Melting Temperature of MOX fuel for FBR Applications: TRANSURANUS Modelling and Experimental Findings

This document focuses on the TRANSURANUS modelling of the melting temperature of MOX fuel for fast breeder reactors (FBRs). After a review of the models available in the code and in the open literature, their predictions were compared with an experimental dataset compiled from published measurements. A critical discussion of the comparison provided useful indications for the future development of the code and for the recommendations to the users involved in the analysis of the performance of fast reactor fuel. A special attention was given to the presence of minor actinides (MAs), a topic of great importance for the closure of nuclear fuel cycle. The analysis was carried out assuming, in the frame of GEN-IV and the FP7 PELGRIMM project (PELlets versus GRanulates: Irradiation, Manufacturing & Modelling), a homogeneous strategy for plutonium recycling.JRC.E.3-Materials researc