Modelling fission gas behaviour in fast reactor (U,Pu)O2 fuel with BISON

The physics-based fission gas behaviour model available in the BISON fuel performance code provides satisfactory predictive capabilities for application to light-water reactor conditions. In this work, we presenta model extension for application to fast reactor (U,Pu)O2 fuel. In particular, we detail the introduction of a lower bound to the number density of grain-face bubbles, representing a limit to the coalescence process once extensive bubble interconnection is achieved. This new feature is tested first against an experimental database for UO2-LWR, and secondly is validated against integral irradiation experiments for fast reactor (U,Pu)O2 fuel rods irradiated in the FFTF (Fast Flux Test Facility) and in the JOYO reactors. The comparisons of BISON results with the experimental data are satisfactory and demonstrate an improvement compared to the standard version of the code.