Identifying the Thermal Performance of Advanced Reactors Outfitted with Multi-Metallic Layered Composite Materials
Nick Fassino
Abstract: No commercial, low-cost material can survive the full extent of corrosion, stresses, and radiation damage experienced in an advanced reactor core. Multi-Metallic Layered Composite (MMLC) cladding and structural materials are potential design solutions tailor-made for each advanced reactor concept. Composed of radiation-tolerant structural materials and corrosion-resistant layers, MMLCs expand the operating envelopes of advanced reactors by enabling increased coolant outlet temperatures, permitting higher fuel-clad contact stresses, and experiencing less corrosion wastage at the coolant-clad interface. In this work, the effects of MMLC cladding materials on the operating envelopes of advanced reactors are explored with REX: an original reactor analysis tool. REX links reactor neutronics from Serpent to core thermo-mechanics, pushes coolant inlet temperatures, and dynamically modifies fuel pin geometries to identify base cladding material operational limits. REX then determines the mechanical performance of MMLC materials under these original limiting conditions and identifies potential avenues for reactor envelope expansion with MMLCs.