Publications
Showing 96 results for Author: Bruce B. Bevard
Mar, 2026
Conference Paper
Hydride Reprecipitation in Prototypical 17×17 PWR Fuel Rods after Simulated Vacuum Drying Conditions
Light water reactor (LWR) fuel rod cladding picks up hydrogen as it oxidizes in reactor. Once the hydrogen concentration exceeds the solubility limit, zirconium hydride platelets precipitate, generally in the circumferential direction. In preparation for dry storage, elevated temperatures can dissolve some of the circumferential hydrides, which during cooling can then repr…
Mar, 2026
Conference Paper
Characterization of Fuel and Cladding In and Near the Pellet-Pellet Gap of a High-Burnup Pressurized Water Reactor Fuel Rod
At TopFuel 2021, we reported on metallographic examinations of a high burnup ZIRLO-clad spent fuel rod operated at the North Anna Power Station having a 3-mm gap between pellets at an elevation of ~1,403 mm. The rod was sectioned axially at that elevation to reveal the pellet-pellet interfaces and the pellet-pellet gap. Sections were mounted and polished to reveal the dist…
Nov, 2025
ORNL Report
Prioritization Plan for High Burnup Research Cask Rods
This activity established a strategic framework to prioritize fuel rods from the High Burnup (HBU) Research Cask for testing and characterization. With over 8,400 rods available, selections were guided by data value, relevance to aging degradation mechanisms, and alignment with prior Sibling Pin baseline tests. Rods were categorized as high, medium, or low priority based o…
Sep, 2025
Journal
Extending the Nuclide Inventory Validation Basis for High-Burnup Fuel with New Radiochemical Assay Data
Efforts are underway at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to improve the nuclide inventory validation basis for spent nuclear fuel at high burnups. Recently conducted radiochemical assay experiments provided new measurement data for nine samples of fuel irradiated in a pressurized water reactor, with estimated sample burnups in the 30 to 70 GWd/t range. This type of destructiv…
Aug, 2025
ORNL Report
Modeling data for SFCOMPO benchmarks supporting burnup code validation
Destructive radiochemical assay (RCA) measurements were performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for 16 fuel samples selected from 6 sister fuel rods from 5 assemblies of the North Anna pressurized water reactor (PWR). These new measurement data help filling in existing gaps at high burnups in the validation basis for burnup codes used to calculate nuclide inventories in…
Aug, 2025
ORNL Report
Time Log of the Unloading of an NAC-LWT Cask from a Semi at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2016
On Jan 21, 2016, a NAC LWT was unloaded at ORNL. This is a firsthand, moment by moment time record of the movements necessary for unloading (NAC-LWT SARP). This is a legal weight truck cask, conveyed within a shipping container that can be disassembled.
Aug, 2025
Journal
Extending the Nuclide Inventory Validation Basis for High-Burnup Fuel with New Radiochemical Assay Data
Efforts are underway at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to improve the nuclide inventory validation basis for spent nuclear fuel at high burnups. Recently conducted radiochemical assay experiments provided new measurement data for nine samples of fuel irradiated in a pressurized water reactor, with estimated sample burnups in the 30 to 70 GWd/t range. This type of destructiv…