High fuel temperatures and resulting fuel particle coating stresses can be expected in a Pu and minor actinide fueled Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (400 MWth) design as compared to the 'standard' UO2 fueled core. The high discharge burnup aimed for in this Deep-Burn design results in increased power and temperature peaking in the pebble bed near the inner and outer reflector. Furthermore, the pebble power in a multi-pass in-core pebble recycling scheme is relatively high for pebbles that make their first core pass. This might result in an increase of the mechanical failure of the coatings, which serve as the containment of radioactive fission products in the PBMR design. To investigate the integrity of the particle fuel coatings as a function of the irradiation time (i.e. burnup), core position and during a Loss Of Forced Cooling (LOFC) incident the PArticle STress Analysis code (PASTA) has been coupled to the PEBBED code for neutronics, thermal-hydraulics and depletion analysis of the core. Two deep burn fuel types (Pu with or without initial MA fuel content) have been investigated with the new code system for normal and transient conditions including the effect of the statistical variation of thickness of the coating layers.

Modifying material properties provides another approach to optimize coated particle fuel used in pebble bed reactors. In this study, the MIT fuel performance model (TIMCOAT) was applied after benchmarking against the experiment results. The optimization study focuses on the fracture toughness of silicon carbide and Bacon anisotropy factor (BAF) of pyrocarbon. The variations on the silicon carbide toughness show that higher fracture toughness leads to a lower fuel failure probability, as expected. However, the results from the BAF variations reveal that a higher BAF lowers a fuel failure probability. This quite contradicts the generally believed notion that a higher BAF would increase fuel failures. In addition to the fuel design optimization, the failure characteristics of coated particle fuel are explained and the key factors influencing such characteristics are identified.

During FY 2011 the CP & DB Program will report Highlights on a monthly basis, but will no longer produce Quarterly Progress Reports. Technical details that were previously included in the quarterly reports will be included in the appropriate Milestone Reports that are submitted to FCRD Program Management. These reports will also be uploaded to the Deep Burn website. The Monthly Highlights report for January 2010, ORNL/TM-2011/30, was distributed to program participants on February 8, 2011. As reported previously, the final Quarterly for FY 2010, Deep Burn Program Quarterly Report for July - September 2010, ORNL/TM-2010/301, was announced to program participants and posted to the website on December 28, 2010. This report discusses the following: (1) Thermochemical Data and Model Development - (a) Thermochemical Modeling, (b) Actinide and Fission Product Transport, (c) Radiation Damage and Properties; (2) TRU (transuranic elements) TRISO (tri-structural isotropic) Development - (a) TRU Kernel Development, (b) Coating Development; (3) Advanced TRISO Applications - Metal Matrix Fuels for LWR; (4) LWR Fully Ceramic Fuel - (a) FCM Fabrication Development, (b) FCM Irradiation Testing; and (5) Fuel Performance and Analytical Analysis - Fuel Performance Modeling.

During FY 2011 the CP & DB Program will report Highlights on a monthly basis, but will no longer produce Quarterly Progress Reports. Technical details that were previously included in the quarterly reports will be included in the appropriate Milestone Reports that are submitted to FCRD Program Management. These reports will also be uploaded to the Deep Burn website. The Monthly Highlights report for December 2010, ORNL/TM-2011/10, was distributed to program participants on January 12, 2011. As reported last month, the final Quarterly for FY 2010, Deep Burn Program Quarterly Report for July - September 2010, ORNL/TM-2010/301, was announced to program participants and posted to the website on December 28, 2010. This report discusses the following: (1) Thermochemical Data and Model Development - (a) Thermochemical Modeling, (b) Actinide and Fission Product Transport, (c) Radiation Damage and Properties; (2) TRU (transuranic elements) TRISO (tri-structural isotropic) Development - (a) TRU Kernel Development, (b) Coating Development; (3) Advanced TRISO Applications - Metal Matrix Fuels for LWR; (4) LWR Fully Ceramic Fuel - (a) FCM Fabrication Development, (b) FCM Irradiation Testing; (5) Fuel Performance and Analytical Analysis - Fuel Performance Modeling.

During FY 2011 the CP & DB Program will report Highlights on a monthly basis, but will no longer produce Quarterly Progress Reports. Technical details that were previously included in the quarterly reports will be included in the appropriate Milestone Reports that are submitted to FCRD Program Management. These reports will also be uploaded to the Deep Burn website. The Monthly Highlights report for April 2011, ORNL/TM-2011/125, was distributed to program participants on May 10, 2011. As reported previously, the final Quarterly for FY 2010, Deep Burn Program Quarterly Report for July - September 2010, ORNL/TM-2010/301, was announced to program participants and posted to the website on December 28, 2010. This report discusses the following: (1) Fuel Performance Modeling - Fuel Performance Analysis; (2) Thermochemical Data and Model Development - (a) Thermochemical Modeling, (b) Thermomechanical Modeling, (c) Actinide and Fission Product Transport; (3) TRU (transuranic elements) TRISO (tri-structural isotropic) Development - (a) TRU Kernel Development, (b) Coating Development; and (4) LWR Fully Ceramic Fuel - (a) FCM Fabrication Development, (b) FCM Irradiation Testing.

During FY 2011 the CP & DB Program will report Highlights on a monthly basis, but will no longer produce Quarterly Progress Reports. Technical details that were previously included in the quarterly reports will be included in the appropriate Milestone Reports that are submitted to FCRD Program Management. These reports will also be uploaded to the Deep Burn website. The Monthly Highlights report for May 2011, ORNL/TM-2011/126, was distributed to program participants on June 9, 2011. As reported previously, the final Quarterly for FY 2010, Deep Burn Program Quarterly Report for July - September 2010, ORNL/TM-2010/301, was announced to program participants and posted to the website on December 28, 2010. This report discusses the following: (1) Fuel Performance Modeling - Fuel Performance Analysis; (2) Thermochemical Data and Model Development - (a) Thermochemical Behavior, (b) Thermomechanical Modeling, (c) Actinide and Fission Product Transport; (3) TRU (transuranic elements) TRISO (tri-structural isotropic) Development - (a) TRU Kernel Development, (b) Coating Development; and (4) LWR Fully Ceramic Fuel - (a) FCM Fabrication Development, (b) FCM Irradiation Testing.