Point Kinetics Modelling of Decay Heat and the Xenon Effect

Journal Article · Fri Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2016 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:23042673

Adams, George E.; Cooling, Chris M.; Eaton, Matthew D. ^[1]

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1. Nuclear Engineering Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, City and Guilds Building, Exhibition Road, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ (United Kingdom)

A point kinetics model has been used to simulate the impact of decay heat and xenon-135 on the behaviour, during various power transients, of a solution containing fissile material, such as those found in Aqueous Homogeneous Reactors (AHR) for medical isotope production. The heat produced by decay of radionuclides typically constitutes around 7% of total heat output during steady-state operation. Following a drop in reactivity, however, the fission power drops faster than the decay heat, and the latter may temporarily comprise a large proportion of the total heat output. Xenon-135 is a fission product and also a product of the decay of iodine-135. It acts as a strong neutron poison whose concentration can have a large impact on the reactivity of a fissile system. Following any reactivity insertion resulting in a change in the neutron flux, the concentration of xenon-135 changes, with a corresponding impact on reactivity. The model is based on those described in [1], [2] and [3]. The model has been adapted to represent a typical fissile solution and to model the effects of decay heat and xenon-135. (authors)

• OSTI ID: 23042673
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 115; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
AFTER-HEAT
AQUEOUS HOMOGENEOUS REACTORS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CONCENTRATION RATIO
FISSILE MATERIALS
FISSION
FISSION PRODUCTS
HEAT
IODINE 135
ISOTOPE PRODUCTION
KINETICS
NEUTRON FLUX
NEUTRONS
POISONING
REACTIVITY INSERTIONS
STEADY-STATE CONDITIONS
TRANSIENTS
XENON
XENON 135