2. Nuclear fuel consists of fuel pins that are stacks of uranium oxide or mixed uranium plutonium oxide (MOX) cylindrical ceramic pellets, with diameters of 8–15 mm, that are encapsulated in metallic tubes. The fuel pins are grouped together in fuel assemblies. Each fuel assembly can be handled as a single entity, thus simplifying the fuelling and defuelling of reactors and the subsequent handl...

The utilization of clean energy is a matter of primary importance for sustainable development as well as a vital approach for solving worldwide energy-related issues. If the low utilization rate of nuclear fuel, nuclear proliferation, and insufficient nuclear safety can be solved, nuclear fission energy could be used as a sustainable and low-carbon clean energy form for thousands of years, prov...

Abstract—Analysis of the uncertainty quantification related to nuclear safety margins applied to the nuclear reactor is an important concept to prevent future radioactive accidents. The nuclear fuel performance code may involve the tolerance level determined by traditional deterministic models producing acceptable results at burn cycles under 62 GWd/MTU. The behavior of nuclear fuel can simulat...

Improved nondestructive assay of isotopic masses in used nuclear fuel would be valuable for nuclear safeguards operations associated with the transport, storage, and reprocessing of used nuclear fuel. Our collaboration is examining the feasibility of using lead slowing-down spectrometry techniques to assay the isotopic fissile masses in used nuclear fuel assemblies. We present the application o...

It is generally recognized that the spent fuel discharged from nuclear power plants constitutes the main contribution to nuclear waste. The management of spent fuel from nuclear power plants differs depending on the perspectives and scenarios posed by the countries directly concerned. However, there is a general consensus on the need for a deep geological repository and a reduction in the burde...

A new acoustical sensing system for the nuclear power industry has been developed at The Pennsylvania State University in collaboration with Idaho National Laboratories. This sensor uses the high temperatures of nuclear fuel to convert a nuclear fuel rod into a standing-wave thermoacoustic engine. When a standing wave is generated, the sound wave within the fuel rod will be propagated, by acous...

An isotopic fingerprinting method is presented to determine the origin of unknown nuclear material with forensic importance. Spent nuclear fuel of known origin has been considered as the 'unknown' nuclear material in order to demonstrate the method and verify its prediction capabilities. The method compares, using factor analysis, the measured U, Pu isotopic compositions of the 'unknown' materi...