Conference Agenda

Advanced nuclear fuels—such as Accident-Tolerant Fuels (ATF), helical fuel, and Transformational Challenge Reactor (TCR) fuel—have underscored the need for high-fidelity multi-physics fuel performance analysis. To address this demand, the BEEs code (developed by the XJTU-NuTheL research group) offers a multi-physics, multi-dimensional simulation framework tailored for advanced nuclear fuel systems.

By integrating high-fidelity finite element models with advanced coupling strategies, BEEs tackles critical challenges in fuel performance evaluations under diverse operational scenarios. The code features comprehensive models for diverse fuel types, including UO₂-Zircaloy rod fuel, TRISO-coated particle fuel, annular fuel, and plate-type fuel, incorporating thermal-mechanical behavior, irradiation effects (creep, swelling, fission gas release). Validation studies demonstrate good agreement with experimental data and benchmark cases for predictions of temperature, stress, and deformation under normal operation, Loss-of-Coolant Accident (LOCA), and Reactivity-Initiated Accident (RIA) scenarios. Meanwhile, both discontinuous Galerkin and high-order implicit time-stepping methods have been introduced for one-dimensional coolant channel modeling with enhanced accuracy. Application highlights span fuel performance evaluations for ATF, annular fuel, gas-cooled reactor fuels, and plate-type fuel, alongside multi-physics coupled simulations of typical PWR primary circuits and plate-type fuel assemblies.

This work establishes BEEs as a promising code for serving as both a fuel design tool and an independent performance evaluation platform for solid rod fuel, annular fuel, plate fuel, and TRISO.