Detector positioning for the initial subcriticality level determination in accelerator-driven systems

Conference · Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2012

OSTI ID:22105844

Uyttenhove, W.; Van Den Eynde, G.; Baeten, P.; Kochetkov, A.; Vittiglio, G.; Wagemans, J. ^[1]; Lathouwers, D.; Kloosterman, J. L.; Wols, F. ^[2]; Billebaud, A.; Chabod, S.; Thybault, H. E. ^[3]; Lecouey, J. L.; Ban, G.; Lecolley, F. R.; Marie, N.; Steckmeyer, J. C. ^[4]; Dessagne, P.; Kerveno, M. ^[5]; Mellier, F. ^[6]

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1. SCKCEN, Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, Boeretang 200, BE-2400 Mol (Belgium)
2. Delft Univ. of Technology, Mekelweg 15, NL-2629 JB Delft (Netherlands)
3. LPSC-CNRS-IN2P3/UJF/INPG, 53, Avenue des Martyrs, 38026 Grenoble Cedex (France)
4. LPC Caen, ENSICAEN/Unicersit de Caen/CNRS-IN2P3, Caen (France)
5. IPHC-DRS/UdS/CNRS-IN2P3, Strasbourg (France)
6. CEA/DEN/DER/SPEX/LPE, Cadarache 13108 Saint-Paul-les-Durance (France)

Within the GUINEVERE project (Generation of Uninterrupted Intense Neutrons at the lead Venus Reactor) carried out at SCK-CEN in Mol, the continuous deuteron accelerator GENEPI-3C was coupled to the VENUS-F fast simulated lead-cooled reactor. Today the FREYA project (Fast Reactor Experiments for hYbrid Applications) is ongoing to study the neutronic behavior of this Accelerator Driven System (ADS) during different phases of operation. In particular the set-up of a monitoring system for the subcriticality of an ADS is envisaged to guarantee safe operation of the installation. The methodology for subcriticality monitoring in ADS takes into account the determination of the initial subcriticality level, the monitoring of reactivity variations, and interim cross-checking. At start-up, the Pulsed Neutron Source (PNS) technique is envisaged to determine the initial subcriticality level. Thanks to its reference critical state, the PNS technique can be validated on the VENUS-F core. A detector positioning methodology for the PNS technique is set up in this paper for the subcritical VENUS-F core, based on the reduction of higher harmonics in a static evaluation of the Sjoestrand area method. A first case study is provided on the VENUS-F core. This method can be generalised in order to create general rules for detector positions and types for full-scale ADS. (authors)

• Research Organization: American Nuclear Society, Inc., 555 N. Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, Illinois 60526 (United States)
• OSTI ID: 22105844
• Resource Relation: Conference: PHYSOR 2012: Conference on Advances in Reactor Physics - Linking Research, Industry, and Education, Knoxville, TN (United States), 15-20 Apr 2012; Other Information: Country of input: France; 18 refs.
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
ACCELERATORS
CRITICAL CURRENT
CRITICALITY
DEUTERIUM
DEUTERONS
EVALUATION
FAST REACTORS
MONITORING
NEUTRON EMISSION
NEUTRON SOURCES
NEUTRONS
POSITIONING
REACTIVITY
REACTOR MONITORING SYSTEMS
REACTOR OPERATION
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY
VENUS REACTOR