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Title: Nodal Diffusion Burnable Poison Treatment for Prismatic Reactor Cores

Abstract

The prismatic block version of the High Temperature Reactor (HTR) considered as a candidate Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR)design may use burnable poison pins in locations at some corners of the fuel blocks (i.e., assembly equivalent structures). The presence of any highly absorbing materials, such as these burnable poisons, within fuel blocks for hexagonal geometry, graphite-moderated High Temperature Reactors (HTRs) causes a local inter-block flux depression that most nodal diffusion-based method have failed to properly model or otherwise represent. The location of these burnable poisons near vertices results in an asymmetry in the morphology of the assemblies (or blocks). Hence the resulting inadequacy of traditional homogenization methods, as these “spread” the actually local effect of the burnable poisons throughout the assembly. Furthermore, the actual effect of the burnable poison is primarily local with influence in its immediate vicinity, which happens to include a small region within the same assembly as well as similar regions in the adjacent assemblies. Traditional homogenization methods miss this artifact entirely. This paper presents a novel method for treating the local effect of the burnable poison explicitly in the context of a modern nodal method.

Authors:
;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
DOE - NE
OSTI Identifier:
1016174
Report Number(s):
INL/CON-10-18043
TRN: US1103000
DOE Contract Number:  
DE-AC07-05ID14517
Resource Type:
Conference
Resource Relation:
Conference: 5th International Conference on High Temperature Reactor Technology HTR 2010,Prague, Czech Republic,10/18/2010,10/20/2010
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING; ASYMMETRY; BURNABLE POISONS; DIFFUSION; GEOMETRY; HOMOGENIZATION METHODS; MORPHOLOGY; REACTOR CORES; REACTOR TECHNOLOGY; Burnable Poison; High Temperature Reactor; Nodal Diffusion

Citation Formats

Ougouag, A M, and Ferrer, R M. Nodal Diffusion Burnable Poison Treatment for Prismatic Reactor Cores. United States: N. p., 2010. Web.
Ougouag, A M, & Ferrer, R M. Nodal Diffusion Burnable Poison Treatment for Prismatic Reactor Cores. United States.
Ougouag, A M, and Ferrer, R M. 2010. "Nodal Diffusion Burnable Poison Treatment for Prismatic Reactor Cores". United States. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1016174.
@article{osti_1016174,
title = {Nodal Diffusion Burnable Poison Treatment for Prismatic Reactor Cores},
author = {Ougouag, A M and Ferrer, R M},
abstractNote = {The prismatic block version of the High Temperature Reactor (HTR) considered as a candidate Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR)design may use burnable poison pins in locations at some corners of the fuel blocks (i.e., assembly equivalent structures). The presence of any highly absorbing materials, such as these burnable poisons, within fuel blocks for hexagonal geometry, graphite-moderated High Temperature Reactors (HTRs) causes a local inter-block flux depression that most nodal diffusion-based method have failed to properly model or otherwise represent. The location of these burnable poisons near vertices results in an asymmetry in the morphology of the assemblies (or blocks). Hence the resulting inadequacy of traditional homogenization methods, as these “spread” the actually local effect of the burnable poisons throughout the assembly. Furthermore, the actual effect of the burnable poison is primarily local with influence in its immediate vicinity, which happens to include a small region within the same assembly as well as similar regions in the adjacent assemblies. Traditional homogenization methods miss this artifact entirely. This paper presents a novel method for treating the local effect of the burnable poison explicitly in the context of a modern nodal method.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1016174}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2010},
month = {Fri Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2010}
}

Conference:
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