Time dependent burn-up and fission products inventory calculations in the discharged fuel of the Syrian MNSR

Abstract

The Syrian Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR), a 30 kW, 89.8% HEU fueled (U-Al), went critical in March, 1996. By operating the reactor at nominal power for 2.5 h/day, the estimated core life is 10 years. This paper presents the results of fuel burn-up and depletion analysis of the MNSR fuel lattice using the ORIGEN 2 code. A one-group cross-section data base for the ORIGEN 2 computer code was developed for the Syrian MNSR research reactor. The ORIGEN 2 predicted burn-up dependent actinide compositions of MNSR spent fuel using the newly developed data base show a good agreement with the published results in the literature. In addition, the burn-up characteristics of MNSR spent fuel was analyzed with the new data base. Finally, to study the effect of burn-up on the reactivity, the microscopic cross-sections of the fission products calculated by the WlMS code (using the number densities of fission products generated by the ORIGEN 2 code as a function of burn-up time), were used as an input for the CITATION code calculations. The results contained in this paper could be used in performing criticality safety analysis and shielding calculations for the design of a spent fuel storage cask for the MNSR core.