NRP-3 the Effect of Beryllium Interaction with Fast Neutrons on the Reactivity of Etrr-2 Research Reactor

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Seventh Conference of Nuclear Sciences & Applications 6-10 February 2000, Cairo, Egypt NRP-3 The Effect Of Beryllium Interaction With Fast Neutrons On the Reactivity Of Etrr-2 Research Reactor

Moustafa Aziz and A.M. EL Messiry National Center for Nuclear Safety Atomic Energy Autho , Cairo , Egypt

ABSTRACT

The effect of beryllium interactions with fast neutrons is studied for Etrr_2 research reactors. Isotope build up inside beryllium blocks is calculated under different irradiation times. A new model for the Etrr_2 research reactor is designed using MCNP code to calculate the reactivity and flux change of the reactor due to beryllium poison.

Key words: Research Reactors , Neutron Flux , Beryllium Blocks, Fast Neutrons and Reactivity

INTRODUCTION

Beryllium irradiated by fast neutrons with energies in the range 0.7-20 Mev undergoes (n,a) and (n,2n) reactions resulting in subsequent formation of the isotopes lithium (Li-6), tritium (H-3) and helium (He-3 and He-4 ). Beryllium interacts with fast neutrons to produce 6He that decay 6 6 ( T!/2 =0.8 s) to produce Li . Li interacts with neutron to produce tritium which suffer /? (T1/2 = 12.35 year) decay and converts to 3He which finally interact with neutron to produce tritium. These processes some times defined as Beryllium poison.

Negative effect of this process are met whenever beryllium is used in a thermal reactor as a reflector or moderator . Because of their large thermal neutron absorption cross sections , the buildup of He-3 and Li-6 concentrations ,initiated by the Be(n,a) reaction , results in large negative reactivities which alter the reactivity , flux and power distributions. The long term accumulation of helium and tritium gases produces also a swelling effect which limits the life time of beryllium blocks in the reactor0 -2)

A new model for the Etrr_2 research reactor was designed using MCNP code which is capable of determining the reactivity of reactor with and without beryllium poison.

In the present paper the Beryllium poision is studied and investigated for Etrr_2 research reactor , where beryllium is used as a reflector , the concentrations of Be , Li , H-3 and He-3 is calculated and its negative implications on reactivity , flux and power distribution in the reactor was determined.

550 MATHEMATICAL MODELING

Much of interest are focused on beryllium which is used as a reflector in the research reactor'3'4' . Bryllium irradiated by a fast neutron flux undergoes the subsequent isotope transformations'" : 9 6 6 Be(n,a) = He (T1/2 =0.8 s )= Li

6Li (n,o) = 3H (1)

3 3 H (T1/2 =12.35 y ) = He

3He(n,p)=3H

The net effect is the production of 6Li , 3H , and3 He atoms and decreasing in beryllium density. The number densities variation of Be , Li , He and H are described by the following time dependent equations:

dNB. , x -^=-NBe. (RR)Be dN, L dt -

•^=NL. (RR)L-XT.NT+NHe. (RR)He

The subscripts :Be , L, T abd He respectively refer to beryllium [Be] ,lithium [6Li] 3 9 1 , tritium [T], and helium [ He]. XT tritium decay constant = 1.78.10" sec . (RR)X stands for the isotope reaction rate for absorption at isotope x and is given by:

)(E, t)ax(E)dE (3)

The energy interval (Emin , EmM) covers the entire range of neutron energies in Be matrix , beryllium reaction rate deponds only on the neutron flux magnitude above 0.7 Mev and the others { Li, T and He } on the thermal flux magnitude

After reactor shutdown the following equations applied to the system , tritium decay and He-3 build-up

551 dNHe • dt T T

METHOD OF SOLUTION

The method of solution can be divided into two steps :

1- Calculations of the concentration of Be , Li , T and He3 with time by solving the system of equation (2) during reactor operation and equation (4) during reactor shutdown. A computer program was designed which use Runge Kutta method with constant time step of one day to solve equation (2) and (4). To calculate the poisons concentrations. The beryllium blocks are exposed to radiation up to 20 years , with reactor cycle { 19 days reactor operation and 3 days shutdown} For this purpose beryllium blocks arround the reactor core are divided into six regions as shown in figure 1. These regions divisions have similar flux values. The seven group flux are prepared using MCNP code(5) and hence are used in solving equations 2 and 4.

2-Incorporate the new concentrations of beryllium poisons into MCNP model model for Etrr_2 reactor to determine the reactivity of the reactor with and without beryllium poisoning . For this purpose A new and accurate model for Etrr_2 research reactor was designed with MCNP Monte Carlo code, this model has the following feature :-

- Full hetrogeneous representation for fuel , control plate , second shutdown system , beryllium Blocks and water channel - The repeated structure capability of the MCNP code was used to represent 30 positions in the core ( 29 fuel and 1 for cobalt irradiation unit) and every fuel element is represented by 19 fuel plates with clad and coolant channel.

- The number of neutron histories used to run the MCNP input is l.lxlO6 neutron of them the first 100,000 neutron is used to develope the spatial fission spectrum and the next 106 neutron histories were used to accumulate the results and calculate the required output.

- The data and composition of Etrr_2 reactor core can be found in reference [6]

552 R:6 R:3 R:4 R:5

Be | H20 Be H20 Be H20 Be i Be Be Be J I |6 Be Be Be

CR-1 {I CR-2- CR-3 Be SJL u Be Be Be 10 11 12 Be Be Be Be 13 I C. I. 16 17 18 Be Be Be Be 19 20 21 22 23 24 Be Be Be CR-4 I CR-5 CR-6 Be 25 I 26 27 28 29 30 Be Be

Be Be Be Be

Be ! H20 H20 Be H2O Be I » R:2

Figure 1 shows Etrr_2 reactor core and beryllium regions

Beryllium Regions: Be Region 1: 1 row at the top of the core , 4 beryllium blocks Region 2: 1 row at the bottom of the core , 4 berylliua blocks Region 3: first column at core right , 8 beryllium blocks Region 4: second column at core right , 8 beryllium blocks Region 5: third colusn at core right , 8 beryllium blocks Region 6: first column at core left , 8 beryllium blocks Numbers 1 to 30 is fuel element positions CR_l to CR_6 is the control rods positions C.I. cobalt irradiation position

553 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

In this section three major areas are investigated: (1) MCNP model validation and comparison with the design model . (2)The isotope build up inside beryllium blocks i.e. Be , Li , T , and,He3 for every beryllium regions (3)The reactivity and thermal flux of the reactor with and without beryllium poison

(1) MCNP Code Validation:

Table 1 shows comparison between the excess reactivity [ cold no xenon] of the reactor core for MCNP model and the design value(6)

Table 1 Comparison between MCNP and CITATION

Code MCNP CITATION reactivity (pcm) 8198.8 8220

Figure 2a to 2e compare the flux mapping for CITATION [6] and the present MCNP model for both thermal { E< 0.625 ev } and fast flux { E > 0.625 ev } for all 30 fuel elements and cobalt position, the results show good agreement between the two codes.

XO.9 X .2 0.6

Fuel element No. Figure 2a n Thermal flux (CITATION) , A Thermal flux (MCNP) O Fast flux (CITATION) , * FAST FLUX (MCNP)

554 i 9 10 11 12 Fuel Element No. Figure 2b a Thermal flux (CITATION) , A Thermal flux (MCNP) O Fast flux (CITATION) , * Fast flux (MCNP)

5.8 - 5.0 - 4.2 - 'em's ) 3.4 -

X 2.6 - 1.8 - ^^ Flu x 1 .(J -i^ i i 1 | 1 T 1 1 | 1 1 i i i i i i i I i i 13 14 15 16 17 If Figure 2c a Thermal flux (CITATION ) , A Thermal flux (MCNP) O Fast flux (CITATION ) ,* Fast flux (MCNP)

0.0 19 20 21 22 24 Fuel Element No. Figure 2d n Thermal flux (CITATION) , A Thermal flux (MCNP) O Fast flux (CITATION ) , * Fast flux (MCNP)

555 2.8 •=

25 26 27 28 29 Fuel Element No. Figure 2e a Thermal flux (CITATION) A Thermal flux MCNP 0 Fast flux (CITATION ) * Fast flux MCNP

(2) Isotope Build up Inside Beryllium Blocks:

Figure 3 shows the beryllium concentration at the six beryllium regions [ the regions is shown in figure 1 ] . The results show that the interior beryllium blocks which are subjected to higher neutron flux{ regions number 1 ,2,3 and 6, directly sourround the reactor core} shows the largest beryllium reduction. While exterior beryllium which is not directly faced the reactor core (regions 4 and 5 ), is less affected, the maximum reduction in beryllium concentration is 3 % after 30 years of irradiation.

Figure 4 shows Lithium concentrations through different regions of beryllium with time. Four regions which directly faces the reactor core (regions No. 1,2,3 and 6) have greater 6Li depositions than the outer regions ( regions 4 and 5). A typical results show that after 1 year for regions 3 , 4 ,5 Li concentration is 0.118E-3 , 0.181E-4 , and 0.435E-5 (atom/barn.cm) which indicate that Li decrease by a factor of 6.52 and 27.13 times between interior and exterior beryllium blocks.

Figure 5 shows tritium concentration through different beryllium regions. Interior regions ( No. 1, 2,3, and 6 ) have greater tritium concentration than exterior regions (regions no 4 and 5 ). A typical results show that the concentration varies from regions 3, 4, and 5 (from interior to outer ) by 0.126E-6 , 0.391E-8 and 0.221E-9 (atom/barn.cm)

Figure 6 shows He3 concentration through beryllium regions for both interior regions (No. 1,2,3 and 6) and exterior regions ( No 4 and 5) . The difference between 3He concentration for regions 3, 4, and 5 is 0.237E-8 , 0.735E-10 and 0.415E-11 ( atom/barn.cm) which show that decrease in He3 concentration from interior to exterior and interior blocks is more poisoned by 3He than exterior blocks.

556 0.12400

0.12300 ~

0.12200 -.

'0.12100 -.

gn 2 t nqian ,5 0.12000 •: t rtglon 4 I region ft I region 6

0.11900 r~l—i i I I I I i I i—i i i i i i i i—i i i i i [ i i i—r~ 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 TimeCdoys) Figure 3 beryllium concentration at different beryllium regions with time

US at rggion 1 L[6 at region 2 L;6 ol region 3 L;6 ot region 4 U6 at region 5 U6 ot region 6

10 0 2000 4000 6000 S000 10000 12000 Time(days) Figure 4 Li6 concentration through different regions of beryllium blocks with time

557 I I I I I I I i i i i i i i i i i i i i I i i i i 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 Time(days) Figure 5 Tritium concentration through different regions of beryllium blocks with time

He3 ot region 1 He3 at region 2 He3 at region 3 Dill He3 at region 4 He3 ot region 5 He3 ot region <3

0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 Time(doys) Figure 6 He3 concentration through beryllium regions with time

558 Figure 7 illustrates the 7 group flux through different beryllium blocks. The upper energy group boundaries is the the following in [ eV ]: 1.0E+07 , 8.21E+5 , 5.53E+03 , 4.0E+0 , 6.25E-1 , 2.5E-1 , 5.8E-2. The group flux is calculated with MCNP code and are used to calculated the isotope concentration through beryllium blocks [ equation 2 ] . The results indicate that fast flux at 0.821 Mev for the interior regions is approximately 3xl013 n/cm2.s while for regions 4 and 5 [ exterior ] is 8xlO12 and 2xlO12 . Flux variations through beryllium regions explains the difference in isotope concentration through beryllium regions.

10 u-

E o

£ \_ u Q. CO 10 '2-

Region 1 C a&a&a Region 2 ooooo Region 3 ftftfr** Region 4 +++++ Region 5 xxxxx Region 6

Figure 7 neutron spectrum ( 7 group flux ) through beryllium blocks

559 (3) Reactivity of the Reactor With and Without Beryllium Poison

To study the effect of Li , and He3 buildup inside beryllium poison( tritium has negligable neutron absorption cross section ) Table 2 shows the reactivity of the reactor with no beryllium poison and with beryllium blocks poisoned with different 6Li concentration , the reactivity decreases as 6Li concentration increases

Table 2 Reactor reactivity with beryllium poisoned with 6Li

Li (atom/barn.cm) no poison l.OE-6 l.OE-5 l.OE-4 reactivity (pern) 8198.8 8001.2 7109.8 4831

Table 3 shows the reactivity of the reactor with beryllium blocks poisoned with different concentration of 3He. The results indicate that as the concentration of 3He increase inside beryllium blocks the reactivity of the reactor decreases.

Table 3 Reactor reactivity with beryllium poisoned with 3He

3He atom/barn.cm no poison l.OE-7 l.OE-6 l.OE-5 reactivity (pem) 8198.8 8173.2 7397.1 5358

Figure 8 compare the thermal flux for fuel elements numbers 1 to 6 without beryllium poison and with beryllium block poisoned with 6Li and 3He (the concentration of both lithium and helium is l.OE-5 atoms/barn.cm ). The results indicates that the thermal flux decreases [ and hence the power also decreases ] with beryllium poisoned.

CONCLUSIONS

- beryllium blocks is poisoned by 6Li , T and 3He which have large absorption neutron cross section. The concentration increase with time and the interior blocks is more poisons than the outer.

- The production of Li , T and He3 inside beryllium blocks results in decrease the reactivity and thermal flux of the reactor

560 1.20 -3

3 4 5 Fuel Element No.

Figure 8 thermal flux across fuel elements 1 to 6 with and without beryllium poison[ 6Li and 3He concentration = i .OE-5], • No poison A with berylium poison

REFERENCES

(1) T. Kulikowska.K. Andrzejewski and M. Bretscher, "H-3 and Li-6 Poisoning of the MARIA Reactor Beryllium Matrix" , Report IAE -40 /A , Institute of Atomic Energy ,Otwock - Swierk, Poland ,(1998) (2) M. Dalle , F. Scaffidi-Argentina , C.Ferrero and C. Ronchi,"Modelling of Swelling and Tritium Release in Irradiated Beryllium" , J. of Nuclear Materials 212-215,pp.954-960,(1994) (3) P. M. Song , M. Z. Youssef and M. A. Abdou," A New Approach and Computational Algorithm for Sensitivity /Uncertainty Analysis for SED and SAD with Application to Beryllium Integral Experiments", Nuc. Sci. and En 113,339-366 (1993) (4) G. F. Auchampaugh , S. Plattard and N. W. Hill, "Neutron Total Cross Section Measurements of 9Be, 9'10B and 12'13C from 1.0 to 14 Mev Using the 9Be(d,n) 10B Reaction as a White Neutron Source" , Nuc. Sci. Eng. 69,30-38,(1979' (5) J. F. Briesmeister , "MCNP - A General Monte Carlo N -Particle Transport Code Los Alamos National Lab.", LA 12625 , (1993). (6) Safety Analysis Report of EtrrJZ Reactor , Atomic Energy Authority , Cairo,Egypt,( 1997)

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