Abstract: In this paper, the method to analyze the FCM fuel thermal performance using finite element software ABAQUS is studied, and the comparative analysis of thermal performance of FCM pellet and UO₂ pellet is carried out. The results show that the temperature distribution trend of FCM pellet is similar with that of UO₂ pellet but with a strong non-uniformity. The temperature of FCM pellet is much lower than that of UO₂ pellet under typical PWR operating environment. The temperature of FCM is not sensitive to the burnup change at the same linear power density and the temperature increase rate of FCM pellet is much lower than that of UO₂ pellet along with the linear power density increment at the same fuel burnup.