Designing fuel rods for high burnup

Extending fuel burnup increases the efficiency of uranium use and gives a utility more flexibility in choosing a fuel management schedule. Extended burnup of nuclear fuels could save the utility industry several hundred million dollars each year by the 1990s. Higher burnup reduces fuel cycle costs by lowering the amount of uranium mining, milling, and enrichment required to produce new fuel, as well as requiring less transportation and shorter storage of spent fuel rods. It also lengthens the time between plant shutdowns for refueling from the current 12 months to 18 months. The Electric Power Research Institute is completing research on strategies already commercially adopted at pressurized water reactors (PWRs) and under demonstration at boiling water reactors (BWRs). Most of the work has focused on fuel pellets and rod assemblies of standard design, with some testing of design modifications. 3 figures.