Publications Details

Integrating used fuel degradation models into generic performance assessment

Sassani, David C.; Jove Colon, Carlos F.; Weck, Philippe F.

Within the Used Fuel Disposition Campaign (UFDC) of the United States Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE), we have investigated used fuel (UF) degradation and radionuclide mobilization (UFD&RM) and implemented/produced a set of models encompassing radiolytic processes, UF matrix degradation, instant release fractions (IRF) of key radionuclides, and first-principles atomistic models for UO2 and its potential corrosion products. The goals of this collaborative effort (among three different national laboratories: Argonne National Laboratory [ANL]; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory [PNNLJ; and Sandia National Laboratories [SNL]) are to enhance the understanding of UF degradation processes and the technical bases for safety analyses in a range of generic disposal environments. In addition to these modeling efforts, integrated experimental studies are being conducted at both ANL and PNNL to evaluate and validate (and ultimately expand) process models for radiolytic phenomena and UF matrix degradation in various geologic disposal conditions. Integration and coupling of these process models into a generic performance assessment model (GPAM) is one focus of SNL efforts within the generic analyses of the Engineered Barrier System (EBS) for various repository environments. As discussed below, the present work has produced a set of models for implementation into the GPAM as an initial step towards an enhanced coupled model of source-term processes.