A comparative study to investigate burnup in research reactor fuel using two independent experimental methods

Abstract

Two independent experimental methods have been used for the comparative study of fuel burnup measurement in low enriched uranium, plate type research reactor. In the first method a gamma ray activity ratio method was employed. An experimental setup was established for gamma ray scanning using prior calibrated high purity germanium detector. The computer software KORIGEN gave the theoretical support. In the second method reactivity difference technique was used. At the same location in the same core configuration the fresh and burned fuel element's reactivity worth was estimated. For theoretical estimated curve, group cross-sections were generated using computer code WIMS-D/4, and three dimensional modeling was made by computer code CITATION. The measured burnup of different fuel elements using these methods were found to be in good agreement.