IRIS reactor core with thorium fuel

This work is aimed at running the first IRIS reactor core with mixed thorium dioxide fuel（ThO₂-UO₂ and ThO₂-PuO₂）.Calculations are performed by using Dragon 4.0.4 and Citation codes.The results show the multiplication factor(K_eff) for central and peripheral assemblies as a function of burnup.To ensure the proliferation resistance,the value of ²³⁵U enrichment is < 20%.The K_eff is calculated using Dragon 4.0.4 for a single fuel rod and the model developed to fuel assembly,while the whole core was calculated using Citation code.For a fuel burnup,the use of increased enrichment fuel in the IRIS core leads to high reserve of reactivity,which is compensated with an integral fuel burnable absorber.The self-shielding of boron is in an IRIS reactor fuel.The effect of increased enrichment to the burn-up rates,and burnable poison distribution on the reactor performance,are evaluated.The equipment used in traditional light water reactors is evaluated for designing a small unit IRIS reactor.     

Neutronics physics analysis of a large fluoride-salt-cooled solid-fuel fast reactor with Th-based fuel

Fast reactors based on thorium fuel have enhanced inherent safety. Fluoride salt performs well as a coolant in high-temperature nuclear systems. In this paper,we present a reference core for a large fluoride-salt-cooled solid-fuel fast reactor(LSFR) using thorium–uranium fuel cycle. Neutronics physics of the LSFR reference core is investigated with 2D and 3D in-core fuel management strategy. The design parameters analyzed include the fuel volume fraction, power density level and continuous removal of fission products with 3D fuel shuffling that obtains better equilibrium core performance than 2D shuffling. A self-sustained core is achieved for all cases,and the core of 60% fuel volume fraction at 50 MW/m~3 power density is of the best breeding performance(average breeding ratio 1.134). The LSFR core based on thorium fuel is advantageous in its high discharge burn-up of 20–30% fissions per initial heavy metal atom, small reactivity swing over the whole lifetime(to simplify the reactivity control system), the negative reactivity temperature coefficient(intrinsically safe for all cases) and accepted cladding peak radiation damage. The LSFR reactor is a good alternative option for the deployment of a self-sustained thorium-based nuclear system.     

Study for 228Th reduction in thermal reactor with Th—U fuel cycls

By using computer code WIMS/CENDL,the effects of some parameters,core configuration such as fuel element structure,neutron flox and burn-up,are discussed in this paper.It is shown that high neutron flux,small fuel rod diameter,large volume ratio of coolant to fuel,seed-blank heterogeneous core arrangement and 231 Pa chemical separation are necessary for reducing 228 Th production in reactor.     

Transition toward thorium fuel cycle in a molten salt reactor by using plutonium

The molten salt reactor(MSR), as one of the Generation Ⅳ advanced nuclear systems, has attracted a worldwide interest due to its excellent performances in safety, economics, sustainability, and proliferation resistance. The aim of this work is to provide and evaluate possible solutions to fissile 233 U production and further the fuel transition to thorium fuel cycle in a thermal MSR by using plutonium partitioned from light water reactors spent fuel. By using an in-house developed tool, a breeding and burning(BB) scenario is first introduced and analyzed from the aspects of the evolution of main nuclides, net 233 U production, spectrum shift, and temperature feedback coefficient. It can be concluded that such a Th/Pu to Th/~(233)U transition can be accomplished by employing a relatively fast fuel reprocessing with a cycle time less than 60 days. At the equilibrium state, the reactor can achieve a conversion ratio of about 0.996 for the 60-day reprocessing period(RP) case and about 1.047 for the 10-day RP case.The results also show that it is difficult to accomplish such a fuel transition with limited reprocessing(RP is 180 days),and the reactor operates as a converter and burns the plutonium with the help of thorium. Meanwhile, a prebreeding and burning(PBB) scenario is also analyzed briefly with respect to the net 233 U production and evolution of main nuclides. One can find that it is more efficient to produce 233 U under this scenario, resulting in a double time varying from about 1.96 years for the 10-day RP case to about 6.15 years for the 180-day RP case.     

Feasibility neutronic design for the reactor core configurations of a 5 MWth transportable block-type HTR

Small long-life transportable high temperature gas-cooled reactors(HTRs) are interesting because they can safely provide electricity or heat in remote areas or to industrial users in developed or developing countries.This paper presents the neutronic design of the U-Battery,which is a 5 MWth block-type HTR with a fuel lifetime of 5–10 years.Assuming a reactor pressure vessel diameter of less than 3.7 m,some possible reactor core configurations of the 5 MWth U-Battery have been investigated using the TRITON module in SCALE 6.The neutronic analysis shows that Layout 12×2B,a scattering core containing 2 layers of 12 fuel blocks each with 20% enriched235U,reaches a fuel lifetime of 10 effective full power years(EFPYs).When the diameter of the reactor pressure vessel is reduced to 1.8 m,a fuel lifetime of 4 EFPYs will be achieved for the 5 MWth U-Battery with a 25-cm thick graphite side reflector.Layouts 6×3 and 6×4 with a 25-cm thick BeO side reflector achieve a fuel lifetime of 7 and 10 EFPYs,respectively.The comparison of the different core configurations shows that,keeping the number of fuel blocks in the reactor core constant,the annular and scattering core configurations have longer fuel lifetimes and lower fuel cost than the cylindrical ones.Moreover,for the 5 MWth U-Battery,reducing the fuel inventory in the reactor core by decreasing the diameter of fuel kernels and packing fraction of TRISO particles is more effective to lower the fuel cost than decreasing the 235U enrichment.     

Core cooling in pressurized-water reactor during water injection

In this paper,the reactor core cooling and its melt progression terminating is evaluated,and the initiation criterion for reactor cavity flooding during water injection is determined.The core cooling in pressurized-water reactor of severe accident is simulated with the thermal hydraulic and severe accident code of SCDAP/RELAP5.The results show that the core melt progression is terminated by water injection,before the core debris has formed at bottom of core,and the initiation of reactor cavity flooding is indicated by the core exit temperature.     

Tensile Test of Rod and Tube Sample of Zirconium Alloy Material

正Zirconium alloy is an important structural material for reactor fuel assemblies (including cladding,guide tube,etc.).In order to ensure the integrity of fuel assemblies during service,it is required that zirconium alloy materials have good high temperature mechanical properties.At     

Development of core fuel management code system for WWER-type reactors

1 Introduction Over the past decades, although many in-core fuel management code systems for PWRs with square fuel assemblies have been developed, there are only a few codes for the cores with hexagonal assemblies (such as Russian pressurized water type WWER reac- tors). The Tianwan Nuclear Power Station in Jiangsu Province, China, is imported from Russia, which adopts the WWER-1000 reactor, and will be put into operation; therefore, the research of core fuel man- agement for WWER-typ…     

Experimental and numerical simulation of air-water two-phase flow in the rod bundle with grid spacer

1 Introduction Grid spacer is the key part of reactor fuel assem-bly. The presence of spacers in fuel assemblies affectsvarious thermal-hydraulic characteristics of the reactorcore. The grid spacer with fine performance can im-prove thermal-hydraulic performance of the core fuelassembly and enhance the critical heat flux withouttoo much augment of the pressure loss. As a result,the implementation of grid spacer with high thermalperformance provides more thermal margin, then in-creases s…     

Analysis of Th-U breeding capability for an accelerator-driven subcritical molten salt reactor

Accelerator-driven systems based on molten salt fuel have several unique advantages and features for advanced nuclear fuel utilization.The aim of this work was to study the Th-U breeding capability in such systems,known as‘‘accelerator-driven subcritical molten salt reactors’’(ADS–MSRs).Breeding capacities including conversion ratio and net~(233)U production for various subcriticalities and different minor actinides(MA)loadings were analyzed for an ADS–MSR.The results show that the subcriticality of the core has a considerable effect on the Th-U breeding.A high subcriticality is favorable to improving the conversion ratio,increasing the net~(233)U production,and reducing the doubling time.Specifically,the doubling time for k_(eff)of 0.99 is larger than 80 years,while the counterpart for k_(eff)of 0.93 is only approximately22 years.Nevertheless,in an ADS–MSR with a high initial MA loading,MA results in a non-negligible~(233)U depletion in the first two decades,while increasing the net~(233)U production compared to reactors without MA loading.During the 50 years of operation,for the subcritical reactor(k_(eff)0:97)with MA fraction increasing from 1 to 14%,the net~(233)U production increases from 3.94 to 8.24 t.     

Conceptual designing of reduced-moderation water reactor with heavy water coolant

The conceptual designing of reduced-moderation water reactors, i.e. advanced water-cooled reactors using plutonium mixed-oxide fuel with high conversion ratios more than 1.0 and negative void reactivity coefficients, has been carried out. The core is designed on the concept of a pressurized water reactor with a heavy water coolant and a triangular tight lattice fuel pin arrangement. The seed fuel assembly has an internal blanket region inside the seed fuel region as well as upper and lower blanket regions (i.e. an axial heterogeneous core). The radial blanket fuel assemblies are introduced in a checkerboard pattern among the seed fuel assemblies (i.e. a radial heterogeneous core). The radial blanket region is shorter than the seed fuel region. This study shows that the heavy water moderated core can achieve negative void reactivity coefficients and conversion ratios of 1.06–1.11.     

Advanced U–Np–Pu fuel to achieve long-life core in heavy water reactor

The objective of this paper is to look at the possibility of approaching the long-life core comparable with reactor life-time. The main issues are centered on U–Np–Pu fuel in a tight lattice design with heavy water as a coolant. It is found that in a hard neutron spectrum thus obtained, a large fraction of ²³⁸Pu produced by neutron capture in ²³⁷Np not only protects plutonium against uncontrolled proliferation, but substantially contributes in keeping criticality due to improved fissile properties (its capture-to-fission ratio drops below unit). Equilibrium fuel composition demonstrates excellent conversion properties that yield the burn-up value as high as 200 GWd/t at extremely small reactivity swings.     

Conceptual Design Study of 180 MWt Small-Sized Reduced-Moderation Water Reactor Core

Conceptual design of a Small-sized Reduced-Moderation Water Reactor (S-RMWR) core, which has the thermal output of 180 MW, the conversion ratio of 1.0 and the void reactivity coefficient of negative value, has been constructed. S-RMWR is a technology demonstration reactor which also conducts material and fuel testing for commercial use of Reduced-Moderation Water Reactor (RMWR) in large-scale power plants. It has a very tight triangular fuel rod lattice and a high coolant void fraction. The RMWR core axially has two short and flat uranium plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) regions with an internal blanket region in between, in order to avoid a positive void reactivity coefficient. The MOX regions are sandwiched between upper and lower blanket regions, in order to increase a conversion ratio.

In this small reactor core, leakage of neutrons is expected to be larger than in a large core. Therefore, a core design concept different from that for a large core is necessary. Core burnup calculations and nuclear and thermal-hydraulic coupled calculations were performed in the present study with SRAC and MOSRA codes. MVP code was also used to obtain control rod worth. Because of its large neutron leakage, keeping the void reactivity coefficient negative is easier for S-RMWR than RMWR. Thus, the heights of MOX region can be taller and the plutonium enrichment can be lower than in RMWR. On the other hand, to achieve the conversion ratio of 1.0, radial blanket and stainless steel reflector assemblies are necessary, whereas they are not needed for RMWR.     

超临界水混合堆快谱区组件物理-热工性能分析

提出超临界水混合堆快谱区多层燃料组件设计方案。用MCNP与STAFAS程序对多层燃料组件进行初步的中子物理与热工水力性能分析，同时对组件结构参数（栅距与棒径比P/D）进行敏感性研究。结果表明：快谱多层燃料组件设计不仅能够实现核燃料的增殖，且可获得较大的负冷却剂温度反应性系数与燃料温度反应性系数;减小P/D均可提高燃料的转换比，但较小P/D会导致核热点因子增大。适当调整组件裂变区燃料富集度可有效改善组件裂变区轴向功率不均匀性，降低核热点因子。     

超临界水冷混合堆快谱区组件物理——热工分析

提出了超临界水冷混合堆快谱区多层燃料组件设计方案.应用MCNP程序为该组件建立计算模型,并进行了相应的物理计算;同时运用子通道分析程序STAFAS对多层燃料组件子通道进行了初步的稳态热工分析.计算结果表明:超临界水冷混合堆快谱区多层燃料组件燃料转换比超过1.0,并且获得负的冷却剂空泡反应性系数;燃料包壳表面最高温度约为595℃,低于设计准则规定的上限值,同时组件各子通道出口冷却剂温度均匀性较好.通过对燃料棒径敏感性分析可知,较大棒径组件燃料转换比较大,但也会导致热通道包壳表面温度峰值升高.     

Accuracy of nuclear design of fast and thermal neutron coupled core by SRAC

Supercritical-pressure light water cooled fast reactor adopts the blanket fuel assemblies with depleted uranium fuel and zirconium hydride layer in the core for negative coolant void reactivity. Thermal neutrons are generated in the core of fast reactor. It is called “fast and thermal neutron coupled core”. The purpose of the present study is to examine the accuracy of assembly and core calculations including preparation of the macroscopic cross sections with the SRAC code system for “fast and thermal neutron coupled core” in comparison with the Monte Carlo codes, MVP and MVP-BURN. Accuracy of the neutron multiplication factor and coolant void reactivity calculation has been evaluated in four types of cores of different fractions of the blanket fuel assembly with zirconium hydride rods. The conventional analysis is based on the macroscopic cross sections which are prepared with infinite lattice. The conventional SRAC calculation underestimates the neuron multiplication factor for all types of cores. Other findings are that the conventional SRAC calculation overestimates coolant void reactivity for the cores without zirconium hydride rods, and underestimates coolant void reactivity for the core of all blanket fuel assemblies having zirconium hydride rods. To overcome these problems, it has been proposed that the macroscopic cross sections of seed fuel assembly are prepared with the model that a seed fuel assembly is surrounded by blanket fuel assemblies in order to take into account the effects of the surrounding fuel assemblies. Evaluations show that accuracy of the neutron multiplication factor by the SRAC calculation can be improved by the proposed method.     

A conceptual design study on innovative FBR

An Actinide Recycle Reactor (ARR) with ductless fuel assemblies and mixed nitride fuel is studied in accordance with an Advanced Fuel Recycle System. The core is designed so that yield more economical efficiencies (high breeding ratio and high burnup), safety aspects (high Doppler reactivity coefficient, low void reactivity coefficient and reactor dynamic characteristics) in comparison with mixed oxide or metal fuel on a suitable condition. Preliminary calculations about key parameters of the core design performances had been done to compare with mixed oxide or metal fuel. Results that the mixed nitride fuel with a sodium bond and ZrH has promising capacity.     

A study on reactivity insertion controlled LMR cores with metallic fuel

An inherently safe core concept with metallic fuel for sodium cooled fast reactor is proposed that has a negative void reactivity at the loss of coolant events without scram as well as a small excess reactivity during the operation cycle. The relationship of sodium void reactivities and burn-up reactivities to different core configurations has been studied quantitatively to clarify the core concept for large metallic fuel reactors. It has shown that the sodium void reactivity is greatly dependent on the core shapes while the excess reactivity is on the fuel compositions. It has also indicated that the core configuration that enables to enhance the neutron streaming through the region above the active core at coolant voiding is most effective to decrease sodium void reactivity.

A 3000 MWt core composed of the flat inner core and annular outer core where the fuel volume fraction is relatively high and the sodium plenum is placed just above the active core region has been selected as a candidate core.

The maximum excess reactivity of the candidate core at UTOP is about 0.4 $ and it can be reduced to approximately zero by power or inlet temperature adjustment during the operation cycle, meanwhile the sodium void reactivity is as low as -1.3 $ in negative that is enough to prevent ULOF sequences.     

Study on high conversion type core of innovative water reactor for flexible fuel cycle (FLWR) for minor actinide (MA) recycling

In order to ensure sustainable energy supplies in the future based on the well-established light water reactor (LWR) technologies, conceptual design studies have been performed on the innovative water reactor for flexible fuel cycle (FLWR) with the high conversion ratio core. For early introduction of FLWR without a serious technical gap from the LWR technologies, the conceptual design of the high conversion type one (HC-FLWR) was constructed to recycle reprocessed plutonium. Furthermore, an investigation of minor actinide (MA) recycling based on the HC-FLWR core concept has been performed and is presented in this paper. Because HC-FLWR is a near-term technology, it would be a good option in the future if HC-FLWR can recycle MAs. In order to recycle MAs in HC-FLWR, it has been found that the core design should be changed, because the loaded MA makes the void reactivity coefficient worse and decreases the discharge burn-up. To find a promising core design specification, the investigation on the core characteristics were performed using the results from parameter surveys with core burn-up calculations. The final core designs were established by coupled three dimensional neutronics and thermal–hydraulics core calculations. The major core specifications are as follows. The plutonium fissile (Puf) content is 13 wt%. The discharge burn-up is about 55 GWd/t. Around 2 wt% of Np or Am can be recycled. The MA conversion ratios are around unity. In particular, it has been found that loaded Np can be transmuted effectively in this core concept. Therefore, these concepts would be a good option to reduce environmental burdens.     

Void reactivity evaluation by modified conversion ratio measurements in LWR critical experiments

We have developed a void reactivity evaluation method by using modified conversion ratio measurements in a light water reactor (LWR) critical lattice. Assembly-wise void reactivity is evaluated from the “finite neutron multiplication factor”, k*, deduced from the modified conversion ratio of each fuel rod. The distributions of modified conversion ratio and k* on a reduced-moderation LWR lattice, for which the improvement of negative void reactivity is a serious issue, were measured. Measured values were analyzed with a continuous-energy Monte Carlo method. The measurements and analyses agreed within the measurement uncertainty.

The developed method is useful for validating the nuclear design methodology concerning void reactivity.