Thermal hydraulic assessment of a new design of PWR fuel assembly

Abstract The recycling of the spent fuel of nuclear reactors is the important aspects in the fuel cycle technology. One of the recycling of the spent fuel is reuse of spent PWR (pressurized water reactor) fuel in CANDU reactor after re-fabricated into CANDU (CANda deuterium uranium) fuel bundles; this technology called Direct Use of Spent PWR Fuel In CANDU Reactor (DUPIC). This technology was modified however; it introduced a new design for the PWR fuel assembly. The new fuel can be transferred directly to CANDU reactors without processing, only after a certain cooling time. In this study the evaluation from thermal hydraulic point of view is done. A Westinghouse PWR fuel assembly was selected as a reference. Thermal hydraulic simulation for reference and new design fuel occurred by using RELAP5 (Reactor Excursion and Leak Analysis Program) code, then comparing the both results. The hottest rod was considered a worst condition in the reactor so the model simulated it rather than whole core. The new design...