STUDY ON OPTIMUM ZIRCONIUM LINER THICKNESS FOR BARRIER FUEL

The superiority of barrier fuel over the non-barrier fuel is verified in this paper. Based on the strain energy density theory, a thorough s tudy on the zirconium liner thickness of barrier fuel cladding for var ious burnup conditions is established. It is found that the presence o f zirconium liner does substantially reduce the local strain energy de nsity available for failure initiation and also enhance the system sta bility. Since an extensive increase in the zirconium liner thickness d oes not further improve the fracture strength as well as failure stabi lity, an optimal thickness of the zirconium liner is then determined i n the present study.