Publication: Neutronic assessment of triso particle fuels in a small fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor
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Date
2016
Authors
Mohamed H.
Lindley B.A.
Parks G.
Lepp�nen J.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
American Nuclear Society
Abstract
This study investigates the challenges and possible simplifications in modelling TRISO fuel compacts in a small fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (FHR), namely the 125 MWth SmAHTR. Modelling TRISO fuel compacts in Monte Carlo codes is non-trivial due to their heterogeneity and randomness. The complexity of the TRISO fuel technically requires thorough and elaborate modelling in order to obtain precise and accurate neutronic calculations. Unfortunately, the trade-offs are tedious modelling, long calculation times and computational expense. Hence, the objective of this study is to show some modelling justifications that can be made without losing accuracy in estimating the infinite multiplication factor, kinf. The Monte Carlo code used for the study is Serpent 2. This study is divided into two main parts: radial and axial analyses. In the radial analysis, a fuel assembly is modelled to study the effect of randomness in radial direction. On the other hand, the axial analysis only looks at a single fuel compact, as it is more concerned with the randomness in the axial direction. Results show that the effect of randomness is insignificant especially at beginning of life and also throughout the burnup period as long as the burnup regions of the models are highly discretized.
Description
Economic and social effects; Fluorine compounds; High temperature reactors; Monte Carlo methods; Random processes; Axial direction; Beginning of lives; Computational expense; Monte Carlo codes; Multiplication factor; Neutronic calculations; Radial direction; Serpent; Fuels