CIRENE Fuel Bundle Integrity Following a Feeder Break

Abstract

This paper describes the study done on evaluation of the fuel bundle integrity following a feeder break in the CIRENE reactor. Fuel bundle integrity is determined from integrity of the fuel elements and the end plates. An elastic-plastic analysis of the endplate using commercial finite element computer code MARC was supplemented by classical analysis. The study concludes that the fuel elements are likely to survive the load, but the endplates may break in highly irradiated bundles. The coolant flow in the channel could be maintained since the fuel elements retain their integrity keeping the channel free of obstructions.