Integrity control of an RBMK-1500 fuel rod locally oxidized under a bounding reactivity-initiated accident

In 2007, the license for the second reactor unit of the Ignalina nuclear power plant was renewed considering the safety-related modifications introduced in this reactor. The Safety Analysis Report for this reactor unit was prepared with more strict criteria. The bounding reactivity-initiated accident (RIA) performed by the Lithuanian Energy Institute could be mentioned as an example. The performed analysis demonstrated that even when the worst initial conditions and possible uncertainties are considered, the fuel cladding remains intact. However, the analysis was performed assuming a fresh fuel assembly. In this study, an analysis of the fuel rod cladding behavior in the RBMK-1500 reactor following a bounding RIA is performed using the computational codes FEMAXI-6 and RELAP5. The analysis is extended by modeling an oxide layer (nodular corrosion) on the external surface cladding. An uncertainty and sensitivity analysis was performed using a method developed by the Society for Plant and Reactor Safety, employing the Software for Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analyses, in order to evaluate the effect of the oxide layer on the inside and outside fuel rod temperatures. The results of the thermo-mechanical analysis (stress, strain, and enthalpy) for a local oxide layer with a thickness of 70 m show that despite the exceeded limit of allowed linear power density, the fuel rod is under acceptable safety conditions.