Nuclear Fuel Innovation

This bachelor thesis deals with the latest findings about nuclear fuel, especially fuels for pressurized water reactors. The thesis provides an overview of the latest research in the field of fuel cladding, which separates the fuel from coolant. Part is focused on burnable absorbers, which helps to reduce neutron flux during the first year of new fuel assembly. Furthermore, the thesis briefly discusses transmutation fuel cycles. the main empahsis is focused on ATF fuels, in the form of fuels with enhanced thermal conductivity. Develompment in this field could increase the safety and usage of the nuclear energy. The latest part is focused on applications of computational program FEMAXI-6 and analyze its outputs. This program deals with calculations of behavior of high-burnup fuel elements. As data for inputs were used real data from the nuclear power plant Dukovany