Experience in estimating neutron poison worths

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

OSTI ID:7029565

Chiang, R T; Congdon, S P

Gadolinia, {sup 135}Xe, {sup 149}Sm, control rod, and soluble boron are five neutron poisons that may appear in light water reactor assemblies. Reliable neutron poison worth estimation is useful for evaluating core operating strategies, fuel cycle economics, and reactor safety design. Based on physical presence, neutron poisons can be divided into two categories: local poisons and global poisons. Gadolinia and control rod are local poisons, and {sup 135}Xe, {sup 149}Sm, and soluble boron are global poisons. The first-order perturbation method is commonly used to estimate nuclide worths in fuel assemblies. It is well known, however, that the first-order perturbation method was developed for small perturbations, such as the perturbation due to weak absorbers, and that neutron poisons are not weak absorbers. The authors have developed an improved method to replace the first-order perturbation method, which yields very poor results, for estimating local poison worths. It has also been shown that the first-order perturbation method seems adequate to estimate worths for global poisons caused by flux compensation.

• OSTI ID: 7029565
• Report Number(s): CONF-890604-; CODEN: TANSA; TRN: 90-023388
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA), Vol. 59; Conference: Annual meeting of the American Nuclear Society, Atlanta, GA (USA), 4-8 Jun 1989; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
BWR TYPE REACTORS
REACTOR KINETICS
NEUTRON ABSORBERS
PERFORMANCE
PWR TYPE REACTORS
BORON
CONTROL ELEMENTS
GADOLINIUM OXIDES
PERTURBATION THEORY
REACTOR OPERATION
SAMARIUM 149
SOLUBLE POISONS
XENON 135
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHALCOGENIDES
ELEMENTS
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
GADOLINIUM COMPOUNDS
HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
KINETICS
MATERIALS
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
NUCLEAR POISONS
NUCLEI
OPERATION
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIOISOTOPES
RARE EARTH COMPOUNDS
RARE EARTH ISOTOPES
RARE EARTH NUCLEI
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTORS
SAMARIUM ISOTOPES
SEMIMETALS
STABLE ISOTOPES
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
XENON ISOTOPES
210100* - Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Boiling Water Cooled
210200 - Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled