The nuclear fuel cycle is the series of stages that nuclear fuel materials go through in a cradle to grave framework. The Once Through Cycle (OTC) is the current fuel cycle implemented in the United States; in which an appropriate form of the fuel is irradiated through a nuclear reactor only once before it is disposed of as waste. The discharged fuel contains materials that can be suitable for ...

Recently analyzed long-term Zircaloy autoclave corrosion data were used to develop new Zircaloy corrosion correlations. Calculations were performed to estimate the additional quantity of corrosion that may be experienced by spent Zircaloy-c1ad fuel assemblies from long-term exposure to geologic repository conditions. These estimates indicate that the level of general corrosion is very small and...