Using ORIGEN2 to predict nuclear reactor fuel compositions. Master's thesis

Technical Report · Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6973823

Lindblom, B A

The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to modify the ORIGEN2 Isotope Generation and Depletion Code to run on a Digital VAX computer using a UNIX operating system, (2) to establish a data base of nuclear-reactor-fuel isotopic compositions for selected reactor types and fuel cycles at various times during each fuel cycle, and (3) to determine the uniqueness of the isotopic compositions of the cases studied. The ORIGEN2 code uses a matrix exponential technique to solve the differential equations describing the buildup and decay of nuclides. The user-generated command file and the highly controllable output make ORIGEN2 quite versatile in modeling reactor operations. Modifications required to allow the code to run on a UNIX-based Digital VAX system were confined primarily to one of the integer functions used in reading the command file. Actinide and fission product compositions of irradiated fuel were produced for eight cases representative of modern commercial nuclear reactors. These results include composition by both isotope and element and are expressed in fraction of atoms of each segment (actinide or fission product). Isotopic fuel compositions were shown to be distinctly unique.

• Research Organization: Air Force Inst. of Tech., Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (USA). School of Engineering
• OSTI ID: 6973823
• Report Number(s): AD-A-194617/7/XAB; AFIT/GNE/ENP-88M-6
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
COMPUTER CODES
O CODES
ISOTOPE RATIO
NUCLEAR FUELS
CONVERSION
DECAY
DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS
FISSION PRODUCTS
IRRADIATION
NUCLEAR ENERGY
ENERGY
ENERGY SOURCES
EQUATIONS
FUELS
ISOTOPES
MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
REACTOR MATERIALS
050700* - Nuclear Fuels- Fuels Production & Properties