Validation of IRBURN calculation code system through burnup benchmark analysis

Abstract

Assessment of the reactor fuel composition during the irradiation time, fuel management and criticality safety analysis require the utilization of a validated burnup calculation code system. In this work a newly developed burnup calculation code system, IRBURN, is introduced for the estimation and analysis of the fuel burnup in LWR reactors. IRBURN provides the full capabilities of the Monte Carlo neutron and photon transport code MCNP4C as well as the versatile code for calculating the buildup and decay of nuclides in nuclear materials, ORIGEN2.1, along with other data processing and linking subroutines. This code has the capability of using different depletion calculation schemes. The accuracy and precision of the implemented algorithms to estimate the eigenvalue and spent fuel isotope concentrations are demonstrated by validation against reliable benchmark problem analyses. A comparison of IRBURN results with experimental data demonstrates that the code predicts the spent fuel concentrations within 10% accuracy. Furthermore, standard deviations of the average values for isotopic concentrations including IRBURN data decreases considerably in comparison with the same parameter excluding IRBURN results, except for a few sets of isotopes. The eigenvalue comparison between our results and the benchmark problems shows a good prediction of the k-inf values during the entire burnup history with the maximum difference of 1% at 100 MWd/kgU.