PANCHO - Physics and Chemistry of Nuclear Fuel

Nuclear fuel both produces the energy in nuclear power plants and acts as the first two barriers to the spread of radioactive fission products. The UO2 matrix of the fuel pellets contains approximately 99% of the born radionuclides, while the cladding tube contains the rest. Therefore the integrity of the fuel during normal operation and accidents is of utmost importance. Traditionally fuel performance has been analysed with integral fuel codes that contain semi-empirical correlations deduced from experiments. These correlations and models become more and more mechanistic as the understanding and the demands increase.

The project PANCHO – Physics and Chemistry of nuclear fuels investigates the integral fuel behaviour as well as combines the experimental and the modelling approaches in studying several topical features of nuclear fuel behaviour. These topics are the the chemistry of the fuel pellet and the mechanical response of the cladding.