Analysis of Core Physics Experiments on Fresh and Irradiated PWR UO2 Fuels in the REBUS Program

Critical experiments of two cores each loaded with fresh 5 × 5 test PWR-type fuel rods of ²³⁵U enrichment of 3.8 wt% or irradiated 5 × 5 test rods of rod average burnup of 55 GWd/t in the REBUS program were analyzed using diffusion, transport, and continuous-energy Monte Carlo calculation codes coupled with nuclear data libraries based on JENDL-3.2 and JENDL-3.3. Biases in effective multiplication factors k _eff's of the critical cores were about ?1:2%Δk for the diffusion calculations (JENDL-3.2), ?0:5%Δk for the transport calculations (JENDL-3.3), and ?0:5 and 0.1%Δk for the Monte Carlo calculations (JENDL-3.3 and JENDL-3.2, respectively). The measured core fission rate and Sc- or Co-activation rate distributions were generally well reproduced using the three types of calculation. The burnup reactivity determined using the measured water level reactivity coefficients was ?2:35 ± 0:07Δk/kk′. The calculated result of the Monte Carlo calculations agreed with it; however, the diffusion and transport calculations overestimated the absolute value by about 7%, which would be mainly attributed to the errors in the calculation of the reactivity caused by changing the fuel compositions from fresh fuel to irradiated fuel.     

Analysis of Measured Isotopic Compositions of High-Burnup BWR MOX Fuel

Analysis of measured isotopic compositions of four high-burnup BWR MOX fuel samples was performed by using a general-purpose neutronic calculation code SRAC and a continuous-energy Monte Carlo burnup code MVP-BURN. The initial Pu fissile content of the samples was 5.52 wt%, and the burnups ranged from 50 to 80 GWd/t. It is confirmed that a geometrical model including the effect of UO₂ assemblies adjacent to the MOX assembly is necessary in the burnup calculations to obtain accurate calculated isotopic compositions. The calculated results of MVP-BURN with JENDL-3.3 taking such effect into account show more accurate results for major actinides (U, Pu, and Am isotopes) and most fission products than those of infinite assembly calculations. The paper also shows the results calculated using SRAC with JENDL-3.3, ENDF/B-VII, and JEFF-3.1.     

Effect of Pu-rich agglomerates in MOX fuel on reactivity analysis of light water reactor MOX core physics experiments

The effect of Pu-rich agglomerates in U-Pu mixed oxide (MOX) on the reactivity analysis of light water reactor MOX core physics experiments was studied with the continuous-energy Monte Carlo calculation code MVP II. First, the following three different models were compared in the analysis of a representative unit cell of a MOX core tested at the KRITZ reactor: a Lattice model where Pu-rich agglomerates were assumed to exist in a fixed pitch, a statistical geometry (STG) model of MVP II, and a Random model where the random distribution of Pu-rich agglomerates was directly modeled. Since the three models gave comparable results, the STG model was used in parametric calculations to systematically understand the reactivity effect depending on the characteristics of Pu-rich agglomerates. In addition, the selected unit cells composing the MOX cores and one representing MOX core tested at the EOLE criticality facility were analyzed with the measured characteristics of Pu-rich agglomerates in MOX fuel. Consequently, the reactivity differences between the calculations assuming the homogeneous Pu distributions and those considering Pu-rich agglomerates were less than 0.0005 Δk/k/k', indicating that the effect of Pu-rich agglomerates was small on the reactivity analysis of the MOX cores tested in the EOLE facility.     

Analysis of the MOX critical experiments BASALA by pin-by-pin core analysis method using three-dimensional direct response matrix

An analysis of the MOX critical experiments BASALA was performed to verify the pin-by-pin core analysis method using a three-dimensional direct response matrix. The BASALA experiments simulate full MOX BWR cores, and they were carried out in the EOLE critical facility of the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) by the Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation (NUPEC) in collaboration with CEA. The BASALA experimental cores are very heterogeneous because their size is much smaller than that of commercial power plants. The main features of the pin-by-pin core analysis method using the three-dimensional direct response matrix are that the response matrix can reflect the intra-assembly heterogeneous effect, the diffusion approximation is not involved, and the fuel rod fission rate can be directly evaluated. The maximum difference of the critical k-effective values among all nine cores analyzed was about 0.4% Δk. The root mean square differences between the calculated and measured radial fuel rod fission rate distributions in the test assembly of all cores were within 1.8% and nearly comparable to measurement error. The calculated results of the reactivity worth agreed with the measured results within 9%. These good agreements mean that the pin-by-pin core analysis method using the three-dimensional direct response matrix accurately reflects the effects of the intra- and inter-assembly heterogeneities in heterogeneous systems like the BASALA experimental cores.     

Feedback on neutron capture cross sections of 238Pu and 241Am from analyses of measured isotopic compositions of irradiated LWR fuels and MOX core physics experiments

The atomic fractions of ²³⁸Pu and ²⁴¹Am in MOX fuels recycled in light water reactors are 1% to 2% and not significant compared with those of major Pu isotopes. On the other hand, recent evaluated nuclear data libraries, such as JENDL-4.0 and JEFF-3.2, give noticeably different thermal and epithermal neutron capture cross sections for ²³⁸Pu and ²⁴¹Am. The thermal neutron capture cross sections of ²³⁸Pu and ²⁴¹Am in JEFF-3.2 are 31% and 9% larger than those of JENDL-4.0, respectively. This paper shows the effect of the differences in the neutron cross sections on analysis results of two different integral experiments. The first is the isotopic compositions of ²³⁸Pu on UO₂ and MOX fuels irradiated in BWR and PWR, and the second is the critical experiments of the water moderated cores fully loaded with MOX fuels. The former was analyzed by using the continuous energy Monte Carlo burnup calculation code MVP-BURN and the latter by the continuous energy Monte Carlo calculation code MVP. The comparisons between the calculated and measured results indicate that the most likely thermal and epithermal neutron capture cross sections of ²³⁸Pu and ²⁴¹Am should be around at the middle between those of JEFF-3.2 and JENDL-4.0.     

Neutron cross section sensitivity analysis of UO2 and MOX core physics experiments on light water reactors

The perturbation theory based on the transport calculation has been applied to study sensitivity of neutron multiplication factors (k_eff's) to neutron cross sections used for the reactivity analysis of UO₂ and MOX core physics experiments on light water reactors. The studied cross sections were neutron capture, fission and elastic scattering cross sections, and a number of fission neutrons, ν. The obtained sensitivities were multiplied to relative differences in the cross sections between JENDL-4.0 and JENDL-3.3 in order to estimate the reactivity effects. The results show that the increase in k_eff, 0.3%Δk/kk′, from JENDL-3.3 to JENDL-4.0 for the UO₂ core is mainly attributed to the decreases in the capture cross sections of ²³⁸U. On the other hand, there are various contributions from the differences in the cross sections of U, Pu, and Am isotopes for the MOX cores. The major contributions to increase in k_eff are decreases in the capture cross sections of ²³⁸U,²³⁸Pu, ²³⁹Pu, and those to decrease in k_eff are decreases in ν of ²³⁹Pu and increases in the capture cross sections of²⁴¹Am. They compensate each other, and the difference in k_eff between JENDL-3.3 and JENDL-4.0 is less than 0.1%Δk/kk′ and relatively small.     

Analysis of VIP-BWR reactor core physics experiments on UO2 and MOX mockup fuel assemblies - part 2: analysis with SIMULATE5

Analysis of the three test cores in the VIP-BWR program was performed in a two-dimensional geometrical model with CASMO5 coupled with the JENDL-4.0-based neutron data library, and reported in the previous paper. Following the study, interpretation of the experiments were carried out in a three-dimensional geometrical model with SIMULATE5 for the code validation study. The nuclear libraries for the SIMULATE5 calculations were generated with CASMO5 with the JENDL-4.0-based neutron data library. The effective multiplication factors of the critical cores ranged from 0.9983 to 1.0023 with measurement uncertainties of 0.0003 to 0.0004 (one σ). The root mean squares of (the calculated/the measured-1) for the fission rates at the core-mid plain of all the measured fuel rods were about 3% for the three cores. It was noticed that the calculations underestimated the fission rates of the UO₂ fuel rods and overestimated those of the MOX fuel rods for the test cores loaded with MOX fuel rods, which was consistent with trends in the preceding analysis studies of the VIP-BWR program and other MOX core experiments, and the biases were confirmed in the calculation results of power distributions in MOX-fueled light water reactor cores.     

Analysis of measured isotopic compositions of high-burnup PWR MOX and UO2 fuels in the MALIBU program

The measured isotopic compositions of fuel samples taken from high-burnup spent PWR MOX and UO₂ assemblies in the MALIBU program has been analyzed by lattice physics codes. The measured isotopes were U, Np, Pu, Am, and Cm isotopes and about 30 major fission product nuclides. The codes used in the present study were a continuous-energy Monte Carlo burnup calculation code (MVP-BURN) and a deterministic burnup calculation code (SRAC) based on the collision probability method. A two-dimensional multi-assembly geometrical model (2 × 2 model) was mainly adopted in the analysis in order to include the fuel assemblies adjoining the relevant fuel assembly, from which the samples were taken. For the MOX sample, the 2 × 2 model significantly reduces the deviations of the calculated results from the measurements compared with a single assembly model. The calculation results of MVP-BURN in the 2 × 2 model reproduce the measurements of U, Np, and Pu isotopes within 5% for the MOX sample of 67 GWd/t. The deviations of their calculated results of U, Np, and Pu isotopes from the measurements are less than 7% for the UO₂ sample of 72 GWd/t.     

Analysis of measured isotopic compositions by CASMO5 coupled with a JENDL-4.0 base library for irradiated fuel of light water reactors

Measured isotopic compositions of UO₂ and MOX fuel samples taken from irradiated light water reactor fuel assemblies were analyzed by CASMO5 coupled with a JENDL-4.0 base library to assess the uncertainties in the calculated isotopic compositions on heavy and fission product nuclides. The burnup calculations for the analysis were performed based on a single-assembly model taking into account the detail fuel assembly specifications and irradiation histories. For the MOX fuel samples, a multiple-assembly model was also adopted taking into account the effect of the surrounding UO₂ fuel assemblies. The average and standard deviation of the biases (C/E ? 1's (here C and E are calculated and measured results, respectively)) were calculated for each nuclide separately on the PWR and BWR UO₂ fuel samples. The averaged biases for ²³⁵U, ²³⁶U, ²³⁹Pu, ²⁴⁰Pu, ²⁴¹Pu and ²⁴²Pu were 2.7%, ?0.9%, 0.3%, 0.7%, ?2.4% and ?1.7% for PWR UO₂ samples, and 6.7%, ?1.5%, 2.5%, ?0.6%, 0.4% and ?0.1% for BWR UO₂ samples, respectively. The biases with the single-assembly model on the MOX fuel samples showed large positive values of ²³⁹Pu, and application of the multiple-assembly model reduced the biases as reported in our previous studies.     

Thermal conductivity degradation analyses of LWR MOX fuel by the quasi-two phase material model

The temperature measurements of mixed oxide (MOX) and UO₂ fuels during irradiation suggested that the thermal conductivity degradation rate of the MOX fuel with burnup should be slower than that of the UO₂ fuel. In order to explain the difference of the degradation rates, the quasi-two phase material model is proposed to assess the thermal conductivity degradation of the MIMAS MOX fuel, which takes into account the Pu agglomerate distributions in the MOX fuel matrix as fabricated. As a result, the quasi-two phase model calculation shows the gradual increase of the difference with burnup and may expect more than 10% higher thermal conductivity values around 75 GWd/t. While these results are not fully suitable for thermal conductivity degradation models implemented by some industrial fuel manufacturers, they are consistent with the results from the irradiation tests and indicate that the inhomogeneity of Pu content in the MOX fuel can be one of the major reasons for the moderation of the thermal conductivity degradation of the MOX fuel.     

Analysis of fuel subassembly innerduct configurational effects on the core characteristics and power distribution of a sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor

The power distribution and core characteristics in various configurations of fuel subassemblies with an innerduct structure in the Japan sodium-cooled fast reactor were evaluated using a Monte Carlo code for neutron transport and burnup calculation. The correlation between the fraction of fuel subassemblies facing outward and the degree of power increase at the core center was observed regardless of the compositions. This indicated that the spatial fissile distribution caused by innerduct configurations was the major factor of the difference in the power distribution. A power increase was also found in an off-center region, and it tended to be greater than that at the core center because of the steep gradient of neutron flux intensity. The differences in the worth of control rods caused by the innerduct configurations were confirmed.     

Analysis of fuel temperature effects on reactivity of light water reactor fuel assemblies by using MVP-2 adopting an exact resonance elastic scattering model

Using the continuous-energy Monte Carlo code MVP-2 adopting a resonance elastic scattering model considering the thermal motion of a target nucleus (the exact model) for major heavy nuclides, analysis of fuel temperature effects on reactivity of mockup UO₂ and MOX fuel assemblies for light water reactors was performed, and the results were compared with those of the conventional asymptotic model. A base condition was a hot operating condition with an in-channel void fraction of 40% and fuel temperature of 520 ℃ for the BWR fuel assemblies and a hot zero-power condition with fuel temperature of 284 ℃ for the PWR fuel assemblies. The fuel temperature of a high-temperature condition was 1500 ℃ for both types of assemblies. The calculated results showed that the exact model made the neutron multiplication factors at the high-temperature condition lower by ?220 to ?440 pcm (10^?5 Δk) and the Doppler reactivity between the base- and high-temperature conditions more negative by 7% to 10% compared with those obtained by the asymptotic model. The energy-dependent reaction rates of capture and ν-fission were also analyzed to study the detail mechanism in the effect of the exact model on the assembly reactivity.     

Measurement and Analysis of Reactivity Worth of 241Am Sample in Water-Moderated Low-Enriched UO2 Fuel Lattices at TCA

The reactivity worths of 22.82 grams of ²⁴¹Am oxide sample were measured and theoretically analyzed in water-moderated UO2 fuel lattices in seven cores of the Tank-Type Critical Assembly (TCA) at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency for an integral test of ²⁴¹Am nuclear data. These cores provided a systematic variation in the neutron spectrum between the thermal and resonance energy regions. The sample reactivity worth was measured with an uncertainty of 2.1% or less. The theoretical analysis was performed using the JENDL-3.3 nuclear data by a Monte Carlo calculation method. Ratios of calculation to experiment (C/Es) of the reactivity worth were between 0.91 and 0.97, and showed no apparent dependence on the neutron spectrum. In addition, sensitivity analysis based on the deterministic calculation method was carried out to obtain the impact of changing the ²⁴¹Am capture cross section on the sample reactivity worth. The result of this analysis showed that the C/E could be significantly improved by almost uniformly increasing the ²⁴¹Am capture cross section of JENDL-3.3 by 25–30%.     

Effect of Moderator Density Distribution of Annular Flow on Fuel Assembly Neutronic Characteristics in Boiling Water Reactor Cores

The effect of the moderator density distribution of annular flow on the fuel assembly neutronic characteristics in a boiling water nuclear reactor was investigated using the SRAC95 code system. For the investigation, a model of annular flow for fuel assembly calculation was utilized. The results of the assembly calculation with the model (Method 1) and those of the fuel assembly calculation with the uniform void fraction distribution (Method 2) were compared. It was found that Method 2 underestimates the infinite multiplication factor in the fuel assembly including the gadolinia rod (type 1 assembly). This phenomenon is explained by the fact that the capture rate in the thermal energy region in gadolinia fuel is estimated to be smaller when the liquid film of annular flow at the fuel rod surface is considered. A burnup calculation was performed under the condition of a void fraction of 65% and a volumetric fraction of the liquid film in liquid phase of 1. It is found that Method 2 underestimates the infinite multiplication factor in comparison to Method 1 in the early stage of burnup, and that Method 2 becomes to overestimate the factor after a certain degree of burnup. This is because Method 2 overestimates the depletion rate of the gadolinia.