Sensitivity studies in spent fuel pool criticality safety analysis for APR-1400 nuclear power plants
A criticality safety analysis was performed for the APR-1400 spent fuel pool region-II to ensure the safe storage of spent fuel, with credit taken for depletion and in-rack neutron absorbers (Metamic panels). PLUS7 fuel assembly was modeled using TRITON-NEWT of SCALE-6.1. The burnup-dependent cross-...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2018-06-01
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| Series: | Nuclear Engineering and Technology |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1738573318300329 |
| _version_ | 1818551993328730112 |
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| author | Abdulrahman S. Al Awad Abdalla Habashy Walid A. Metwally |
| author_facet | Abdulrahman S. Al Awad Abdalla Habashy Walid A. Metwally |
| author_sort | Abdulrahman S. Al Awad |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A criticality safety analysis was performed for the APR-1400 spent fuel pool region-II to ensure the safe storage of spent fuel, with credit taken for depletion and in-rack neutron absorbers (Metamic panels). PLUS7 fuel assembly was modeled using TRITON-NEWT of SCALE-6.1. The burnup-dependent cross-section library was generated under limiting core-operating conditions with 5%-w U-235 initial enrichment. MCNP5 was used to evaluate the neutron multiplication factor in an infinite array of rack cells with the axially nonuniformly burnt PLUS7 assemblies under normal, abnormal, and accident conditions; including all biases and uncertainties. The main purpose of this study is to investigate reactivity variations due to the critical depletion and reactor operation parameters. The approach, assumptions, and modeling methods were verified by analyzing the contents of the most important fissile and the associated reactivity effects. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) guidance on k-eff being less than 1.0 for spent fuel pools filled with unborated water was the main criterion used in this study. It was found that assemblies with 49.0 GWd/MTU and 5.0 w/o U-235 initial enrichment loaded in Region-II satisfy this criterion. Moreover, it was found that the end effect resulted in a positive bias, thus ensuring its consideration. Keywords: Burnup Credit, Criticality Safety Analysis, Depletion Analysis, Nonuniform Burnup, Spent Fuel Pool |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T09:07:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-77ddb1fd40e446d1bd02d7e19034d793 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1738-5733 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T09:07:17Z |
| publishDate | 2018-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nuclear Engineering and Technology |
| spelling | doaj.art-77ddb1fd40e446d1bd02d7e19034d7932022-12-22T00:29:37ZengElsevierNuclear Engineering and Technology1738-57332018-06-01505709716Sensitivity studies in spent fuel pool criticality safety analysis for APR-1400 nuclear power plantsAbdulrahman S. Al Awad0Abdalla Habashy1Walid A. Metwally2Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of Sharjah, University City Road, Sharjah 27272, United Arab EmiratesDepartment of Nuclear Engineering, University of Sharjah, University City Road, Sharjah 27272, United Arab EmiratesCorresponding author.; Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of Sharjah, University City Road, Sharjah 27272, United Arab EmiratesA criticality safety analysis was performed for the APR-1400 spent fuel pool region-II to ensure the safe storage of spent fuel, with credit taken for depletion and in-rack neutron absorbers (Metamic panels). PLUS7 fuel assembly was modeled using TRITON-NEWT of SCALE-6.1. The burnup-dependent cross-section library was generated under limiting core-operating conditions with 5%-w U-235 initial enrichment. MCNP5 was used to evaluate the neutron multiplication factor in an infinite array of rack cells with the axially nonuniformly burnt PLUS7 assemblies under normal, abnormal, and accident conditions; including all biases and uncertainties. The main purpose of this study is to investigate reactivity variations due to the critical depletion and reactor operation parameters. The approach, assumptions, and modeling methods were verified by analyzing the contents of the most important fissile and the associated reactivity effects. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) guidance on k-eff being less than 1.0 for spent fuel pools filled with unborated water was the main criterion used in this study. It was found that assemblies with 49.0 GWd/MTU and 5.0 w/o U-235 initial enrichment loaded in Region-II satisfy this criterion. Moreover, it was found that the end effect resulted in a positive bias, thus ensuring its consideration. Keywords: Burnup Credit, Criticality Safety Analysis, Depletion Analysis, Nonuniform Burnup, Spent Fuel Poolhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1738573318300329 |
| spellingShingle | Abdulrahman S. Al Awad Abdalla Habashy Walid A. Metwally Sensitivity studies in spent fuel pool criticality safety analysis for APR-1400 nuclear power plants Nuclear Engineering and Technology |
| title | Sensitivity studies in spent fuel pool criticality safety analysis for APR-1400 nuclear power plants |
| title_full | Sensitivity studies in spent fuel pool criticality safety analysis for APR-1400 nuclear power plants |
| title_fullStr | Sensitivity studies in spent fuel pool criticality safety analysis for APR-1400 nuclear power plants |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sensitivity studies in spent fuel pool criticality safety analysis for APR-1400 nuclear power plants |
| title_short | Sensitivity studies in spent fuel pool criticality safety analysis for APR-1400 nuclear power plants |
| title_sort | sensitivity studies in spent fuel pool criticality safety analysis for apr 1400 nuclear power plants |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1738573318300329 |
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