Prediction of peak cladding temperature in a three-loop pressurised water reactor with accident- tolerant fuel during loss-of-coolant accident

Safety analysis of a PWR fuelled with ATF (Accident-Tolerant Fuel) has been performed at LB-LOCA condition. The ATF being used is uranium silicide (U3Si2) and FCMF (Fully Ceramic Microencapsulated Fuel) with silicon carbide (SiC) and FeCrAl alloy as a cladding material. The objective of this research is to obtain dynamic characteristics of ATF-fuelled PWR at LB-LOCA condition. RELAP5-3D system code was used to model the reactor and simulate the transient. A safe shutdown of the reactor was assumed after a depressurisation following a double-ended guillotine breach in the main pipe. The results of simulations show that during LB-LOCA with partially functioning ECCS, the transient PCTs were far below the maximum allowable limit. The use of ATF could decrease the maximum transient PCT. It is shown that U3Si2 fuel with FeCrAl cladding has the minimum PCT transient and the shortest quench time to steady state condition after transient initiation