Heat deposition analysis for the High Flux Isotope Reactor’s HEU and LEU core models
Abstract
The High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is an 85 MWth pressurized light-water-cooled and -moderated flux-trap type research reactor. The reactor is used to conduct numerous experiments, advancing various scientific and engineering disciplines. As part of an ongoing program sponsored by the US Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration Office of Material Management and Minimization, studies are being performed to assess the feasibility of converting the reactor’s highly enriched uranium fuel to low-enriched uranium fuel. To support this conversion project, reference models with representative experiment target loading and explicit fuel plate representation were developed and benchmarked for both fuels to (1) allow for consistent comparison between designs for both fuel types and (2) assess the potential impact of low-enriched uranium conversion. These high-fidelity models were used to conduct heat deposition analyses at the beginning and end of the reactor cycle and are presented herein. This article (1) discusses the High Flux Isotope Reactor models developed to facilitate detailed heat deposition analyses of the reactor’s highly enriched and low-enriched uranium cores, (2) examines the computational approach for performing heat deposition analysis, which includes a discussion on the methodology for calculating the amount of energy released per fission,more »
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1408602
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1495584
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Nuclear Engineering and Design
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 322; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0029-5493
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS; HFIR; Research reactor; Heat deposition; LEU; HEU; Monte Carlo depletion
Citation Formats
Davidson, Eva E., Betzler, Benjamin R., Chandler, David, and Ilas, Germina. Heat deposition analysis for the High Flux Isotope Reactor’s HEU and LEU core models. United States: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2017.06.040.
Davidson, Eva E., Betzler, Benjamin R., Chandler, David, & Ilas, Germina. Heat deposition analysis for the High Flux Isotope Reactor’s HEU and LEU core models. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2017.06.040
Davidson, Eva E., Betzler, Benjamin R., Chandler, David, and Ilas, Germina. Tue .
"Heat deposition analysis for the High Flux Isotope Reactor’s HEU and LEU core models". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2017.06.040. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1408602.
@article{osti_1408602,
title = {Heat deposition analysis for the High Flux Isotope Reactor’s HEU and LEU core models},
author = {Davidson, Eva E. and Betzler, Benjamin R. and Chandler, David and Ilas, Germina},
abstractNote = {The High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is an 85 MWth pressurized light-water-cooled and -moderated flux-trap type research reactor. The reactor is used to conduct numerous experiments, advancing various scientific and engineering disciplines. As part of an ongoing program sponsored by the US Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration Office of Material Management and Minimization, studies are being performed to assess the feasibility of converting the reactor’s highly enriched uranium fuel to low-enriched uranium fuel. To support this conversion project, reference models with representative experiment target loading and explicit fuel plate representation were developed and benchmarked for both fuels to (1) allow for consistent comparison between designs for both fuel types and (2) assess the potential impact of low-enriched uranium conversion. These high-fidelity models were used to conduct heat deposition analyses at the beginning and end of the reactor cycle and are presented herein. This article (1) discusses the High Flux Isotope Reactor models developed to facilitate detailed heat deposition analyses of the reactor’s highly enriched and low-enriched uranium cores, (2) examines the computational approach for performing heat deposition analysis, which includes a discussion on the methodology for calculating the amount of energy released per fission, heating rates, power and volumetric heating rates, and (3) provides results calculated throughout various regions of the highly enriched and low-enriched uranium core at the beginning and end of the reactor cycle. These are the first detailed high-fidelity heat deposition analyses for the High Flux Isotope Reactor’s highly enriched and low-enriched core models with explicit fuel plate representation. Lastly, these analyses are used to compare heat distributions obtained for both fuel designs at the beginning and end of the reactor cycle, and they are essential for enabling comprehensive thermal hydraulics and safety analyses that require detailed estimates of the heat source within all of the reactor’s fuel element regions.},
doi = {10.1016/j.nucengdes.2017.06.040},
journal = {Nuclear Engineering and Design},
number = C,
volume = 322,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}
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