High-burnup optimization of axial blanket design parameters

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:6912473

Stucker, D L; Carlson, W R; Erwin, R D ^[1]

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1. Westinghouse Electric Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

The use of axial blankets in pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuel designs has become nearly universal in recent years. The usage has been driven by the resulting fuel cycle cost economic advantage without significant disadvantage. This paper presents a closely controlled optimization study that defines the optimal blanket enrichment and length for annular axial blankets under ultrahigh burnup fuel management. The fuel management strategy evaluated is a three-zone 18-month cycle using the Westinghouse VANTAGE 5 fuel assembly with ZrB[sub 2] integral fuel burnable absorbers (IFBAs), ZIRLO fuel rod cladding, and ZIRLO structures. The reference fuel management results in a region average discharge burnup of 54 GWd/tonne U.

• OSTI ID: 6912473
• Report Number(s): CONF-931160--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Journal Volume: 69
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
210200* -- Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled
BURNUP
DESIGN
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
FUEL CYCLE
FUEL ELEMENTS
FUEL MANAGEMENT
OPTIMIZATION
POWER REACTORS
PWR TYPE REACTORS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR CORES
REACTORS
THERMAL REACTORS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS