Modified Quasi-Steady-State Method to Evaluate the Mean Power Profiles of Nuclear Excursions in Fissile Solution.

Abstract

A modified quasi-steady-state method has been developed in order to evaluate the mean power during a nuclear excursion in fissile solution. The conventional method used the critical equation based on the one-group theory in order to calculate the reactivity. However, the one-group approximation reduces the calculation accuracy, and the geometrical buckling used in the critical equation is not applicable to complex geometries. Thus, we have modified the method to use the reactivity feedback coefficients, which are widely used in the calculation of one-point reactor kinetics. Although the modified method requires an external calculation to obtain the feedback coefficients, it is applicable to complex geometries and provides more accurate results than does the one-group approximation when the proper coefficients are given. Moreover, a new method to calculate the boiling power has been developed. In this method, the power corresponding to the void fraction that compensated for the inserted reactivity along with the temperature feedback was calculated using the relationship, which was derived using the French SILENE experimental data. Experimental analyses have been conducted to validate the new method for the French CRAC and Japanese TRACY experiments. The analytical results showed close agreement with the experimental results.