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PWR benchmarking of ARROTTA at beginning of life

Conference · · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society
OSTI ID:5916550

The advanced nodal code ARROTTA can perform multidimensional core analysis for a wide variety of both slow and rapid light water reactor (LWR) transients, as well as criticality searches and eigenvalue calculations. It recently has played the central role in the analysis of a pressurized water reactor (PWR) natural circulation transient without scram occurring at beginning of life (BOL). The severity of that transient was shown to be quite sensitive to the behavior of the moderator temperature coefficient (MTC) of reactivity; therefore, it is of considerable importance that the MTC be calculated very accurately. The present study extends that benchmarking to several additional PWRs and includes comparisons with reference results for isothermal temperature coefficients (ITCs) of reactivity. These reference results are provided either by fine-mesh, quarter-core PDQ7-E calculations or by measurements at operating plants. The ARROTTA code has been shown to predict eigenvalues, nodal power distributions, critical soluble boron concentrations, and ITCs that are in extremely good agreement with measured data and reference results for a variety of core designs at BOL. Furthermore, the accuracy with which ARROTTA calculates these parameters represents a significant improvement relative to one-group and one-and-a-half group nodal codes, which currently are widely used throughout the nuclear industry.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
OSTI ID:
5916550
Report Number(s):
CONF-881011-
Journal Information:
Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 57; ISSN TANSA; ISSN 0003-018X
Publisher:
American Nuclear Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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