Evaluation of Isotopic Composition of Fast Reactor Core in Closed Nuclear Fuel Cycle

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Evaluation of Isotopic Composition of Fast Reactor Core in Closed Nuclear Fuel Cycle EPJ Web of Conferences 153, 07031 (2017) DOI: 10.1051/ epjconf/201715307031 ICRS-13 & RPSD-2016 Evaluation of isotopic composition of fast reactor core in closed nuclear fuel cycle Georgy Tikhomirov 1, Mikhail Ternovykh 1,a, Ivan Saldikov 1, Petr Fomichenko 2, and Alexander Gerasimov 3 1 National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), Department of Theoretical and Experimental Physics of Nuclear Reactors, 31, Kashirskoye shosse, 115409, Moscow, Russia 2 National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”, Kurchatov Nuclear Technology Complex, Division of Fast and High Temperature Reactors, 1, Kurchatov sq, Moscow, 123183, Russia 3 Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Department of safe nuclear reactors, 25, Bolshaya Cheremushkinskaya ul., 117218, Moscow, Russia Abstract. The strategy of the development of nuclear power in Russia provides for use of fast power reactors in closed nuclear fuel cycle. The PRORYV (i.e. «Breakthrough» in Russian) project is currently under development. Within the framework of this project, fast reactors BN-1200 and BREST-OD-300 should be built to, inter alia, demonstrate possibility of the closed nuclear fuel cycle technologies with plutonium as a main source of energy. Russia has a large inventory of plutonium which was accumulated in the result of reprocessing of spent fuel of thermal power reactors and conversion of nuclear weapons. This kind of plutonium will be used for development of initial fuel assemblies for fast reactors. The closed nuclear fuel cycle concept of the PRORYV assumes self-supplied mode of operation with fuel regeneration by neutron capture reaction in non-enriched uranium, which is used as a raw material. Operating modes of reactors and its characteristics should be chosen so as to provide the self-sufficient mode by using of fissile isotopes while refueling by depleted uranium and to support this state during the entire period of reactor operation. Thus, the actual issue is modeling fuel handling processes. To solve these problems, the code REPRORYV (Recycle for PRORYV) has been developed. It simulates nuclide streams in non-reactor stages of the closed fuel cycle. At the same time various verified codes can be used to evaluate in-core characteristics of a reactor. By using this approach various options for nuclide streams and assess the impact of different plutonium content in the fuel, fuel processing conditions, losses during fuel processing, as well as the impact of initial uncertainties on neutron-physical characteristics of reactor are considered in this study. Introduction The strategy of the development of nuclear power in 1 Program code for simulating nuclide Russia provides for use of fast power reactors in closed streams in fast reactors fuel cycle nuclear fuel cycle[1,2,3]. The PRORYV (i.e. Breakthrough in Russian) project is currently under Existing software codes for simulation of mass transfer in development. Within the framework of this project, fast open and closed nuclear fuel cycles such as MEEMS, reactors BN-1200 and BREST-OD-300 should be built DANESS, ICECAT, NFCSim [4], REFCO83 [5] etc. to, inter alia, demonstrate possibility of the closed nuclear usually consider a simplified scheme of stages of change fuel cycle technologies with plutonium as a main source in the composition of nuclear materials. Mathematical of power. Russia has a large inventory of plutonium models of changes of the isotopic composition of fuel in which was accumulated in the result of reprocessing of an infinite cell can be considered as nuclear reactors in spent fuel of thermal power reactors and conversion of these programs. A reactor is often represented as a simple nuclear weapons. This kind of plutonium will be used for object with user-defined value of the energy release. development of initial fuel assemblies for fast reactors. Multi-group approximation calculation is used in some The closed nuclear fuel cycle concept of the PRORYV cases. However these programs do not always take into assumes self-supplied mode of the reactors and account the features of refueling in the reactor and the regeneration by capture reaction in non-enriched irradiation history of the fuel assemblies inside the core. uranium, which is used as a raw material. This approach is justified frequently due to the fact that it does not require long calculation time to obtain the needed result. Such software in some cases consider the fuel cycle of a whole country as an object for analysis. Therefore, very detailed calculations are not necessarily, a Corresponding author: [email protected] © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). EPJ Web of Conferences 153, 07031 (2017) DOI: 10.1051/ epjconf/201715307031 ICRS-13 & RPSD-2016 and such evaluations are sufficient to make Special input file of JARFR code is required for recommendations for the further development of the correct operation of REPRORYV code. Results are energy complex of the country. Hence, simplifications calculated by JARFR code on each step based on this underlying in these programs correspond to this kind of input file. To analyze the closed nuclear fuel cycle it is tasks. Codes COSI, DESAE [6], needed to specify some input parameters in REPRORYV REBUS3/VARIANT8.0 [7] can also be considered as the input file: cooling time, reprocessing time, fuel reload codes of similar type. layout, distribution of isotopes into different groups, and The code REPRORYV (REcycle for PRORYV), conditions of processing for each group. which simulates the processes of loading, processing, and Fuel reload layout indicates an order in which fuel handling of fuel assemblies in the cores of BN-600, BN- assemblies need to be unloaded and replaced (Figure 1). 800, BN-1200 [8, 9, 10] and other advanced fast reactors The user can specify the part of the core which is was developed to support the PRORYV project. This unloaded each year. Detailed example of fuel reload code can be used to analyze closed nuclear fuel cycles. It layout is considered below. allows to study the possibility of the self-sufficient mode 0, of operation in fast reactor. Similar work on the modeling 1, of neutron-physical characteristics of the stationary states 2, 3, of the reactor core with detailed scheme of refueling of 4, 0, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, fuel assemblies was performed for the BN-600 reactor 4, 5, 6, 1, 0, and was presented in [11]. A third-party software tool is 2, 3, 0, 4, 5, 6, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, used to calculate fuel irradiation and depletion on each 1, 2, 3, 4, 0, 5, 6, 1, step of fuel burnup. We can use these data to analyze 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, external fuel cycle stages. Any code, which meets the 3, 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1, requirements to reach the needed functionality, can be 0, 0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 5, 6, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, used as the third-party code. 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, Thus, REPRORYV is composed on modularity 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, principle. In order to find the neutron-physical 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, characteristics of a reactor, user can apply either precise Figure 1. Fuel reload layout (60 degrees symmetry sector). methods (Monte-Carlo) or design methods (in this case diffusion approximation). Codes based on diffusion It is important to separate isotopes correctly to the approximation run faster than those based on precise groups and then operate with groups of isotopes on the methods. This allows to evaluate quickly various input stages of reprocessing. User may choose one of three parameters of closed fuel cycle. After that more precise options for each group as follows: calculations of the best options can be made. 1. Do not change group concentrations, i.e. retain the Russian code JARFR [12] is applied at present in the mass of group as it was unloaded; REPRORYV. The code is developed for evaluation of 2. Remove the group after recycling (assign neutron-physical characteristics of fast reactors in the concentrations to zero); multi-group diffusion approximation. It is released with 3. Assign the initial value of the mass of the group, i.e. cross sections support based on the of, BNAB 93.01 add or remove mass of the group so that the mass nuclear data library [13]. The current version of the code would be the same as at the first loading. When this JARFR is verified and used to study the characteristics of option is selected, concentrations of each isotope can the project of Russian fast neutron reactors with sodium be changed while the total mass should be the same as coolant, and with a variety of fuels - the current BN-600, at the initial step. introduced into the operation of the BN-800 and project Thus, the user can allocate separate groups of of BN-1200. plutonium isotopes (to change mass to its original value, JARFR can calculate full-scale reactor models with "removing the excess of plutonium"), uranium (to add separate fuel assemblies. This program enables to set mass to the initial level by adding 238U), structure various properties of different fuel assemblies in the core materials (to leave them as they were) and actinides of the considered reactor. Thus, the program JARFR (remove them from reprocessed fuel, or leave them in allows to take into account the history of irradiation of case of the post-combustion scenario).
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