REVIEW of FUEL FAILURES in WATER COOLED REACTORS the Following States Are Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency
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IAEA Nuclear Energy Series IAEA Nuclear No. NF-T-2.1 No. Reactors Water-Cooled in Failures Fuel of Review IAEA Nuclear Energy Series No. NF-T-2.1 Basic Review of Principles Fuel Failures in Water Cooled Reactors Objectives Guides Technical Reports INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA ISBN 978–92–0–102610–1 ISSN 1995–7807 10-08811_P1445_cover.indd 1 2010-06-24 14:41:44 IAEA NUCLEAR ENERGY SERIES PUBLICATIONS STRUCTURE OF THE IAEA NUCLEAR ENERGY SERIES Under the terms of Articles III.A and VIII.C of its Statute, the IAEA is authorized to foster the exchange of scientific and technical information on the peaceful uses of atomic energy. The publications in the IAEA Nuclear Energy Series provide information in the areas of nuclear power, nuclear fuel cycle, radioactive waste management and decommissioning, and on general issues that are relevant to all of the above mentioned areas. 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Information may be provided via the IAEA Internet site, by post, at the address given above, or by email to [email protected]. 10-08811_P1445_cover.indd 2 2010-06-24 14:41:44 REVIEW OF FUEL FAILURES IN WATER COOLED REACTORS The following States are Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency: AFGHANISTAN GHANA NORWAY ALBANIA GREECE OMAN ALGERIA GUATEMALA PAKISTAN ANGOLA HAITI PALAU ARGENTINA HOLY SEE PANAMA ARMENIA HONDURAS PARAGUAY AUSTRALIA HUNGARY PERU AUSTRIA ICELAND PHILIPPINES AZERBAIJAN INDIA POLAND BAHRAIN INDONESIA PORTUGAL BANGLADESH IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF QATAR BELARUS IRAQ REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA BELGIUM IRELAND ROMANIA BELIZE ISRAEL RUSSIAN FEDERATION BENIN ITALY SAUDI ARABIA BOLIVIA JAMAICA BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA JAPAN SENEGAL BOTSWANA JORDAN SERBIA BRAZIL KAZAKHSTAN SEYCHELLES BULGARIA KENYA SIERRA LEONE BURKINA FASO KOREA, REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE BURUNDI KUWAIT SLOVAKIA CAMBODIA KYRGYZSTAN SLOVENIA CAMEROON LATVIA SOUTH AFRICA CANADA LEBANON SPAIN CENTRAL AFRICAN LESOTHO SRI LANKA REPUBLIC LIBERIA SUDAN CHAD LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA SWEDEN CHILE LIECHTENSTEIN SWITZERLAND CHINA LITHUANIA SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC COLOMBIA LUXEMBOURG TAJIKISTAN CONGO MADAGASCAR THAILAND COSTA RICA MALAWI THE FORMER YUGOSLAV CÔTE DIVOIRE MALAYSIA REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA CROATIA MALI TUNISIA CUBA MALTA TURKEY CYPRUS MARSHALL ISLANDS UGANDA CZECH REPUBLIC MAURITANIA UKRAINE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC MAURITIUS UNITED ARAB EMIRATES OF THE CONGO MEXICO UNITED KINGDOM OF DENMARK MONACO GREAT BRITAIN AND DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MONGOLIA NORTHERN IRELAND ECUADOR MONTENEGRO EGYPT MOROCCO UNITED REPUBLIC EL SALVADOR MOZAMBIQUE OF TANZANIA ERITREA MYANMAR UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ESTONIA NAMIBIA URUGUAY ETHIOPIA NEPAL UZBEKISTAN FINLAND NETHERLANDS VENEZUELA FRANCE NEW ZEALAND VIETNAM GABON NICARAGUA YEMEN GEORGIA NIGER ZAMBIA GERMANY NIGERIA ZIMBABWE The Agency’s Statute was approved on 23 October 1956 by the Conference on the Statute of the IAEA held at United Nations Headquarters, New York; it entered into force on 29 July 1957. The Headquarters of the Agency are situated in Vienna. Its principal objective is “to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world’’. IAEA NUCLEAR ENERGY SERIES No. NF-T-2.1 REVIEW OF FUEL FAILURES IN WATER COOLED REACTORS INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 2010 COPYRIGHT NOTICE All IAEA scientific and technical publications are protected by the terms of the Universal Copyright Convention as adopted in 1952 (Berne) and as revised in 1972 (Paris). The copyright has since been extended by the World Intellectual Property Organization (Geneva) to include electronic and virtual intellectual property. Permission to use whole or parts of texts contained in IAEA publications in printed or electronic form must be obtained and is usually subject to royalty agreements. Proposals for non-commercial reproductions and translations are welcomed and considered on a case-by-case basis. Enquiries should be addressed to the IAEA Publishing Section at: Marketing and Sales Unit, Publishing Section International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna International Centre PO Box 100 1400 Vienna, Austria fax: +43 1 2600 29302 tel.: +43 1 2600 22417 email: [email protected] http://www.iaea.org/books © IAEA, 2010 Printed by the IAEA in Austria June 2010 STI/PUB/1445 IAEA Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Review of fuel failures in water cooled reactors. — Vienna : International Atomic Energy Agency, 2010. p. ; 29 cm. — (IAEA nuclear energy series, ISSN 1995–7807; no. NF-T-2.1) STI/PUB/1445 ISBN 978–92–0–102610–1 Includes bibliographical references. 1. Nuclear power plants — Safety measures. 2. Nuclear power plants — Management. I. International Atomic Energy Agency. II. Series. IAEAL 10–00635 FOREWORD In spite of the low fuel failure rate in currently operating water cooled nuclear power reactors, there is a continued high level of interest in fuel failures, for two reasons. First, the problems and inconvenience caused by fuel failures in plant operations can still be significant. Second, the generally accepted goal of achieving a zero failure rate requires detailed knowledge of existing failure mechanisms, their root causes and remedies. Against this background, and following a recommendation by the Technical Working Group on Fuel Performance and Technology (TWGFPT), the IAEA decided to update an earlier study on fuel failures, Review of Fuel Failures in Water Cooled Reactors (Technical Reports Series No. 388), study data from different water cooled reactor types, including LWR, PWR, BWR, WWER and heavy water CANDU/PHWR types, and to gather as much experience as possible. Fuel failure statistics were derived from a questionnaire distributed to all TWGFPT members and through analysis of available publications. This review provides information on all aspects of fuel failures in current nuclear power plant operations. The IAEA is grateful to all of the experts who contributed to the present study. The IAEA officer responsible for this publication was V. Inozemtsev of the Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology. CONTENTS SUMMARY . 1 1. INTRODUCTION . 3 1.1. Background. 3 1.2. Objective. 3 1.3. Scope. 3 1.4. Structure . 4 References to Section 1 . 4 2. EVOLUTION OF FUEL OPERATING ENVIRONMENT AND FUEL DESIGN CHANGES . 5 2.1. Evolution of fuel operating environment . 5 2.1.1. Economic drivers . 5 2.1.2. Safety . 7 2.1.3. Water chemistry . 8 2.2. Fuel design evolution . 8 2.2.1. BWRs . 9 2.2.2. PWRs . 9 2.2.3. WWERs . 10 2.2.4. CANDU/PHWRs . 10 2.3. Fuel types in operation . 11 References to Section 2 . 12 3. WORLD OVERVIEW OF FUEL FAILURES FROM 1994 TO 2006 . 13 3.1. Introduction. 13 3.2. Coolant activity levels. 13 3.3. Methodology of fuel failure rate evaluation . 13 3.3.1. Fuel rod failure rate calculation methodology used in Technical Reports Series No. 388 . 13 3.3.2. Fuel failure rate calculation methodology used for the present review (Part 1) . 14 3.4. Collection and treatment of fuel failure data . 15 3.4.1. Involvement of the IAEA Technical Working Group on Water Reactor Fuel Performance and Technology (TWGFPT) . 15 3.4.2. Questionnaire . 15 3.4.3. Completeness and quality of data sets . 16 3.4.4. Fuel failure rate calculation methodology used for present review (Part 2). 17 3.5. Evaluation of PWR fuel ‘leakers’. 20 3.5.1. PWR fuel failure rates. 20 3.5.2. Distribution of failure causes in PWRs. 22 3.5.3. Number of reactors free of defect evolution . 24 3.5.4. Major observations regarding PWR fuel failures . 24 3.6. Evaluation of BWR fuel ‘leakers’. 25 3.6.1. BWR fuel failure rates . 25 3.6.2. Distribution of failure causes in BWRs . 26 3.6.3. Number of reactors free of defect evolution . 26 3.6.4. Major observations regarding BWR fuel failures . 28 3.7. Evaluation of WWER fuel ‘leakers’. 28 3.7.1. WWER fuel failure rates. 28 3.7.2. Distribution of failure causes for WWER fuel . 29 3.7.3. Number of reactors free of defect evolution . 31 3.7.4. Major observations regarding WWER fuel failures . 31 3.8. Evaluation of fuel ‘leakers’ in CANDUs/PHWRs . ..