Burnup verification measurements on spent fuel assemblies at Arkansas Nuclear One
Burnup verification measurements have been performed using the Fork system at Arkansas Nuclear One, Units 1 and 2, operated by Energy Operations, Inc. Passive neutron and gamma-ray measurements on individual spent fuel assemblies were correlated with the reactor records for burnup, cooling time, and initial enrichment. The correlation generates an internal calibration for the system in the form of a power law determined by a least squares fit to the neutron data. The values of the exponent in the power laws were 3.83 and 4.35 for Units 1 and 2, respectively. The average deviation of the reactor burnup records from the calibration determined from the measurements is a measure of the random error in the burnup records. The observed average deviations were 2.7% and 3.5% for assemblies at Units 1 and 2, respectively, indicating a high degree of consistency in the reactor records. Two non-standard assemblies containing neutron sources were studied at Unit 2. No anomalous measurements were observed among the standard assemblies at either Unit. The effectiveness of the Fork system for verification of reactor records is due to the sensitivity of the neutron yield to burnup, the self-calibration generated by a series of measurements, the redundancy provided by three independent detection systems, and the operational simplicity and flexibility of the design.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 111908
- Report Number(s):
- SAND--95-1991C; CONF-950787--84; ON: DE95017891
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Burnup verification at Arkansas Nuclear One-unit 1 using the Fork measurement system
Burnup verification measurements on spent-fuel assemblies at Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 1. Final report