Complete Sensitivity/Uncertainty Analysis of LR-0 Reactor Experiments with MSRE FLiBe Salt and Perform Comparison with Molten Salt Cooled and Molten Salt Fueled Reactor Models

Technical Report · Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1338554· OSTI ID:1338554

Brown, Nicholas R. ^[1]; Powers, Jeffrey J. ^[1]; Mueller, Don ^[1]; Patton, Bruce W. ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

In September 2016, reactor physics measurements were conducted at Research Centre Rez (RC Rez) using the FLiBe (2 ⁷LiF + BeF₂) salt from the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) in the LR-0 low power nuclear reactor. These experiments were intended to inform on neutron spectral effects and nuclear data uncertainties for advanced reactor systems using FLiBe salt in a thermal neutron energy spectrum. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), in collaboration with RC Rez, performed sensitivity/uncertainty (S/U) analyses of these experiments as part of the ongoing collaboration between the United States and the Czech Republic on civilian nuclear energy research and development. The objectives of these analyses were (1) to identify potential sources of bias in fluoride salt-cooled and salt-fueled reactor simulations resulting from cross section uncertainties, and (2) to produce the sensitivity of neutron multiplication to cross section data on an energy-dependent basis for specific nuclides. This report provides a final report on the S/U analyses of critical experiments at the LR-0 Reactor relevant to fluoride salt-cooled high temperature reactor (FHR) and liquid-fueled molten salt reactor (MSR) concepts. In the future, these S/U analyses could be used to inform the design of additional FLiBe-based experiments using the salt from MSRE. The key finding of this work is that, for both solid and liquid fueled fluoride salt reactors, radiative capture in ⁷Li is the most significant contributor to potential bias in neutronics calculations within the FLiBe salt.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1338554
• Report Number(s): ORNL/TM-2016/729; TRN: US1701444
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
FLIBE
THERMAL NEUTRONS
BERYLLIUM FLUORIDES
LITHIUM FLUORIDES
LR-0 REACTOR
MOLTEN SALT FUELED REACTORS
MOLTEN SALT COOLED REACTORS
MSRE REACTOR
LITHIUM 7
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
CROSS SECTIONS
ENERGY SPECTRA
REACTOR PHYSICS
ENERGY DEPENDENCE
CAPTURE
EXPERIMENT DESIGN
SIMULATION
MULTIPLICATION FACTORS
nuclear
reactor
molten salt reactor
MSR
fluoride high-temperature reactor
FHR
sensitivity
uncertainty
S/U
LR-0
experiments
FLiBe
TSUNAMI