Experimental investigation of burnup credit for safe transport, storage, and disposal of spent nuclear fuel.

Abstract

This report describes criticality benchmark experiments containing rhodium that were conducted as part of a Department of Energy Nuclear Energy Research Initiative project. Rhodium is an important fission product absorber. A capability to perform critical experiments with low-enriched uranium fuel was established as part of the project. Ten critical experiments, some containing rhodium and others without, were conducted. The experiments were performed in such a way that the effects of the rhodium could be accurately isolated. The use of the experimental results to test neutronics codes is demonstrated by example for two Monte Carlo codes. These comparisons indicate that the codes predict the behavior of the rhodium in the critical systems within the experimental uncertainties. The results from this project, coupled with the results of follow-on experiments that investigate other fission products, can be used to quantify and reduce the conservatism of spent nuclear fuel safety analyses while still providing the necessary level of safety.4