• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.7
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• pp.2625-2632
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• 2024

In this study, we investigated the possibility of employing accident tolerant fuel (ATF) in VVER-1200/V491 assembly without gadolinium-containing fuel rods using the Monte Carlo code Serpent 1.1.7 with ENDF/B-VII cross-section library. The analysis involves assembly design with reflective boundary conditions. To compare the neutronic performances, U-5Mo, U-7.5Mo, U-10Mo, and U-15Mo fuels were chosen in addition to ordinary UO₂ fuel. The concentration of ¹³⁵Xe, ¹⁴⁹Sm, fissile and fertile isotopes with burnup, reactivity feedback with fuel temperature variation, and β eff values were calculated. The results indicate that the fuel cycle length increases by 54.27% for U-5Mo, 32.6% for U-7.5Mo, and 13.8% for U-10Mo, while it decreases by 16.4% for U-15Mo fuel. Additionally, the effect of ⁹⁵Mo content in natural Mo was investigated by reducing the ⁹⁵Mo concentration. According to the results, each proposed fuel's fuel cycle length extended when the depletion ratio of ⁹⁵Mo increased. Additionally, the calculations for reactivity feedback guarantee safe operating conditions for all U-xMo fuels.