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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2015.05.001

THERMAL-HYDRAULIC CHARACTERISTICS FOR CANFLEX FUEL CHANNEL USING BURNABLE POISON IN CANDU REACTOR  

BAE, JUN HO (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute)
JEONG, JONG YEOB (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute)
Publication Information
Nuclear Engineering and Technology / v.47, no.5, 2015 , pp. 559-566 More about this Journal
Abstract
The thermalehydraulic characteristics for the CANadian Deuterium Uranium Flexible (CANFLEX)-burnable poison (BP) fuel channel, which is loaded with a BP at the center ring based on the CANFLEX-RU (recycled uranium) fuel channel, are evaluated and compared with that of standard 37-element and CANFLEX-NU (natural uranium) fuel channels. The distributions of fuel temperature and critical channel power for the CANFLEX-BP fuel channel are calculated using the NUclear Heat Transport CIRcuit Thermohydraulics Analysis Code (NUCIRC) code for various creep rate and burnup. CANFLEX-BP fuel channel has been revealed to have a lower fuel temperature compared with that of a standard 37-element fuel channel, especially for high power channels. The critical channel power of CANFLEX-BP fuel channel has increased by about 10%, relative to that of a standard 37-element fuel channel for 380 channels in a core, and has higher value relative to that of the CANFLEX-NU fuel channel except the channels in the outer core. This study has shown that the use of a BP is feasible to enhance the thermal performance by the axial heat flux distribution, as well as the improvement of the reactor physical safety characteristics, and thus the reactor safety can be improved by the use of BP in a CANDU reactor.
Keywords
Burnable poison; CANadian Deuterium Uranium 6; Critical channel power; Fuel temperature;
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