Fully Automated 3-D Parallel Simulation and Optimization of a Full Scale Pressurized Water Reactor Fuel Assembly with Burnup Corrected Cross Sections
Author | : Thomas Joseph Plower |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : |
Release | : 2008 |
ISBN-10 | : OCLC:664678717 |
ISBN-13 | : |
Rating | : 4/5 (17 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: ABSTRACT: Computational nuclear fuel burnup analysis is an essential field within the Nuclear Engineering discipline, since it plays important functions in core reactivity management, criticality safety, Special Nuclear Materials management, and fuel assembly reload design of commercial power and research reactors. Three dimensional (3-D) deterministic transport methods provides unique advantages in the fuel burnup analysis field and the intention of this thesis is to demonstrate the author's contributions to the development of a novel 3-D deterministic fuel burnup package called the PENTRAN /PENBURN (Parallel Environment Neutral particle Transport/Parallel Environment Burnup) suite. Specifically, cross section generation procedures will be presented including discussions on development of a coupled cross section interpolator code called INTERP-XS. Additionally, detailed fuel burnup analysis of a 17x17 PWR assembly will be presented. Finally, the development of an automated sequence driver called BURNDRIVER will be shown. Major conclusions include: excellent agreement between INTERP-XS generated cross sections and those generated by SCALE, demonstration of 3-D burnup effects captured by PENTRAN/PENBURN through PWR assembly analysis, and successful creation of a user-friendly burnup sequence driver.