Nuclear Engineering and Technology

  • 제56권10호
  • /
  • Pages.4219-4226
  • /
  • 2024
  • /
  • 1738-5733(pISSN)
  • /
  • 2234-358X(eISSN)
한국원자력학회 (Korean Nuclear Society)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Estimating spent fuel burnup with Neutron measurements: A Practical Rule of Thumb Equation

  • Kwangheon Park (Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • Sohee Cha (Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • Jinhyun Sung (Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • Yunsik Kim (Korea Nuclear Engineering and Service Corporation) ;
  • Younghwan Choi (Korea Nuclear Engineering and Service Corporation) ;
  • Moonoh Kim (Korea Nuclear Engineering and Service Corporation) ;
  • Heymin Park (ORION Enc) ;
  • Yangsoo Song (ORION Enc)
  • 투고 : 2023.11.21
  • 심사 : 2024.05.22
  • 발행 : 2024.10.25
PDF 다운로드
⟨ 이전 논문 다음 논문 ⟩

초록

We present a concise equation correlating the burnup of spent nuclear fuel (SF) with the neutron count rate, developed through comprehensive data analysis from Origen-ARP and MCNP codes. This equation is applicable to Fork detectors, commonly used for verifying SF assemblies before their transfer to new storage sites. The detector is assumed to be a helium-3 detector. The reaction rate (RR) in the 3He detector is influenced by Total Neutron Source Intensity (TNSI), net neutron multiplication, and neutron capture during transit to the detector. TNSI emerges as the most influential factor. Two scenarios were explored: one involving pure water and the other with water containing 2000 ppm of boron. The characteristics of the concise equation are also analyzed.

키워드

과제정보

This article is dedicated to a grant funded from the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (20222B10100060) and a grant from Kyung Hee University (KHU-20181190).

참고문헌

  1. C.W.A. Hermann, A Review of Spent-Fuel Photon and Neutron Source Spectra, 1986. 
  2. M. Maucec, B. Glumac, Criticality safety and Sensitivity Analyses of PWR spent nuclear fuel repository facilities, Nuclear Technology - NUCL TECHNOL. 149 (2005) 1-13. 
  3. H. Trellue, G. McMath, A. Trahan, A. Favalli, T. Burr, A. Sjoland, U. Backstrom, Spent fuel nondestructive assay integrated characterization from active neutron, passive neutron, and passive gamma, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrom. Detect. Assoc. Equip. 988 (2021) 164937. 
  4. J.S. Kim, Y.S. Jeon, S.D. Park, Y.-K. Ha, K. Song, Analysis of high burnup pressurized water reactor fuel using uranium, plutonium, neodymium, and cesium isotope correlations with burnup, Nucl. Eng. Technol. 47 (7) (2015) 924-933. 
  5. A. Sasahara, T. Matsumura, G. Nicolaou, D. Papaioannou, Neutron and gamma ray source evaluation of LWR high burn-up UO2and MOX spent fuels, J. Nucl. Sci. Technol. 41 (4) (2004) 448-456. 
  6. J.R. Williams FtaAG, Spent Fuel Management: Current Status and Prospects 1995, IAEA, 1995. Report No.: IAEA-TECDOC-894 Contract No.: IAEA-TECDOC-894. 
  7. M. Kuribara, Spent fuel burnup estimation by Cerenkov glow intensity measurement, IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci. 41 (5) (1994) 1736-1739. 
  8. U.K. Maity, P. Manoravi, N. Sivaraman, M. Joseph, U.K. Mudali, Fast burn-up measurement in simulated nuclear fuel using ICP-MS, Radiochim. Acta 106 (11) (2018) 885-895. 
  9. B.D. Roach, K.T. Rogers, N.A. Zirakparvar, J.S. Delashmitt, S.C. Metzger, B. T. Manard, et al., The need for speed - burnup determination of spent nuclear fuel, Talanta Open 6 (2022) 100152. 
  10. M.A. Humphrey, K.D. Veal, J. Tobin, The next generation safeguards initiative's spent fuel nondestructive assay project, J. Nucl. Mater. Manag. 40 (2012) 6-11. 
  11. T. Burr, H. Trellue, S. Tobin, A. Favalli, J. Dowell, V. Henzl, V. Mozin, Integrated nondestructive assay systems to estimate plutonium in spent fuel assemblies, Nucl. Sci. Eng. 179 (3) (2015) 321-332. 
  12. A.C. Kaplan, V. Henzl, H.O. Menlove, M.T. Swinhoe, A.P. Belian, M. Flaska, S. A. Pozzi, Determination of spent nuclear fuel assembly multiplication with the differential die-away self-interrogation instrument, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrom. Detect. Assoc. Equip. 757 (2014) 20-27. 
  13. Hu RM. Jianwei, Andrew Nicholson, Stephen Croft, Fork Experiments in the Hot Cell Using Spent Fuel Rods for International Nuclear Safeguards, 2021. 
  14. S. Vaccaro, I.C. Gauld, J. Hu, P. De Baere, J. Peterson, P. Schwalbach, et al., Advancing the Fork detector for quantitative spent nuclear fuel verification, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrom. Detect. Assoc. Equip. 888 (2018) 202-217. 
  15. Kvd Meer, M. Coeck (Eds.), Is the FORK Detector a Partial Defect Tester? Symposium on International Safeguards ADDRESSING VERIFICATION CHALLENGES, BOOK of EXTENDED SYNOPSES, IAEA, 2006. 
  16. B.H. Park, Assessment of spent nuclear fuel amounts to be managed based on disposal option in Republic of Korea, Ann. Nucl. Energy 109 (2017) 199-207. 
  17. KHNP, Preliminary Evaluation of Spent Fuel and Defective Fuel Dry Storage Containers with High Burn-Up, 2021. 
  18. Build Spent-Fuel Storage Facilities Faster, Korea JoongAng Daily, 2023. February 8 February 8;Sect. Editorials. 
  19. B. Siskind, Measurement of Spent Fuel Assemblies- Overview of the Status of the Technology (For Initiating Discussion at National Research Centere Kurchatov Institute, 2013. 
  20. B.B. Bevard, J.C. Wagner, C.V. Parks, M. Aissa, B.B. Bevard, B.B. Bevard, Review of information for spent nuclear fuel burnup confirmation, NUREG/CR-69980, 2009. 
  21. STANDARD REVIEW PLAN- PROBABILISTIC RISK ASSESSMENT AND SEVERE ACCIDENT EVALUATION FOR NEW REACTORS, NUREG-0800, 2015. 
  22. H. Yun, D.-Y. Kim, K. Park, S.G. Hong, A criticality analysis of the GBC-32 dry storage cask with hanbit nuclear power plant unit 3 fuel assemblies from the viewpoint of burnup credit, Nucl. Eng. Technol. 48 (3) (2016) 624-634. 
  23. Nakahara KS. Yoshinori, Takenori Suzaki TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT on BURNUP CREDIT for SPENT LWR FUELS, 2000. 
  24. T. Akyurek, L.P. Tucker, S. Usman, Review and characterization of best candidate isotopes for burnup analysis and monitoring of irradiated fuel, Ann. Nucl. Energy 69 (2014) 278-291. 
  25. WG FBC, SUMMARY REPORT ON THE FRENCH BURNUP CREDIT WORKING GROUP KNOWLEDGE REGARDING PWR UOX FUEL, 2017. 
  26. IAEA, Practices and Developments in Spent Fuel Burnup Credit Applications, 2002. 
  27. R.I. Ewing, G.E. Bosier, R. Siebelist, J. Priore, C.H. Hansford, S. Sullivan, Burnup verification measurements on spent-fuel assemblies at Arkansas nuclear one, Units 1 (1996). Report No.: EPRI TR-106305s. 
  28. W. Wang, C. Liu, L. Huang, The first application of modified neutron source multiplication method in subcriticality monitoring based on Monte Carlo, Nucl. Eng. Technol. 52 (3) (2020) 477-484. 
  29. B. Su, Z. Zhao, J. Chen, A.I. Hawari, Assessment of on-line burnup monitoring of pebble bed reactor fuel by passive neutron counting, Prog. Nucl. Energy 48 (7) (2006) 686-702. 
  30. A. Tanskanen, Assessment of the Neutron and Gamma Sources of the Spent BWR Fuel, 2000. Contract No.: STUK-YTO-TR170. 
  31. W.-H. Yan, L.-G. Zhang, Z. Zhang, Z.-G. Xiao, Feasibility studies on the burnup measurement of fuel pebbles with HPGe gamma spectrometer, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. Sect. A Accel. Spectrom. Detect. Assoc. Equip. 712 (2013) 130-136. 
  32. C. Sohee, P. Kwangheon, K. Mun-Oh, K. Jae-Hun, S. Jin-Hyun, A method to estimate the burnup using initial enrichment, cooling time, total neutron source intensity and gamma source activities in spent fuels, Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology 21 (3) (2023) 303-313. 
  33. Burnup Credit in the Criticality Safety Analyses of PWR Spent Fuel in Transportation and Storage Casks, Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation, Interim Staff Guidance - 8, Revision 3, 2012. 
  34. C.V. Parks, M.D. DeHart, J.C. Wagner, in: NRC (Ed.), Review and Prioritization of Technical Issues Related to Burnup Credit for LWR Fuel, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2000. 
  35. H.D. Sohn, J.K. Kim, A study for dose distribution in spent fuel storage pool induced by neutron and gamma-ray emitted in spent fuels, JOURNAL OF RADIATION PROTECTION 36 (4) (2011) 174-182. 
  36. J.R. Lamarsh, A.J. Baratta, Introduction to Nuclear Engineering, Prentice Hall, 2002. 
  37. J.F. Briesmeister, MCNP- general Monte Carlo N-particle transport code, Contract No.: LA-12625-M (1993). 
  38. C. Binnersley, S.F. Ashley, P. Chard, A. Lansdell, G. O'Brien, P. Shaughnessy, M. J. Joyce, Quantifying water in spent fuel assemblies with neutrons: a simulation-based approach, Prog. Nucl. Energy 145 (2022) 104110.