Variation of Burnable Neutron Absorbers in a Heavy Water–Moderated Fuel Lattice: A Potential to Improve CANDU Reactor Operating Margins

Paul K. Chan; Stephane Paquette; Hugues W. Bonin

doi:10.13182/nt14-67

Variation of Burnable Neutron Absorbers in a Heavy Water–Moderated Fuel Lattice: A Potential to Improve CANDU Reactor Operating Margins

Nuclear Technology ◽

10.13182/nt14-67 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 191 (1) ◽

pp. 1-14 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Paul K. Chan ◽

Stephane Paquette ◽

Hugues W. Bonin

Keyword(s):

Heavy Water ◽

Operating Margins ◽

Reactor Operating

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Density effect of reactivity in a heavy-water power reactor operating in the 233U self-fueling regime

Atomic Energy ◽

10.1007/s10512-009-9102-9 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 105 (5) ◽

pp. 316-323

Author(s):

B. R. Bergelson ◽

A. S. Gerasimov ◽

G. V. Tikhomirov

Keyword(s):

Heavy Water ◽

Power Reactor ◽

Density Effect ◽

Water Power ◽

Reactor Operating

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POWER LEVEL EFFECTS ON THORIUM-BASED FUELS IN PRESSURE-TUBE HEAVY WATER REACTORS

CNL Nuclear Review ◽

10.12943/cnr.2015.00061 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 107-119 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Blair Patrick Bromley ◽

Geoffrey W.R. Edwards ◽

Pranavan Sambavalingam

Keyword(s):

Heavy Water ◽

Power Level ◽

Pressure Tube ◽

Specific Power ◽

Power Flux ◽

Heavy Water Reactor ◽

Water Reactors ◽

Physics Modeling ◽

Reactor Operating ◽

The Impact

Lattice and core physics modeling and calculations have been performed to quantify the impact of power/flux levels on the reactivity and achievable burnup for 35-element fuel bundles made with Pu/Th or U-233/Th. The fissile content in these bundles has been adjusted to produce on the order of 20 MWd/kg burnup in homogeneous cores in a 700 MWe-class pressure-tube heavy water reactor, operating on a once-through thorium cycle. Results demonstrate that the impact of the power/flux level is modest for Pu/Th fuels but significant for U-233/Th fuels. In particular, high power/flux reduces the breeding and burnup potential of U-233/Th fuels. Thus, there may be an incentive to operate reactors with U-233/Th fuels at a lower power density or to develop alternative refueling schemes that will lower the time-average specific power, thereby increasing burnup.

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Some questions on nuclear safety of heavy-water power reactor operating in self-sufficient thorium cycle

Nuclear Technology and Radiation Protection ◽

10.2298/ntrp0802022b ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 22-27

Author(s):

Boris Bergelson ◽

Alexander Gerasimov ◽

Georgy Tikhomirov

Keyword(s):

Heavy Water ◽

Power Reactor ◽

Water Channel ◽

Nuclear Safety ◽

Water Power ◽

Fuel Assemblies ◽

Different Types ◽

Reactivity Increase ◽

Reactor Operating ◽

Thorium Cycle

In this paper the comparative calculations of the void coefficient have been made for different types of channel reactors for the coolant density interval 0.8-0.01 g/cm3. These results demonstrate the following. In heavy-water channel reactors, the replacement of D2O coolant by H2O, ensuring significant economic advantage, leads to the essential reducing of nuclear safety of an installation. The comparison of different reactors by the void coefficient demonstrates that at the dehydration of channels the reactivity increase is minimal for HWPR(Th), operating in the self-sufficient mode. The reduction of coolant density in channels in most cases is accompanied by the increase of power and temperatures of fuel assemblies. The calculations show that the reduction of reactivity due to Doppler effect can compensate the effect of dehydration of a channel. However, the result depends on the time dependency of heat-hydraulic processes, occurring in reactor channels in the specific accident. The result obtained in the paper confirms that nuclear safety of HWPR(Th) lies on the same level as nuclear safety of CANDU type reactors approved in practice.

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