Comparative safety physics parameters in the advanced fuels critical assemblies

Conference · Wed Apr 12 04:00:00 EST 1978

OSTI ID:6863460

Bhattacharyya, S K; Wade, D C; Bucher, R G; Robinson, W R; Schaefer, R W

The interest in the use of advanced fuels (carbide and advanced oxide) in LMFBR's stems from the projected improvement in breeding properties over conventional mixed-oxide fuels. This improvement in breeding is a consequence of the higher fuel volume fractions achievable in the advanced fuels designs and the concomitant harder neutron spectrum and lower enrichment. The impact of these changes, not only on the breeding properties but also on the safety physics parameters (/sup 238/U Doppler effect, sodium void effect, and /sup 10/B control rod worth), has a strong bearing on whether these fuels are ultimately adopted. A set of key integral physics parameters were measured in a series of advanced fuels critical assemblies constructed on ZPR-9 to assess the relative safety and breeding properties of candidate advanced fuels. The experimental results confirmed the projected improvement in the breeding properties in advanced fuels cores relative to current oxide LMFBR cores, and revealed that the accompanying changes in the safety-related physics parameters were generally large and of unfavorable sign. Specifically, it was found that relative to the ZPR-6, assembly 7 benchmark ''current mixed-oxide'' values for normalized parameters, the central /sup 238/U Doppler worth decreased by 20-40%, the central /sup 10/B worth decreased by 10 to 20% and the central (non-leakage component) sodium void reactivity worth increased by 30 to 40% in the advanced fuels compositions. It was shown that the C/E values on safety parameters in the advanced fuels compositions are of comparable size to those in current oxide assemblies.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., Ill. (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 6863460
• Report Number(s): ZPR-TM-312; CONF-780401-8
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
220600* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Research
Test & Experimental Reactors
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
CARBIDES
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CONTROL ROD WORTHS
DOPPLER COEFFICIENT
EPITHERMAL REACTORS
EXPERIMENTAL REACTORS
FAST REACTORS
PLUTONIUM CARBIDES
PLUTONIUM COMPOUNDS
REACTIVITY COEFFICIENTS
REACTOR LATTICE PARAMETERS
REACTORS
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
TRANSURANIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM CARBIDES
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
VOID COEFFICIENT
ZERO POWER REACTORS
ZPR-6 REACTOR