Neutronic Performance of the VVER-1000 Reactor Using Thorium Fuel with ENDF Library

Sonia M Reda,Ibrahim M Gomaa,Ibrahim I Bashter,Esmat A Amin,Arkady Serikov

doi:10.1155/2021/8838097

Abstract

In this paper, neutronic calculations and the core analysis of the VVER-1000 reactor were performed using MCNP6 code together with both ENDF/B-VII.1 and ENDF/B-VIII libraries. The effect of thorium introduction on the neutronic parameters of the VVER-1000 reactor was discussed. The reference core was initially filled with enriched uranium oxide fuel and then fueled with uranium-thorium fuel. The calculations determine the delayed neutron fraction βeff, the temperature reactivity coefficients, the fuel consumption, and the production of the transuranic elements during reactor operation. βeff and the Doppler coefficient (DC) are found to be in agreement with the design values. It is found that the core loaded with uranium and thorium has lower delayed neutron fraction than the uranium oxide core. The moderator temperature coefficients of the uranium-thorium core are found to be higher than those of the uranium core. Results indicated that thorium has lower production of minor actinides (MAs) and transuranic elements (mainly plutonium isotopes) compared with the relatively large amounts produced from the uranium-based fuel UO2.

Highlights

Countries are building nuclear power plants to meet their energy needs; the site of nuclear power plant in Egypt is ElDabaa
Experiments have been made on power reactors that were successfully operated using ThO2UO2 fuel in light water reactors (LWRs). 233U and 232Th are the best “fissile” and “fertile” materials, respectively, for thermal neutron reactors [3]
The largest update to the ENDF library is represented in ENDF/B-VIII

Summary

Introduction

Countries are building nuclear power plants to meet their energy needs; the site of nuclear power plant in Egypt is ElDabaa. The VVER-1200 is the predecessor of the VVER1000 reactor. The VVER-1000 is a 3000 MW thermal power nuclear power plant which is cooled and moderated by light water. The core is filled with 163 enriched uranium (UO2). The reactor includes international safety standards with evolutionary design improvement in the areas of fuel technology, modularized construction, safety systems, and standardized designs [1, 2]. Thorium is three times more abundant than uranium, and the feasibility of loading the core with thorium uranium fuel was carried out. Experiments have been made on power reactors that were successfully operated using ThO2UO2 fuel in light water reactors (LWRs). 233U and 232Th are the best “fissile” and “fertile” materials, respectively, for thermal neutron reactors [3] Experiments have been made on power reactors that were successfully operated using ThO2UO2 fuel in light water reactors (LWRs). 233U and 232Th are the best “fissile” and “fertile” materials, respectively, for thermal neutron reactors [3]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion