and promote international cooperation on safety and nonproliferation. A crucial step in achieving this is analyzing how funding and resources are allocated to better understand how to direct future research and development. The Department of Energy has spearheaded this effort by funding hundreds of research projects across the country through the Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP). This initiative has empowered dozens of universities to collaborate toward a nuclear-friendly future.
M. J. Ades, K. L. Peddicord, S. D. Montgomery
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 84 | Number 1 | May 1983 | Pages 47-58
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NSE83-A17456
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A promising fuel concept for fast breeder reactor applications is sphere-pac mixed carbide fuel. To support this development, it is necessary to devise analytical methods to assess and predict the behavior of fuel pins under irradiation conditions. This Note describes the modeling of the thermal aspect of this behavior. As a first step in treating a sphere-pac mixed carbide fuel pin, models for various physical phenomena have been developed and integrated to give the overall fuel pin response. Included are descriptions for the thermal conductivity of the packed particle bed in its initial configuration and during restructuring, the sintering of fuel spheres leading to the restructuring within the pin, the temperature distribution, grain growth and porosity redistribution, gas release and free swelling, and the effect of the gas in the free volume of the pin. The models describing the various thermal components were incorporated into the computer program SPECKLE-I. In the absence of a detailed mechanism analysis, restrictive assumptions were made. While the code is a limited first step in the analysis, results from SPECKLE-I were compared with several pin irradiations. Calculations of gas pressure and composition, fractional gas release, and the extent of initial-stage restructuring within the pin were compared to measurements. Initial results generally agree to within 20% or better for the parameters investigated.