A loss of the water inan Irradiated Fuel Bay would causefuel bundles stored on racks to accumulate heat. When the sheath reaches sufficient temperatures, the oxidation may becomea self-sustaining 'breakaway'reaction and result in a zirconium fire.This work simulates the temperature increase of a fuel bundle exposed to air withthe finite element solver COMSOL~®.Freshbundles with a decay heat greater than 2kWreached transition temperaturesforpost-breakaway kinetics within 20-55 minutes indicating potential forfuel damage.Determining the breakawaytime more accurately and scaling to ascertainthe safety ofracksare next steps.
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