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Environmental Degradation Of Materials Considered For Accident Tolerant Fuels In Light Water Reactors.

In recent years and months some countries started to label nuclear energy as clean energy because it does not increase the carbon footprint in the planet. Figure 1 shows that nuclear energy is the largest contribution of clean (or green) energy in the USA. This clean energy comes from the commercial operation of boiling water reactors (BWR) and pressurized water reactors (PWR). The total number of nuclear power reactors in the USA is slowly decreasing in time because they became non-economical to operate compared to the burning of natural gas. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that in 2013 there were 102 light water reactors (LWR) producing electricity in the USA, but in 2020 the total LWR number decreased to 94 due to the decommissioning of eight reactors.

Product Number: ED22-17252-SG
Author: Michael D. Worku, Russ M. Fawcett, Rajnikant V. Umretiya, Dan R. Lutz, AndrewK. Hoffman, Evan J. Dolley, Liang Yin, Liang Yin, Raul B. Rebak
Publication Date: 2022
$20.00
$20.00
$20.00

Nuclear power is an important source of clean energy to the civilian grid. The average age of nuclear power stations is increasing, and they are more expensive to operate than plants that burn natural gas to produce electricity. To avoid the premature shut down or decommissioning of more plants in the western world, their lifespan can be extended using safer and economically competitive materials. These materials are called Accident Tolerant Fuels (ATF) and have never been used before in a light water reactor (LWR). Therefore, the environmental degradation behavior of ATF needs to be characterized in the entire fuel cycle. One of the candidate ATF materials are FeCrAl alloys, which have extraordinary resistance to attack by steam, they possess high mechanical properties, and are manufacturable in industrial scale at competitive costs. The use of ATF will allow for higher fuel enrichment and for extending the life of the fuel inside of the LWR, thus minimizing refueling costs.

Nuclear power is an important source of clean energy to the civilian grid. The average age of nuclear power stations is increasing, and they are more expensive to operate than plants that burn natural gas to produce electricity. To avoid the premature shut down or decommissioning of more plants in the western world, their lifespan can be extended using safer and economically competitive materials. These materials are called Accident Tolerant Fuels (ATF) and have never been used before in a light water reactor (LWR). Therefore, the environmental degradation behavior of ATF needs to be characterized in the entire fuel cycle. One of the candidate ATF materials are FeCrAl alloys, which have extraordinary resistance to attack by steam, they possess high mechanical properties, and are manufacturable in industrial scale at competitive costs. The use of ATF will allow for higher fuel enrichment and for extending the life of the fuel inside of the LWR, thus minimizing refueling costs.