Possible criticality scenario and its mechanism of the Windscale Works criticality accident in 1970 analyzed by computational fluid dynamics and Monte Carlo neutron transport

Abstract

The Windscale Works criticality accident in 1970 resulted from mixing an aqueous solution with an organic solvent with different plutonium concentrations and densities. Although this accident has been studied using improved computer capabilities in recent years, a precise criticality scenario has not yet been identified. This study aims to clarify a possible criticality scenario of the accident—the time variation of reactivity and its mechanism. The accident was simulated by combining the multiphase computational fluid dynamics solver of OpenFOAM and the delta-tracking-based Monte Carlo neutron transport code Serpent2. Consequently, the periodic uneven arrangement of fluids might have caused oscillations in neutron leakage and absorption, resulting in periodic wavy reactivity changes. Furthermore, the emulsion, which was thought to be the primary cause, might not be the dominant mechanism for reactivity change, although it contributed to the criticality of the accident.