• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제49권1호
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• pp.267-276
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• 2017

In any reactor physics analysis, the instantaneous power distribution in the core can be calculated when the actual bundle-wise burnup distribution is known. Considering the fact that CANDU (Canada Deuterium Uranium) utilizes on-power refueling to compensate for the reduction of reactivity due to fuel burnup, in the CANDU fuel management analysis, snapshots of power and burnup distributions can be obtained by simulating and tracking the reactor operation over an extended period using various tools such as the $^*SIMULATE$ module of the Reactor Fueling Simulation Program (RFSP) code. However, for some studies, such as an evaluation of a conceptual design of a next-generation CANDU reactor, the preferred approach to obtain a snapshot of the power distribution in the core is based on the patterned-channel-age model implemented in the $^*INSTANTAN$ module of the RFSP code. The objective of this approach is to obtain a representative snapshot of core conditions quickly. At present, such patterns could be generated by using a program called RANDIS, which is implemented within the $^*INSTANTAN$ module. In this work, we present an alternative approach to derive the patterned-channel-age model where a simulated-annealing-based algorithm is used to find such patterns, which produce reasonable power distributions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제50권5호
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• pp.709-716
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• 2018

A criticality safety analysis was performed for the APR-1400 spent fuel pool region-II to ensure the safe storage of spent fuel, with credit taken for depletion and in-rack neutron absorbers (Metamic panels). PLUS7 fuel assembly was modeled using TRITON-NEWT of SCALE-6.1. The burnup-dependent cross-section library was generated under limiting core-operating conditions with 5%-w U-235 initial enrichment. MCNP5 was used to evaluate the neutron multiplication factor in an infinite array of rack cells with the axially nonuniformly burnt PLUS7 assemblies under normal, abnormal, and accident conditions; including all biases and uncertainties. The main purpose of this study is to investigate reactivity variations due to the critical depletion and reactor operation parameters. The approach, assumptions, and modeling methods were verified by analyzing the contents of the most important fissile and the associated reactivity effects. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) guidance on k-eff being less than 1.0 for spent fuel pools filled with unborated water was the main criterion used in this study. It was found that assemblies with 49.0 GWd/MTU and 5.0 w/o U-235 initial enrichment loaded in Region-II satisfy this criterion. Moreover, it was found that the end effect resulted in a positive bias, thus ensuring its consideration.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.1-7
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• 1985

원자력 발전소의 조사후 핵연료 저장풀에시 조사후 핵연료 집합체에 대한 감마선 분광분석 실험을 비파괴적인 방법으로 수행하였다. 조사후 핵연료 집합체가 갖는 연소분포를 알기 위해서 1차핵분열 생성물과 2차핵분열 생성물간의 감마선 강도비인 $^{134}$ Cs$^{137}$Cs을 사용했으며 그 결과는 이들 집합체가 노심내에서 연소시에 가졌든 중성자 분포의 기대치와 상응하였다. 이로부터 감마선 강도비 $^{134}$ Cs$^{137}$Cs은 연소도 해석을 위한 좋은 인디케이터임을 확인하였다. 핵물질의 안전관리면에서 중요시되고 있는 조사후 핵연료의 냉각시간을 감마선 강도비 $^{144}$ Ce$^{137}$Cs을 사용하여 구했으며 이를 핵연료 관리기록에 의한 냉각시간과 비교해 본 결과 각각 2%, 10%이내의 차이를 나타내었다. 이로부터 본 실험에서 냉각시간을 하기 위해서 유도한 방정식을 단일 주기로 연소된 핵연료에 대해서 사용할 수 있음을 실증하였다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권9호
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• pp.2816-2829
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• 2021

Decay heat residuals of spent nuclear fuel (SNF), i.e., the differences between calculations and measurements, were obtained previously for various spent fuel assemblies (SFA) using the Polaris module of the SCALE code system. In this paper, we compare decay heat residuals to their uncertainties, focusing on four PWRs and four BWRs. Uncertainties in nuclear data and model inputs are propagated stochastically through calculations using the SCALE/Sampler super-sequence. Total uncertainties could not explain the residuals of two SFAs measured at GE-Morris. The combined z-scores for all SFAs measured at the Clab facility could explain the resulting deviations. Nuclear-data-related uncertainties contribute more in the high burnup SFAs. Design and operational uncertainties tend to contribute more to the total uncertainties. Assembly burnup is a relevant variable as it correlates significantly with the SNF decay heat. Additionally, burnup uncertainty is a major contributor to decay heat uncertainty, and assumptions relating to these uncertainties are crucial. Propagation of nuclear data and design and operational uncertainties shows that the analyzed assemblies respond similarly with high correlation. The calculated decay heats are highly correlated in the PWRs and BWRs, whereas lower correlations were observed between decay heats of SFAs that differ in their burnups.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권10호
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• pp.3133-3150
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• 2021

This work deals with the validation of a high-fidelity multiphysics system coupling the Serpent 2 Monte Carlo neutron transport code with SUBCHANFLOW, a subchannel thermalhydraulics code, and TRANSURANUS, a fuel-performance analysis code. The results for a full-core pin-by-pin burnup calculation for the ninth operating cycle of the Temelín II VVER-1000 plant, which starts from a fresh core, are presented and assessed using experimental data. A good agreement is found comparing the critical boron concentration and a set of pin-level neutron flux profiles against measurements. In addition, the calculated axial and radial power distributions match closely the values reported by the core monitoring system. To demonstrate the modeling capabilities of the three-code coupling, pin-level neutronic, thermalhydraulic and thermomechanic results are shown as well. These studies are encompassed in the final phase of the EU Horizon 2020 McSAFE project, during which the Serpent-SUBCHANFLOW-TRANSURANUS system was developed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제51권5호
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• pp.1333-1344
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• 2019

An integrated approach of model simplification for high burnup spent nuclear fuel is proposed based on material calibration using optimization. The spent fuel rods are simplified into a beam with a homogenous isotropic material. The proposed approach of model simplification is applied to fuel rods with two kinds of interfacial configurations between the fuel pellets and cladding. The differences among the generated models and the effects of interfacial bonding efficiency are discussed. The strategy of model simplification adopted in this work is to force the simplified beam model of spent fuel rods to possess the same compliance and failure characteristics under critical loads as those that result in the failure of detailed fuel rod models. It is envisioned that the simplified model would enable the assessment of fuel rod failure through an assembly-level analysis, without resorting to a refined model for an individual fuel rod. The effective material properties of the simplified beam model were successfully identified using the integrated optimization process. The feasibility of using the developed simplified beam models in dynamic impact simulations for a horizontal drop condition is examined, and discussions are provided.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제51권7호
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• pp.1729-1737
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• 2019

This paper presents neutronics design of VVER-1000 fuel assembly using burnable poison particles (BPPs) for controlling excess reactivity and pin-wise power distribution. The advantage of using BPPs is that the thermal conductivity of BPP-dispersed fuel pin could be improved. Numerical calculations have been conducted for optimizing the BPP parameters using the MVP code and the JENDL-3.3 data library. The results show that by using $Gd_2O_3$ particles with the diameter of $60{\mu}m$ and the packing fraction of 5%, the burnup reactivity curve and pin-wise power distribution are obtained approximately that of the reference design. To minimize power peaking factor (PPF), total BP amount has been distributed in a larger number of fuel rods. Optimization has been conducted for the number of BPP-dispersed rods, their distribution, BPP diameter and packing fraction. Two models of assembly consisting of 18 BPP-dispersed rods have been selected. The diameter of $300{\mu}m$ and the packing fraction of 3.33% were determined so that the burnup reactivity curve is approximate that of the reference one, while the PPF can be decreased from 1.167 to 1.105 and 1.113, respectively. Application of BPPs for compensating the reduction of soluble boron content to 50% and 0% is also investigated.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제51권2호
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• pp.384-393
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• 2019

An experimental validation of a nuclear forensics methodology for the source reactor-type discrimination of separated weapons-useable plutonium is presented. The methodology uses measured values of intra-element isotope ratios of plutonium and fission product contaminants. MCNP radiation transport codes were used for various reactor core modeling and fuel burnup simulations. A reactor-dependent library of intra-element isotope ratio values as a function of burnup and time since irradiation was created from the simulation results. The experimental validation of the methodology was achieved by performing two low-burnup experimental irradiations, resulting in distinct fuel samples containing sub-milligram quantities of weapons-useable plutonium. The irradiated samples were subjected to gamma and mass spectrometry to measure several intra-element isotope ratios. For each reactor in the library, a maximum likelihood calculation was utilized to compare the measured and simulated intra-element isotope ratio values, producing a likelihood value which is proportional to the probability of observing the measured ratio values, given a particular reactor in the library. The measured intra-element isotope ratio values of both irradiated samples and its comparison with the simulation predictions using maximum likelihood analyses are presented. The analyses validate the nuclear forensics methodology developed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권7호
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• pp.2095-2103
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• 2021

A small power ADS design using thorium oxide and diluent matrix reprocessed fuel is proposed for a high transmutation rate, small reactivity swing, and strong safety features. Two fuel matrices (CERCER and CERMET) and different recycled fuel compositions recovered from UO₂ spent fuels with 45 GWd/tU and 60 GWd/tU burnup were investigated to determine the suitable fuel for the ADS. It was found that the transmutation of each isotope depends on TRU initial loading amount. After examining the cores, the results show that CERCER fueled ADS has a negative coolant void reactivity (CVR) and a smaller radiotoxicity at discharge compared to that of CERMET core. It implies that CERCER fuel has enhanced safety features and more flavor in terms of radiotoxicity management. To increase fuel utilization and core operation efficiency, a simple assembly shuffling pattern for the CERCER fueled ADS is also proposed. Eigenvalue and burnup calculations were conducted using Serpent 2 with ENDF/B-VII.0 library in both kcode and external source modes, and it indicates that the results of transmutation analyses obtained by kcode only is reliable to discuss the transmutation potential of ADS. Burnup calculation with the fixed-source mode is essential to be used for more practical results of the transmutation by ADS.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제6권3호
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• pp.225-232
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• 2008

제3차 전력수급기본계획에 근거하여 현재 운영중이거나 계획중인 원자력발전소에서 발생할 사용후핵연료의 양과 특성을 추정하였다. 본 연구에서 고려된 대상 특성은 핵연료집합체에 대한 제원, 핵연료봉 배열, 무게, $^{235}U$ 초기 농축도 및 방출연소도이다. 이들은 파이로공정 시설을 설계하는데 필수적인 것이다. 2077년말까지 가압경수로 사용후핵연료의 예상발생량은 약 23,000 tU이 될 것으로 보인다. $^{235}U$ 초기 농축도 4.5 wt.% 이하를 갖는 사용후핵연료의 비율은 전체 발생량의 약 95%를 차지할 것이며, 16$\times$16 배열을 갖는 핵연료집합체는 74%를 차지할 것 같다. 현재 사용후핵연료의 평균연소도는 45 GWd/tU인데 반해, 2010년대 중 후반 이후 발생할 사용후 핵연료의 평균연소도는 55 GWd/tU이 될 것 같다. 이상의 결과에 따라 파이로공정 시설의 설계를 위한 기준 사용후핵연료를 도출하였다. 예상 사용후핵연료는 21.4 cm $\times$ 21.4 cm의 단면적, 453 cm의 길이, 672 kg의 질량, 4.5 wt.%의 $^{235}U$ 초기 농축도 및 55 GWd/tU의 방출연소도를 갖는 16$\times$16 한국표준형연료가 타당할 것으로 판단된다.