VERA Solution to the Watts Bar Benchmark Problem

Scott Palmtag, Khaldoon Al-Dawood, Andrew Godfrey

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

Abstract

The TVA Watts Bar Unit 1 Benchmark Problem is currently being developed by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA).The benchmark problem is based upon models originally developed by the Consortium for the Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL) for use in validating the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications (VERA).VERA includes a core simulator that models the reactor using an advanced 3D transport method coupled with a 3D full-core subchannel thermal-hydraulics model and a detailed cross section and depletion model.Watts Bar is a typical Westinghouse 4-loop reactor design that is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).In this paper, results are presented for Exercises 1 and 3 of the benchmark.Exercise 1 consists of zero-power physics test cases, which include ten measured critical rod positions and an isothermal temperature coefficient (ITC) measurement.Exercise 3 consists of the full-power depletion for cycle 1.The VERA results are quite accurate, and for the ten measured criticals in exercise 1, the average difference from measured criticality is 25 p cm.The full benchmark specification and results will eventually consist of the first three cycles of depletion data for Watts Bar Unit 1 reactor.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the International Conference on Physics of Reactors, PHYSOR 2024
PublisherAmerican Nuclear Society
Pages1198-1207
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9780894487972
DOIs
StatePublished - 2024
Externally publishedYes
Event2024 International Conference on Physics of Reactors, PHYSOR 2024 - San Francisco, United States
Duration: Apr 21 2024Apr 24 2024

Publication series

NameProceedings of the International Conference on Physics of Reactors, PHYSOR 2024

Conference

Conference2024 International Conference on Physics of Reactors, PHYSOR 2024
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Francisco
Period04/21/2404/24/24

Keywords

  • CTF
  • MPACT
  • PWR
  • VERA
  • Watts Bar

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