High-fidelity modeling and simulation for a high flux isotope reactor low-enriched uranium core design

Benjamin R. Betzler; David Chandler; Eva E. Davidson; Germina Ilas

doi:10.1080/00295639.2017.1292090

High-fidelity modeling and simulation for a high flux isotope reactor low-enriched uranium core design

Benjamin R. Betzler, David Chandler, Eva E. Davidson, Germina Ilas

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

high-fidelity model of the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) with a low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel design and a representative experiment loading has been developed to serve as a new reference model for LEU conversion studies. With the exception of the fuel elements, this HFIR LEU model is completely consistent with the current highly enriched uranium HFIR model. Results obtained with the new LEU model provide a baseline for analysis of alternate LEU fuel designs and further optimization studies. The newly developed HFIR LEU model has an explicit representation of the HFIR-specific involute fuel plate geometry, including the within-plate fuel meat contouring, and a detailed geometry model of the fuel element side plates. Such high-fidelity models are necessary to accurately account for the self-shielding from ²³⁸U and the depletion of absorber materials present in the side plates. In addition, a method was developed to account for fuel swelling in the high-density LEU fuel plates during the depletion simulation. Calculated timedependent metrics for the HFIR LEU model include fission rate and cumulative fission density distributions, flux and reaction rates for relevant experiment locations, point kinetics data, and reactivity coefficients.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	81-99
Number of pages	19
Journal	Nuclear Science and Engineering
Volume	187
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2017.1292090
State	Published - Jul 2017

Funding

This work was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy's NNSA Office of Material Management and Minimization and the ORNL Research Reactors Division. D. G. Renfro manages the HFIR LEU conversion project at ORNL and has supported this methods development and analysis work. The authors would also like to thank S. M. Bowman from ORNL for supporting the publication of this paper. Thanks are also extended to A. Abou Jaoude, graduate student at Georgia Institute of Technology, for his contribution with testing of the preliminary models during his 2015 ORNL internship.

Funders	Funder number
U.S. Department of Energy
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Keywords

Fuel swelling
High Flux Isotope Reactor
LEU conversion

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10.1080/00295639.2017.1292090

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abstract = "high-fidelity model of the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) with a low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel design and a representative experiment loading has been developed to serve as a new reference model for LEU conversion studies. With the exception of the fuel elements, this HFIR LEU model is completely consistent with the current highly enriched uranium HFIR model. Results obtained with the new LEU model provide a baseline for analysis of alternate LEU fuel designs and further optimization studies. The newly developed HFIR LEU model has an explicit representation of the HFIR-specific involute fuel plate geometry, including the within-plate fuel meat contouring, and a detailed geometry model of the fuel element side plates. Such high-fidelity models are necessary to accurately account for the self-shielding from 238U and the depletion of absorber materials present in the side plates. In addition, a method was developed to account for fuel swelling in the high-density LEU fuel plates during the depletion simulation. Calculated timedependent metrics for the HFIR LEU model include fission rate and cumulative fission density distributions, flux and reaction rates for relevant experiment locations, point kinetics data, and reactivity coefficients.",

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AU - Ilas, Germina

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High-fidelity modeling and simulation for a high flux isotope reactor low-enriched uranium core design

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