Abstract
Precise calculation of energy release in a nuclear reactor is necessary to obtain the correct spatial power distribution and predict characteristics of burned nuclear fuel. In this work, previously developed method for calculation neutron-capture reactions – capture component – contribution in effective energy release in a fuel core of nuclear reactor is discussed. The method was improved and implemented to the different models of VVER-1000 reactor developed for MCU 5 and MCNP 4 computer codes. Different models of equivalent cell and fuel assembly in the beginning of fuel cycle were calculated. These models differ by the geometry, fuel enrichment and presence of burnable absorbers. It is shown, that capture component depends on fuel enrichment and presence of burnable absorbers. Its value varies for different types of hot fuel assemblies from 3.35% to 3.85% of effective energy release. Average capture component contribution in effective energy release for typical serial fresh fuel of VVER-1000 is 3.5%, which is 7 MeV/fission. The method will be used in future to estimate the dependency of capture energy on fuel density, burn-up, etc.
Highlights
Calculation of energy release in fuel core of nuclear reactor plays an important role both at the stage of design and during the operation
The results demonstrate that effective energy release increases by 0.9 MeV/fiss. for fuel with gadolinium
Method for calculation of capture energy contribution in effective energy release in fuel core of a nuclear reactor was improved. It was tested on a simple model of VVER-1000 equivalent cell and eight models of a fuel assembly (13ZS, 30ZSV, 16ZS, 24ZS, 24ZSV, 24ZSW, 35ZS, 35ZSU)
Summary
Calculation of energy release in fuel core of nuclear reactor plays an important role both at the stage of design and during the operation. As of today the majority of energy release estimations leave out of account capture component of energy release, which is connected with neutron-capture reactions ((n,Ȗ), (n,Į), etc.). This component is defined by the nuclide composition of fuel core and neutron spectrum. Different fuel assembly models of VVER-1000 were calculated in order to estimate the influence of several factors on capture component. Different types of fuel assembly models were calculated to confirm the obtained results and to examine the influence of fuel enrichment and presence of burnable absorbers on the capture component of energy release. We reexamined the results using improved method for the effective energy release calculation
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