Verification of TGBLA methods on flux-trap-type hafnium control blades through critical experiments analyses

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA)

OSTI ID:6853434

Ando, Yoshihira; Yamamoto, Munenari; Ueda, Makoto; Yoshioka, Ritsuo

The development of long-lived control blades (CBs) is among the key factors for obtaining the maximum benefit from the control cell core (CCC) design concept, which has been applied in many operating boiling water reactors (BWRs) to improve performance in operation. The flux-trap-type all-hafnium CB has been recently proposed as a long-lived CB replacement in current BWRs by which problems inherent in hafnium poison, i.e., heavy weight and small reactivity worth, were overcome. The nuclear life of this type of CB is estimated to be much longer than that of current B{sub 4}C CBs, so this CB may be best fit for the CCC design concept. A pair of hafnium plates are separated from each other by a water gap and inserted in a stainless steel sheath. The water gap between two hafnium plates is a so-called flux-trap region where neutrons transmitted in the plates are slowed down and absorbed on the inside surfaces of the plates (flux-trap effect). This effect compensates for the worth reduction resulting from thinning hafnium plates. A series of critical experiments were performed at Nippon Atomic Industry Group's Critical Assembly facility to investigate the reactivity properties of this type of CBs, including the fundamental flux-trap effect. Measurements were also performed to investigate the influence on fuel-rod power distribution due to changes in CB structure and poison material. These provided good benchmark data with which to verify the methods of the BWR lattice nuclear design code, TGBLA on the treatment of this type of CB.

• OSTI ID: 6853434
• Report Number(s): CONF-890604--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA) Journal Volume: 59
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
210100* -- Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Boiling Water Cooled
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
BENCHMARKS
BWR TYPE REACTORS
CHALCOGENIDES
COMPUTER CODES
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CONTROL ELEMENTS
DATA
DESIGN
ELEMENTS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GROUP THEORY
HAFNIUM
INFORMATION
KINETICS
MATHEMATICS
METALS
NEUTRON FLUX
NUMERICAL DATA
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PERFORMANCE
POWER DISTRIBUTION
RADIATION FLUX
REACTIVITY
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR CORES
REACTOR KINETICS
REACTOR LATTICES
REACTORS
SIMULATION
T CODES
TESTING
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM DIOXIDE
URANIUM OXIDES
VALIDATION
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS