Modeling and analysis of core debris recriticality during hypothetical severe accidents in the Advanced Neutron Source Reactor

Abstract

This paper discusses salient aspects of severe-accident-related recriticality modeling and analysis in the Advanced Neutron Source (ANS) reactor. The development of an analytical capability using the KENO V.A-SCALE system is described including evaluation of suitable nuclear cross-section sets to account for the effects of system geometry, mixture temperature, material dispersion and other thermal-hydraulic conditions. Benchmarking and validation efforts conducted with KENO V.A-SCALE and other neutronic codes against critical experiment data are described. Potential deviations and biases resulting from use of the 16-group Hansen-Roach library are shown. A comprehensive test matrix of calculations to evaluate the threat of a recriticality event in the ANS is described. Strong dependencies on geometry, material constituents, and thermal-hydraulic conditions are described. The introduction of designed mitigative features is described.