DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Compound effects of operating parameters on burnup credit criticality analysis in boiling water reactor spent fuel assemblies

  • Wu, Shang-Chien (Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Science, National Tsing Hua University) ;
  • Chao, Der-Sheng (Nuclear Science and Technology Development Center, National Tsing Hua University) ;
  • Liang, Jenq-Horng (Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Science, National Tsing Hua University)
  • Received : 2017.06.08
  • Accepted : 2017.09.19
  • Published : 2018.02.25

Abstract

This study proposes a new method of analyzing the burnup credit in boiling water reactor spent fuel assemblies against various operating parameters. The operating parameters under investigation include fuel temperature, axial burnup profile, axial moderator density profile, and control blade usage. In particular, the effects of variations in one and two operating parameters on the curve of effective multiplication factor ($k_{eff}$) versus burnup (B) are, respectively, the so-called single and compound effects. All the calculations were performed using SCALE 6.1 together with the Evaluated Nuclear Data Files, part B (ENDF/B)-VII238-neutron energy group data library. Furthermore, two geometrical models were established based on the General Electric (GE)14 $10{\times}10$ boiling water reactor fuel assembly and the Generic Burnup-Credit (GBC)-68 storage cask. The results revealed that the curves of $k_{eff}$ versus B, due to single and compound effects, can be approximated using a first degree polynomial of B. However, the reactivity deviation (or changes of $k_{eff}$, ${\Delta}k$) in some compound effects was not a summation of the all ${\Delta}k$ resulting from the two associated single effects. This phenomenon is undesirable because it may to some extent affect the precise assessment of burnup credit. In this study, a general formula was thus proposed to express the curves of $k_{eff}$ versus B for both single and compound effects.

Keywords

References

  1. D.E. Mueller, J.M. Scaglione, J.C. Wagner, S.M. Bowman, Computational Benchmark for Estimated Reactivity Margin from Fission Products and Minor Actinides in BWR Burnup Credit, NUREG/CR-7157, ORNL/TM-2012/96, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge (TN), 2012.
  2. D.E. Mueller, S.M. Bowman, W.(B.J.) Marshall, J.M. Scaglione, Review and Prioritization of Technical Issues Related to Burnup Credit for BWR Fuel, NUREG/CR-7158, ORNL/TM-2016/261, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge (TN), 2012.
  3. W.(B.J.) Marshall, B.J. Ade, S.M. Bowman, I.C. Gauld, G. Ilas, U. Mertyurek, G. Radulescu, Technical Basis for Peak Reactivity Burnup Credit for BWR Spent Nuclear Fuel in Storage and Transportation Systems, NUREG/CR-7194, ORNL/ TM-2014/240, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge (TN), 2015.
  4. G. You, C. Zhang, X. Pan, Introduction of burn-up credit in nuclear criticality safety analysis, Proc. Eng. 43 (2012) 297-301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2012.08.051
  5. J.C. Wagner, M.D. DeHart, B.L. Broadhead, Investigation of Burnup Credit Modeling Issues Associated with BWR Fuel, ORNL/TM-1999/193, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge (TN), 2000.
  6. J.C. Wagner, M.D. DeHart, Review of Axial Burnup Distribution Considerations for Burnup Credit Calculations, ORNL/TM-1999/246, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge (TN), 2000.
  7. ORNL, SCALE: A Comprehensive Modeling and Simulation Suite for Nuclear Safety Analysis and Design, ORNL/TM-2005/39, Version 6.1, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge (TN), 2011.
  8. D.P. Henderson, Summary Report of Commercial Reactor Criticality Data for LaSalle Unit 1, B00000000-B00001717-57015-00138 REV 00, CRWMS/M&O, Las Vegas (NV), 1999.
  9. B.J. Ade, W.(B.J.) Marshall, G. Ilas, B.R. Betzler, S.M. Bowman, Impact of Operating Parameters on Extended BWR Burnup Credit, ORNL/TM-2017/46, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge (TN), 2017.
  10. NEI, Guidance for Performing Criticality Analyses of Fuel Storage at Light- Water Reactor Power Plants, NEI 12-16, Revision 1, Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), Washington D.C., 2014.
  11. W.(B.J.) Marshall, B.J. Ade, S. Bowman, J.S. Martinez-Gonzalez, Axial Moderator Density, Control Blade Usage, and Axial Burnup Distributions for Extended BWR Burnup Credit, NUREG/CR-7224, ORNL/TM-2015/544, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge (TN), 2016.
  12. S.C. Wu, D.S. Chao, J.H. Liang, Parametric study of the burnup credit criticality analysis in BWR fuels, 24th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (24th ICONE), Charlotte (NC), June 26-30, 2016.

Cited by

  1. Criticality Analysis for BWR Spent Fuel Based on the Burnup Credit Evaluation from Full Core Simulations vol.11, pp.4, 2018, https://doi.org/10.3390/app11041498