Thermo-physical property review of uranium dioxide using IAEA online database THERPRO

Abstract

The evaluation of reliable nuclear reactor performance under normal operation as well as under transient and accident conditions requires accurate representations of the thermo-physical properties of nuclear materials under high operating temperatures and in a harsh neutron irradiation environment. Thus, the thermo-physical properties of various reactor materials have been extensively studied since the 60's. Recently the IAEA collected, assessed, and stored more than 11,000 property data sets of about 1,600 materials in the THERPRO database running on their website. In this study, the thermal conductivity and heat capacity of uranium dioxide, the most widely used nuclear fuel material, are reviewed using the database, suggesting that the database can be usefully and powerfully utilized for nuclear material property research and development.