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Calculation of heating values for the high flux isotope reactor

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

    7 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    Calculating the amount of energy released by a fission reaction (fission Q value) and the heating rate distribution in a nuclear reactor is an important part of the safety analysis. However, these calculations can become very complex. One of the codes that can be used for this type of analyses is the Monte Carlo transport code MCNP5. Currently it is impossible to calculate the Q value and heating rate disposition for delayed beta and delayed gamma particles directly from MCNP5. The purpose of this paper is to outline a rigorous method for indirectly calculating the Q values and heating rates in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), based on previous similar studies carried out for very high-temperature reactor configurations. This method has been applied in this study to calculate heating rates for the beginning of cycle (BOC) and end-of-cycle (EOC) states of HFIR. In addition, the BOC results obtained for HFIR are compared with corresponding results for the Advanced Test Reactor. The fission Q value for HFIR was calculated as 200.2 MeV for the BOC and 201.3 MeV for the EOC. It was also determined that 95.1% and 95.4% of the heat was deposited within the HFIR fuel plates for the BOC and EOC models, respectively. This methodology can also be used for heating rate calculations for HFIR experiments.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationInternational Conference on the Physics of Reactors 2012, PHYSOR 2012
    Subtitle of host publicationAdvances in Reactor Physics
    Pages2349-2358
    Number of pages10
    StatePublished - 2012
    EventInternational Conference on the Physics of Reactors 2012: Advances in Reactor Physics, PHYSOR 2012 - Knoxville, TN, United States
    Duration: Apr 15 2012Apr 20 2012

    Publication series

    NameInternational Conference on the Physics of Reactors 2012, PHYSOR 2012: Advances in Reactor Physics
    Volume3

    Conference

    ConferenceInternational Conference on the Physics of Reactors 2012: Advances in Reactor Physics, PHYSOR 2012
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    CityKnoxville, TN
    Period04/15/1204/20/12

    Keywords

    • HFIR
    • Heating rate
    • MCNP5
    • ORIGEN
    • Q-value

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