Effect of axial expansion on the reactivity of a cylindrical fissile solution assembly
- Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)
Improvements in the simulation of criticality accidents in fissile solutions and of excursions in solution pulse reactors have recently been reported. The coefficient of shutdown reactivity is an important parameter in the prediction of peak fission rates and energy yields. In many situations the volume change, caused by thermal expansion and the evolution of radiolytic gas, is the primary factor in shutdown. A configuration that is often used in the modeling is an open-top cylindrical container. The magnitude of the axial expansion reactivity coefficient, which depends on the fuel concentration and the enrichment, is also very sensitive to the shape of the assembly. The purpose of this paper is to survey the effects of assembly shape on the axial expansion reactivity coefficient for several typical fissile solutions using TWODANT transport calculations and to propose a simple one-speed diffusion calculation for estimating these coefficients.
- OSTI ID:
- 186580
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950601-; ISSN 0003-018X; TRN: 96:007002
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Vol. 72; Conference: Annual meeting of the American Nuclear Society (ANS), Philadelphia, PA (United States), 25-29 Jun 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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