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Swiss nuclear power and the case for long-term operation
Designed for 40 years but built to last far longer, Switzerland’s nuclear power plants have all entered long-term operation. Yet age alone says little about safety or performance. Through continuous upgrades, strict regulatory oversight, and extensive aging management, the country’s reactors are being prepared for decades of continued operation, in line with international practice.
Claudio Ronchi, Jacques van de Laar, Hubert Blank
Nuclear Technology | Volume 68 | Number 1 | January 1985 | Pages 48-65
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT85-A33566
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A set of calculations has been carried out with the EUGES-ARIES code system to study the swelling performance limits of a sodium-bonded mixed-carbide pin design, which was recently proposed for the introduction of advanced fuels into liquid-metal fast breeder reactors. The results indicate that a useful peak burnup of 150000 MWd/ton can be attained with pin diametral plastic deformations up to 2%, under optimal irradiation conditions. However, probable thermal disturbances in the fuel and cladding mechanical deterioration due to steel carburization still represent a risk source for pin failure. A further improvement of the swelling performance of mixed carbides is therefore needed to refine the examined pin design for future full-scale reactor applications.