Impact of Reactor Operating Parameters on Cask Reactivity in BWR Burnup Credit

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2017

OSTI ID:1345782

Ilas, Germina ^[1]; Betzler, Benjamin R. ^[1]; Ade, Brian J. ^[1]

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1. ORNL

This paper discusses the effect of reactor operating parameters used in fuel depletion calculations onspent fuel cask reactivity, with relevance for boiling-water reactor (BWR) burnup credit (BUC)applications. Assessments that used generic BWR fuel assembly and spent fuel cask configurationsare presented. The considered operating parameters, which were independently varied in thedepletion simulations for the assembly, included fuel temperature, bypass water density, specificpower, and operating history. Different operating history scenarios were considered for the assemblydepletion to determine the effect of relative power distribution during the irradiation cycles, as wellas the downtime between cycles. Depletion, decay, and criticality simulations were performed usingcomputer codes and associated nuclear data within the SCALE code system. Results quantifying thedependence of cask reactivity on the assembly depletion parameters are presented herein.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1345782
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English