Direct Deterministic Method for Neutronics Analysis and Computation of Asymptotic Burnup Distribution in a Recirculating Pebble-Bed Reactor
A new deterministic method has been developed for the neutronics analysis of a pebble-bed reactor (PBR). The method accounts for the flow of pebbles explicitly and couples the flow to the neutronics. The method allows modeling of once-through cycles as well as cycles in which pebbles are recirculated through the core an arbitrary number of times. This new work is distinguished from older methods by the systematically semi-analytical approach it takes. In particular, whereas older methods use the finite-difference approach (or an equivalent one) for the discretization and the solution of the burnup equation, the present work integrates the relevant differential equation analytically in discrete and complementary sub-domains of the reactor. Like some of the finite-difference codes, the new method obtains the asymptotic fuel-loading pattern directly, without modeling any intermediate loading pattern. This is a significant advantage for the design and optimization of the asymptotic fuel-loading pattern. The new method is capable of modeling directly both the once-through-then-out fuel cycle and the pebble recirculating fuel cycle. Although it currently includes a finite-difference neutronics solver, the new method has been implemented into a modular code that incorporates the framework for the future coupling to an efficient solver such as a nodal method and to modern cross section preparation capabilities. In its current state, the deterministic method presented here is capable of quick and efficient design and optimization calculations for the in-core PBR fuel cycle. The method can also be used as a practical "scoping" tool. It could, for example, be applied to determine the potential of the PBR for resisting nuclear-weapons proliferation and to optimize proliferation-resistant features. However, the purpose of this paper is to show that the method itself is viable. Refinements to the code are under way, with the objective of producing a powerful reactor physics analysis tool for PBRs.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC07-99ID-13727
- OSTI ID:
- 912088
- Report Number(s):
- INEEL/JOU-01-00219
- Journal Information:
- Annals of Nuclear Energy, Vol. 29, Issue 11
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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