Abstract
•Viability of using U-Zr metal alloy as a fuel for AP-1000.•Investigation of the operating safety parameters for U-Zr at different Zr concentrations.•Analyzation of the Thermal-hydraulic and Solid mechanics of U-Zr metal alloy.•Studying the radial power peaking factor for U-Zr metal alloy.
This paper provides a deep analysis of the possibility of utilizing uranium–zirconium metallic alloys as Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) in the AP-1000 nuclear power reactor. MCNPX 2.7 computer code was utilized to investigate the neutronic characteristics, while COMSOL-Multiphysics was applied to simulate thermal–hydraulic (TH) and solid structure analysis of the proposed fuel. Different concentrations of Uranium–zirconium metallic alloy have been investigated to obtain the optimal composition. From the investigated compositions, both U-10% Zr and U-20% Zr was selected to make the TH and solid structure on them as they give almost the same neutronic performance of UO2. From the neutronic analysis, the maximum power peaking factor (max PPF) was determined. The TH and solid structure analysis have been done on the hot channels that have the max PPF. All neutronic, TH and solid structure analyses have been evaluated for U-10% Zr and U-20% Zr and compared to the standard fuel material (UO2). The TH and solid structure analyses results reflect that the use of U-Zr metallic alloy in the AP-1000 with its current constitutes is not safer than the use of the UO2.