Validation of simplified methods for fuel depletion calculations in gas-cooled fast reactors

NEUTRONIC PERFORMANCE OF (U, Pu)C FUEL IN A LATTICE OF GFR USING SCALE 6.0

“…Firstly, the k inf was calculated at steady-state condition for the temperatures of 300, 400, 500, 600, 900 and 1200 K. On the other hand, for continuous libraries (ENDF/B-VI.8 and ENDF/B-VII.0), the code estimates the k inf for the following temperatures 300, 600, 900, 1200 K [8]. The burnup was performed during 300 days with the V7-238 library, as used in reference [3]. Table 2 presents the fuel assembly features on the simulation.…”

“…The mixture U-Pu contains 64% uranium and 16% plutonium [1,3]. The simulations use the heterogeneous fuel assembly model where the geometry and the composition were based on previous works [1,3]. The SCALE code has been implemented to produce total reflection both radially and axially.…”

“…The inner radius of the cell is composed of ceramic fuel (U, Pu)C. Its composition contains 80% U-Pu and 20% of carbon. The mixture U-Pu contains 64% uranium and 16% plutonium [1,3]. The simulations use the heterogeneous fuel assembly model where the geometry and the composition were based on previous works [1,3].…”

“…The fuel studied is uranium-plutonium carbide-(U, Pu)C in a ratio of 64/16/20 %, respectively. The cladding consists of SiC (50/50)%; the coolant is helium and the assembly has a hexagonal geometry [3]. The goal of this work is to evaluate the behavior of the infinite multiplication factor (k inf ) for heterogeneous assembly model using four libraries of the code: V6-238, V7-238, ENDF/B-VI.8 and ENDF/B-VII.0.…”

“…In this work is used SCALE 6.0 (Standardized Computer Analysis for Licensing Evaluation -version 6.0) code to simulate the hexagonal fuel assembly from a typical GFR. The geometry and the isotopic composition of the components were based on previous studies [1,3]. The burn-up was performed using the TRITON-6 module.…”