• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.235-243
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• 2000

A one-dimensional neutronics formulation is established within the framework of the nonlinear analytic nodal method such that it can result in consistent one-dimensional models that produce the same axial information as their corresponding reference three-dimension81 models. Consistency is achieved by conserving axial interface currents as well as the planar reaction rates of the three-dimensional case. For current conservation, flux discontinuity is introduced in the solution of the two-node problem. The degree of discontinuity, named the current conservation factor, is determined such that the surface averaged axial current of the reference three-dimensional case can be retrieved from the two-node calculation involving the radially collapsed group constants and the discontinuity factor. The current conservation factors are derived from the analytic nodal method and various core configurations are analyzed to show that the errors in K-eff and power distributions can be reduced by a order of magnitude by the use of the current conservation factor with no significant computational overhead.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2008

The neutron kinetic analysis methods for the molten-salt reactors are quite different from those for conventional solid-fuel reactors, which do not take into account the flowing-fuel-induced neutronics effects. Therefore, for dynamics and safety analyses of the molten-salt reactor systems, the conventional kinetics codes would not be appropriate to accurately predict its transient behaviors. A point-kinetics with flowing- fuel model has been used to assess the fluid-fuel reactor system safety, but recognized as not to be sufficient to simulate spatial distributions of delayed-neutron precursors and neutron populations during transients for given detail reactor models. In order to meet this requirement, AMBIKIND, a 2-group, 2-dimensional neutron kinetics code suitable for the molten-salt reactor systems was developed. This paper explains the code's theoretical and numerical descriptions and, as a part of its verification, includes some simulation results of MSRE stability experiments. Even though the present reactor model does not include the recirculation effect of the fuel-salt through the reactor system, the AMBIKIN2D code should be able to predict the power and phase shift at various power levels and reactivity insertions with better accuracy.