FCM燃料压水堆弥散可燃毒物中子学分析

为将全陶瓷微胶囊封装（FCM）燃料应用于小型压水堆,对FCM燃料组件开展了可燃毒物中子学设计与分析。通过寿期初引入负反应性、寿期内消耗速率和寿期末残留3个方面,对弥散在SiC基体中的弥散型可燃毒物Gd₂O₃、Er₂O₃、Sm₂O₃、Eu₂O₃、Dy₂O₃及HfO₂进行评价。FCM燃料中TRISO颗粒核芯直径达800 μm,燃料颗粒自屏效应强烈,在RMC程序中引入随机介质计算功能,对FCM燃料进行随机几何建模,保证了反应性计算精度。分析表明：Er₂O₃可作为FCM燃料堆芯的候选可燃毒物,Gd₂O₃和Eu₂O₃需结合堆芯开展进一步研究,Sm₂O₃、Dy₂O₃及HfO₂的反应性惩罚过大,不适合作为FCM燃料可燃毒物。     

长寿期板状压水堆组件可燃毒物装载形式选型研究

板状压水堆在长寿期反应堆中具有较好的应用前景。针对长寿期板状压水堆的需要,对中子学性能较好的4种可燃毒物:157Gd₂O₃、167Er₂O₃、231Pa₂O₃和PACS-J开展可燃毒物装载形式选型研究,筛选出中子学性能较优的装载形式。研究结论为:针对不同可燃毒物采用不同装载形式,可以更好地满足长寿期板状压水堆的综合要求;对于中子学性能较优的可燃毒物,157Gd₂O₃和167Er₂O₃可采用可燃毒物与燃料均匀混合的装载形式;231Pa₂O₃可采用包壳中掺杂可燃毒物的装载形式;PACS-J可采用可燃毒物以颗粒形式与燃料混合的装载形式。      

基于长寿期压水堆的新型可燃毒物材料组合研究

长寿期压水堆采用单一可燃毒物组件的设计不是最优选择。为满足长寿期压水堆中可燃毒物对反应性控制的综合需求,本文针对具有较好中子学性能的新型可燃毒物²³¹Pa₂O₃、PACS-J、PACS-L、¹⁶⁷Er₂O₃和¹⁵⁷Gd₂O₃进行组合研究。结果表明,采用“快燃耗”与“慢燃耗”可燃毒物进行组合的组件可以达到更优的结果。其中对于“低富集度”下的燃料组件,可以选用²³¹Pa₂O₃与PACS-J、PACS-L与¹⁶⁷Er₂O₃的组合方案;对于“高富集度”下的燃料组件,可以选用²³¹Pa₂O₃与PACS-J、¹⁵⁷Gd₂O₃和^167<...     

不同燃耗步长对KYLIN-Ⅱ软件kinf计算结果的影响分析

KYLIN-II软件基于改进预估修正方法进行临界燃耗迭代求解。本文针对压水堆纯UO₂燃料组件、含硼可燃毒物的UO₂燃耗组件和含钆可燃毒物的UO₂燃料组件,使用KYLIN-II软件,分析了不同燃耗步长对组件无限增殖系数k_inf计算结果的影响。通过比较分析,对于不同类型的燃料组件,给出了适合的燃耗步长选取,使其可以获得较高的计算精度。      

弥散颗粒燃料及可燃毒物双重非均匀特性初步研究

弥散颗粒燃料及可燃毒物由于其固有安全性及自屏效应而被广泛关注,但其双重非均匀性为中子学计算带来挑战。为了研究弥散颗粒系统的双重非均匀性大小,评价体积均匀化方法的适用性,本文针对弥散不同类型、不同相体积、不同颗粒尺寸的颗粒以及不同富集度燃料基体的栅元系统进行了分析,评价栅元系统的颗粒模型与体积均匀化模型在零燃耗下的反应性偏差。分析结果显示,对于弥散燃料颗粒,体积均匀化方法的计算偏差随弥散颗粒尺寸的增加、燃料富集度的增加、以及弥散颗粒相体积的减小而增大;对于弥散可燃毒物颗粒,体积均匀化方法的计算偏差随弥散颗粒的颗粒尺寸的增加、基体燃料富集度的减小、弥散颗粒相体积的增加、以及弥散颗粒吸收截面的增大而增大。同时本文给出了弥散颗粒的双重非均匀性大小的大致顺序,针对双重非均匀性最小和最大的两种毒物颗粒也进行了详细分析,给出了是否需要考虑其双重非均匀性的大致判定条件,为弥散颗粒系统的数值计算提供指导。     

含钆中子屏蔽材料的设计及其力学性能分析

设计了一种具有良好中子屏蔽能力、高强度及高韧性的新型中子屏蔽材料,用于吸收核电站乏燃料储存格架和乏燃料运输过程中的热中子辐射。材料通过蒙特卡罗粒子传输(输运）软件MCNP进行设计,并通过放电等离子烧结设备及热轧的方式制成了板材。MCNP模拟结果及材料热中子屏蔽测试结果表明：铝基Gd₂O₃复合材料的热中子屏蔽性能与铝基碳化硼相当。Gd₂O₃颗粒球磨后呈现μm、亚μm级甚至有些颗粒达到了nm级。随球磨时间的增加,材料的力学性能逐渐增强。X射线衍射检测发现了钆-铝合金相的生成。经TEM分析表明：材料的强化机制主要是位错强化和nm级Gd₂O₃颗粒的弥散强化,拉伸强度和伸长率分别达到了240 MPa和16%,其断口主要为韧性断裂。     

基于卷积神经网络模型的Gd2O3/6061Al中子屏蔽材料的力学性能预测

提出了一种卷积神经网络模型来预测Gd₂O₃/6061Al中子屏蔽材料的力学性能。以Gd₂O₃/6061Al中子屏蔽材料的EBSD微观形貌及其相应的拉伸性能作为数据集来训练及验证卷积神经网络模型。结果表明：使用多个显微图像,不需任何人工图像处理,卷积神经网络可得到良好的训练结果,其性能优于传统的测试方法;卷积神经网络捕捉到晶粒的存在和晶粒的一些统计信息;晶粒数目和晶粒大小之间具有很强的相关性。     

Gd2O3-Nd2O3-ZrO2-CeO2体系的高温固相反应研究

为研究Gd₂O₃-Nd₂O₃-ZrO₂-CeO₂四元氧化物体系的高温固相反应,以Gd₂O₃、Nd₂O₃、ZrO₂、CeO₂混合粉体为原材料,在1 673 K和1 773 K温度下煅烧24、48、72 h,分别制备了系列样品,并对合成样品进行了XRD和SEM分析。结果表明,合成产物为具有缺陷萤石相且伴有少量烧绿石相的Gd_2-xNd_xZr_2-xCe_xO₇（0≤x≤2）晶体化合物。随着煅烧温度的升高和煅烧时间的延长,产物中立方烧绿石相的化合物增多,晶粒尺寸变大,且有少量未知相生成。进而探讨了锆基陶瓷固化多核素的潜在应用,并提出了未来研究的相关热点问题。     

弥散颗粒毒物的多尺度耦合燃耗算法

弥散颗粒毒物具有特殊的空间结构和较强的空间自屏效应，在燃耗过程中容易出现微观分层现象。在数值模拟中，直接精细化求解将带来巨大的计算量和网格密度，具有一定的挑战。为此，本文提出了一种全新的基于多尺度耦合的燃耗计算方法：通过微观精细球层模型和宏观均匀栅元模型的耦合，将弥散颗粒介质的精细求解问题简化成对一个简单常规介质的快速求解，解决了弥散颗粒毒物在全局范围内精细燃耗求解过程中所面临的计算量大和网格密度高等问题，准确地表征弥散颗粒毒物的燃耗特征，为弥散颗粒介质的求解提供了一个新思路。经过初步验证，该算法在有效增殖因数、中子通量密度和核素核数密度等中子物理参数中有较好的表现。     

双重非均匀系统环形RPT计算方法研究

弥散燃料与弥散可燃毒物由于具有双重非均匀性,采用传统体积均匀化方法（VHM）会带来较大的计算偏差。反应性等效物理转换（RPT）方法被应用于含弥散燃料的双重非均匀系统,具有方法简单且计算精度较高的特点。本文首先对传统RPT方法和改进RPT（IRPT）方法进行了分析和验证,结果表明,这2种方法对于含有弥散可燃毒物的双重非均匀系统燃耗过程中依然存在相对较大的计算偏差;然后提出环形RPT（RRPT）方法和2步环形RPT（TRRPT）方法分别用于处理含单一颗粒类型和含2种颗粒类型的双重非均匀系统,通过含不同类型可燃毒物的算例验证并与蒙卡颗粒模型基准解对比可知,本文提出的RRPT方法和TRRPT方法可用于处理含弥散燃料和弥散可燃毒物的双重非均匀系统,相比传统方法具有更高计算精度和更广适用范围。      

Design of a gadolinia bearing mixed-oxide fuel assembly for pressurized water reactors

A study on neutronics design of a gadolinia (Gd₂O₃) bearing mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel assembly (MOX-UO₂ (Gd₂O₃) assembly) was performed for the purpose of suppressing the use of fresh lumped burnable poison rods (BPRs). The MOX-UO₂ (Gd₂O₃) assembly investigated consists of MOX and UO₂ (Gd₂O₃) fuel rods, which have already been verified through both fabrication and irradiation experiences. In all, 16 UO₂ (10 wt% Gd₂O₃) fuel rods are located at every corner and the peripheral region of the MOX-UO₂ (Gd₂O₃) assembly in order to reduce the power peaking of MOX fuel rods due to the thermal neutron inflow, and to reduce the reactivity penalty at the end of cycle (EOC). Since fresh BPRs are not expected to be inserted and UO₂ (Gd₂O₃) fuel rods are located at every corner of the assembly, the number of splits in plutonium (Pu) content can be only two, which is less than three splits required for a standard MOX assembly. Core characteristics of an equilibrium core loaded with MOX-UO₂ (Gd₂O₃) assemblies are evaluated and it is verified that adoption of the MOX-UO₂ (Gd₂O₃) assembly is effective to avoid the use of fresh BPRs with securing both the core safety and cycle length. The simplication of the splits in Pu content is also supposed to be beneficial, since it has the possibility of reduce MOX fuel fabrication costs.     

The effect of fission products on the rate of U3O8 formation in SIMFUEL oxidized in air at 250°C

The effect of fission products on the rate of U₃O₈ formation was investigated by oxidizing UO₂-based SIMFUEL (simulated high burnup nuclear fuel) and unirradiated UO₂ fuel specimens in air at 250°C for different times (1–317 days). The progress of oxidation was monitored by X-ray diffraction, revealing that the rate of U₃O₈ formation declines with increasing burnup. An expression was derived to describe quantitatively the time for U₃O₈ powder formation as a function of simulated burnup. These findings were supported by additional isochronal oxidation experiments conducted between 200 and 300°C.     

Fission product precipitates in irradiated uranium carbonitride fuel

Austenitic steel-cladded uranium carbonitride fuel pins were irradiated in the BR2 up to 6.4% burnup. A cross-section of the pin RV 24 with the fuel composition UC_0.86N_0.09O_0.05 was prepared for X-ray microanalysis of the fission product precipitates. Rare-earth oxide and U(Mo,Tc)C₂ phases were observed in the whole fuel region. Bright phases present in annular rings of the outer fuel zone were identified as U₂(Tc, Ru, Rh)C₂. Alkaline-earth oxide and U–Pd–Ni phases were shown in the fuel-cladding gap. The rare-earth and alkaline-earth fission products extracted the oxygen from the fuel matrix which became nearly oxygen free. The formation of nitrides could not be detected.     

A novel concept of QUADRISO particles. Part II: Utilization for excess reactivity control

In high temperature reactors, burnable absorbers are utilized to manage the excess reactivity at the early stage of the fuel cycle. In this paper QUADRISO particles are proposed to manage the initial excess reactivity of high temperature reactors. The QUADRISO concept synergistically couples the decrease of the burnable poison with the decrease of the fissile materials at the fuel particle level. This mechanism is set up by introducing a burnable poison layer around the fuel kernel in ordinary TRISO particles or by mixing the burnable poison with any of the TRISO coated layers. At the beginning of life, the initial excess reactivity is small because some neutrons are absorbed in the burnable poison and they are prevented from entering the fuel kernel. At the end of life, when the absorber is almost depleted, more neutrons stream into the fuel kernel of QUADRISO particles causing fission reactions. The mechanism has been applied to a prismatic high temperature reactor with europium or erbium burnable absorbers, showing a significant reduction in the initial excess reactivity of the core.     

Alternative configurations for the QUADRISO fuel design concept

This letter extends the work performed at Argonne National Laboratory on the QUADRISO fuel particles concept for High Temperature Reactors. Different configurations of the QUADRISO fuel particles concept are proposed and examined. The concept of QUADRISO fuel particles allocates an extra burnable poison layer next to the fuel kernel to reduce the initial excess of reactivity and enhance the reactor performance. The alternative proposed configurations introduced in this letter compare the performances of the previous configuration with two alternative configurations where the burnable poison is mixed in the fuel kernel for simplifying the manufacture process or in the outer pyrocarbon layer.