Multi-ring subgroup method in characterising highly self-shielded Gadolinia burnable poison pins for the UK EPR Nuclear Fuel Assembly
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Li, Jinfeng
Type
Conference Paper
Abstract
Precisely modelling burnup behavior of Gadolinia burnable poison pins in a nuclear reactor is tricky, as it is a very strong absorber of thermal neutrons. The highly self-shielded burnable poison depletes largely from outermost zones inwards, presenting strong flux gradients around the pin. Classic modelling methods are based on equivalence theory, tracking pin-averaged cross sections, and collapsing all radial rings down. However, the subdivision of the whole pin into multiple radial zones is ineffective, as each zone is still represented by the same cross sections in 172 groups. To capture the self-shielding effect, a subgroup method is employed in this work to accurately account for the ring effect in Gadolinia-bearing pins. Deterministic code (WIMS) is used for producing homogenised cross sections for Gadolinia-zoning assemblies, obtaining lattice power distributions, the results of which are benchmarked against a Monte Carlo code (Serpent) for model verifications.
Date Issued
2020-10-23
Date Acceptance
2020-04-19
Citation
2020 International Conference on Computing, Electronics & Communications Engineering (iCCECE), 2020
Publisher
IEEE
Journal / Book Title
2020 International Conference on Computing, Electronics & Communications Engineering (iCCECE)
Copyright Statement
© 2020 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.
Source
3rd IEEE International Conference on Computing, Electronics and Communications Engineering (IEEE iCCECE ’20)
Publication Status
Published
Start Date
2020-08-17
Finish Date
2020-08-18
Coverage Spatial
Southend, UK
Date Publish Online
2020-10-23