Weapons-Grade MOX Fuel Burnup Characteristics in Advanced Test Reactor Irradiation
Mixed oxide (MOX) test capsules prepared with weapons-derived plutonium have been irradiated to a burnup of 50 GWd/t. The MOX fuel was fabricated at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) by a master-mix process and has been irradiated in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Previous withdrawals of the same fuel have occurred at 9, 21, 30, 40, and 50 GWd/t. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) manages this test series for the Department of Energy’s Fissile Materials Disposition Program (FMDP). A UNIX BASH (Bourne Again SHell) script CMO has been written and validated at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to couple the Monte Carlo transport code MCNP with the depletion and buildup code ORIGEN-2 (CMO). The new Monte Carlo burnup analysis methodology in this paper consists of MCNP coupling through CMO with ORIGEN-2(MCWO). MCWO is a fully automated tool that links the Monte Carlo transport code MCNP with the radioactive decay and burnup code ORIGEN-2. The fuel burnup analyses presented in this study were performed using MCWO. MCWO analysis yields time-dependent and neutron-spectrum-dependent minor actinide and Pu concentrations for the ATR small I-irradiation test position. The purpose of this report is to validate both the Weapons-Grade Mixed Oxide (WG-MOX) test assembly model and the new fuel burnup analysis methodology by comparing the computed results against the neutron monitor measurements and the irradiated WG-MOX post irradiation examination (PIE) data.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE - NE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC07-99ID-13727
- OSTI ID:
- 911577
- Report Number(s):
- INL/CON-06-01099; TRN: US0800018
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Plutonium Futures - The Science 2006,Pacific Grove, California,07/09/2006,07/13/2006
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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