General Atomics accelerates nuclear fuel digital twin testing, qualification

On Oct. 2, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS, San Diego, Calif., U.S.) completed a significant milestone under contract with the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a nuclear fuel digital twin, a modeling and simulation capability intended to help accelerate the process of nuclear fuel qualification and licensing for current and next-generation reactor materials. GA-EMS completed preliminary development of four individual performance models in support of its SiGA silicon carbide (SiC) composite cladding technology.

“A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical object or system — in this case, our SiGA cladding nuclear fuel system,” says Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS. “When complete, this digital twin will allow us to predict SiGA performance within a nuclear reactor core, reducing fuel development and testing costs and reducing the time it will take to get regulatory approval for this revolutionary technology, without sacrificing safety.”

The four individual physics-informed models capture the complex mechanical response of SiGA cladding while exposed to irradiation. A multi-scale modeling approach was taken where each individual model covers a different length scale — from a mechanism-based microscale model to a reactor system level model. In future work, these individual models will be combined into one integrated digital twin.

GA-EMS’ SiGA composite is a continuous SiC fiber-reinforced, SiC matrix material that is the backbone of the company’s cladding technology. SiGA cladding provides both safety and economic benefits to the utilities as it can reportedly survive temperatures far beyond that of current materials and reduce the frequency of fuel reloads.  

“We have been able to expedite development and verification of the individual models by leveraging the expertise at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory,” says Dr. Christina Back, vice president of GA-EMS Nuclear Technologies and Materials. “Our work integrally involves dedicated laboratory testing as we develop each performance model. We look forward to continuing to the next phase to bring these individual models together and incorporate them into a greater digital twin framework. Use of the framework to apply the separate effects models appropriately will bring a new level of sophistication and accuracy to efficiently predict fuel performance.”

GA-EMS is near completion of a 30-month contract with the DOE to deliver individual models for nuclear-grade SiGA materials to form the basis of a future digital twin. Under a synergistic program, GA-EMS recently announced irradiation testing of its SiC composite tubes and the manufacture of its first full-length (12-foot) SiC composite tubes designed for pressurized water reactors. Under contract with the DOE, GA-EMS is advancing SiGA cladding technology to enhance nuclear fuel efficiency and improve safety for current and future nuclear reactors.