Modelling the Oxidative Dissolution of UO2

Abstract

AbstractAn electrochemically based model for predicting the effects of α-radiolysis, the precipitation of U(VI) corrosion products and redox processes with Fe and Fe(II) on the dissolution of UO2 is described. Various aspects of the model are presented, including: the underlying mechanism, the reaction-diffusion equations used to describe the mass transport and homogeneous reactions of the various species considered in the model, the geometrical grid used to simulate both experimental and used fuel/container geometries and the electrochemical boundary conditions used for the numerical solution of the reaction-diffusion equations. The results of preliminary simulations are also discussed.