Nuclear Energy Agency Online Bulletin

April 2001

Nuclear safety


Special Expert Group on Fuel Safety Margins

A topical meeting on LOCA Fuel Safety Criteria was held in Aix-en-Provence on 22-23 March. Research and industry organisations from France, Hungary, Japan, the Russian Federation and the USA presented 14 papers in all. The papers covered three main issues: post-quench ductility; the impact of axial constraint; and fuel relocation. Proceedings of the meeting, along with conclusions and recommendations, will be published shortly.

Author Organisation Paper Title
G. Hache IPSN,
France
The rationale of the LOCA 10CFR50.46b criteria for Zircaloy and comparison with E110 alloy
     
Ralph Meyer

NRC,
USA

NRC program for addressing effects of high burnup and cladding alloy on LOCA safety assessment
     
Laszló Maróti AEKI Budapest,
Hungary
Ring-compression test results and experiments supporting LOCA PCT, oxidation and channel blockage criteria
     
A. Le Bourhis Framatome,
France
Justification of the M5TM behavior in LOCA
     
W.J. Leech Westinghouse,
USA
Ductility testing of Zircaloy-4 and ZIRLOTM Westinghouse cladding after high temperature oxidation in steam
     
Hee Chung, R.V. Strain, T. Bray, M.C. Billone Argonne National Laboratory,
USA
Progress in ANL/USNRC/EPRI program on LOCA
     
Yu. K. Bibilashvili, N.B. Sokolov,
L.N. Andreeva-Andrievskaya, et al.
VNIINM,
Russian Federation
Thermomechanical properties of Oxydized Zirconium based alloy claddings in LOCA conditions
     
Nicolas Waeckel, Patrick Jacques EDF,
France
Analysis of fuel rod axial forces during LOCA quench
Rosa Yang, Robert Montgomery EPRI,
USA
     
Hiroshi Uetsuka, F. Nagase, JAERI,
Japan
Progress in JAERI program on high burnup fuel behavior under a LOCA transient
     
Michel Lambert, Yann Le Hénaff EDF/SEPTEN,
France
Synthesis of an EDF and FRAMATOME ANP analysis on fuel relocation impact in large break LOCA
Jean-Luc Gandrille Framatome ANP,
France
     
C. Grandjean, G. Hache, C. Rongier IPSN,
France
High burnup UO2 Fuel LOCA calculations to evaluate the possible impact of fuel relocation after burst
     
Hiroshi Hayashi NUPEC,
Japan
High Burnup Phenomena Affecting the Failure Mode of Fuel Japan Rods During LOCA
     
V.P. Smirnov et al. RIAR,
Russian Federation
Results of the experimental research on high burnup VVER-type fuel behaviour in LOCA conditions
     
A. Mailliat IPSN,
France
IPSN analysis of experimental needs requested for solving pending LOCA issues

The meeting was chaired by Dr. Georges Hache from IPSN. It was organised under the auspices of the CSNI and its Special Expert Group on Fuel Safety Margins in co-operation with IPSN Cadarache.

CSNI workshop on seismic re-evaluation of nuclear facilities

A workshop to discuss seismic re-evaluation of nuclear facilities was held at the European Commission Joint Research Centre's Ispra site on 26-27 March. Seismic re-evaluations have been made in many countries, covering many types of facility. However, not all have fully implented the process. Some NEA Member countries reported partial completion as part of an ongoing process, or re-evaluation being tied to a periodic safety review or other licensing arrangements. Over 50 participants took part in the workshop, representing a broad mix of academic and nuclear industry officials. Their experiences provided a good spread of national and international perspectives. A total of 26 papers were presented, which will be published by the end of 2001.

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