Burnup Credit Feasibility for BWR Spent Fuel Shipments
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Considerable interest in the allowance of reactivity credit for the exposure history of power reactor fuel currently exists. This "burnup credit'' issue has the potential to greatly reduce risk and cost when applied to the design and certification of spent of fuel casks used for transportation and storage. Analyses have shown the feasibility estimated the risk and economic incentives for allowing burnup credit in pressurized water reactor (PWR) spent fuel shipping cask applications. This paper summarizes the extension of the previous PWR feasibility assessments to boiling water reactor (BWR) fuel. As with the PWR analysis, the purpose was not verification of burnup credit but a reasonable assessment of the feasibility and potential gains from its use in BWR applications. This feasibility analysis aims to apply simple methods that adequately characterize the time-dependent isotopic compositions of typical BWR fuel. An initial analysis objective was to identify a simple and reliable method for characterizing BWR spent fuel. The method includes characterization of a typical pin-cell spectrum, using a one-dimensional (1-D) model of a BWR assembly. The calculated spectrum allows burnup-dependent few-group material constants to be generated. Point depletion methods were then used to obtain the time-varying characteristics of the fuel. These simple methods were validated, where practical, with multidimensional methods.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 6646458
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-901101--11; ON: DE90012941
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
210100* -- Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Boiling Water Cooled
42 ENGINEERING
BURNUP
BWR TYPE REACTORS
Boiling Water Reactor (BWR)
CASKS
COMPUTER CODES
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ENERGY SOURCES
FUEL ASSEMBLIES
FUELS
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NUCLEAR FUELS
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)
REACTIVITY
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTORS
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SPENT FUEL CASKS
SPENT FUELS
TRANSPORT
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS