The effect of burnable absorbers (Gd and Eu) on the neutronphysical characteristics of fuel assemblies of VVER-1000 reactors

Sondos, M. A. Abu; Demin, V. M.; Savander, V. I.

doi:10.1088/1742-6596/1189/1/012003

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In contrast to the 155 Gd concentration, the non-equilibrium 149 Sm concentration makes no contribution either, since, after the first microcampaign, there is practically no burnable absorber left, and it has practically no effect on the criticality of the model. The same effect is achieved in the works of other researchers (Abu Sondos et al 2019a).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

Comparison of methods for calculating the neutronic characteristics of a VVER-1200 fuel assembly

Lavronenko¹,

Savankov²,

Vnukov³

et al. 2022

NUCET

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article presents the results of neutronic calculations of a VVER-1200 fuel assembly carried out using the multi-purpose three-dimensional continuous-energy Monte Carlo particle transport code Serpent 2. The study compares neutronic characteristics during the fuel burnup process (1) with and (2) without fuel cooling. In the first option, the FA fuel campaign was simulated with 30-day cooling periods between reactor campaigns. The second option assumed simulating the FA fuel campaign without fuel cooling. In the course of the study, the authors determined the infinite neutron multiplication factors as well as the fuel burnup dependence of the concentrations of xenon, samarium and gadolinium nuclides. In addition, it should be noted that no differences were found in the change in the concentration of gadolinium isotopes, the discrepancy in the values of the multiplication factor, and the accumulation of samarium isotopes during the campaign.

show abstract

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 86%

Comparison of methods for calculating the neutronic characteristics of a VVER-1200 fuel assembly

Lavronenko¹,

Savankov²,

Vnukov³

et al. 2022

NUCET

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The multiplying coefficient of this polycell is described as the arithmetic mean of the multiplication values of each specific fuel assembly. It is considered that TVS (FA) consists of individual polycells, in the middle of this poly-cells there is a tweg (UO 2 +Gd), and around is the number of fuel rods [4,5]. A full-scale fuel assembly (FA) consists of 331 rods.…”

Section: Formulation Of the Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Burnable absorber element (Gd and Er) use in the WWER-type reactor to increase the refueling time

Rahman,

Uvakin,

Hossen

2024

GNS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In a WWER-type pressurized water reactor, high-neutron-absorbing materials can compensate for the excess reactivity. Theoretical and computational analyses were conducted in this article to use burnable absorbers placed in a fuel rod to reduce the reactivity margin for extending refueling time for WWER-type reactors. To investigate the reduction of the reactivity margin, the fuel burnup calculation was performed without a burnable absorber and with a combination of a variety of burnable absorbers, namely natural Gadolinium (Gd) and Erbium (Er), applying a simplified GETERA program. The calculation found that the variation of the quantity of the burnable absorber (Gd, Er) inside the fuel assemblies governs the reactivity margin for the fuel burnup and increases the efficiency of Uranium fuel (UO2). The combined use of Gd and Er leads to a smoother decrease in reactor reactivity due to a smaller Er absorption cross section, which makes it possible to reduce the total mass of Gd in the fuel element and reduce the blocking effect. In the calculation, Gd concentrations employed in the computation at 1.5% and 3%, while Er concentrations were used within the range of 0.1%–0.6%.

show abstract

“…This can be interpreted as an alternative to the use of boron control (regarding pressurized water reactors) as well as to the extension of fuel or reactor campaigns. The influence on the campaign parameters was considered in (Khoshahval et al 2016, Abu Sondos et al 2019a, 2019b, 2019c, Frybortova 2019, Saad et al 2019. Research is also conducted in terms of assessing the behavior of uranium-gadolinium fuel during homogeneous mixing of elements: when gadolinium is added to the fuel, its thermal conductivity changes, affecting the design characteristics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of the Burnable Absorber Arrangement on the VVER(1200 Fuel Assembly Neutronic Performance

Vnukov

Kolesov

Zhavoronkova

et al. 2021

YadEn

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Optimizing the use of fuel in a power reactor is a task of current concern. However, little attention has been given to investigating the dependences among the enrichment used, the content of gadolinium oxide in fuel elements, and the life time in combination with assessing the efficiency of using Gd fuel elements with different Gd 2 O 3 contents.The paper considers fuel assembly (FA) versions for VVER-1200 reactors having different enrichments for fuel elements, including those with Gd, and different contents of gadolinium oxide in fuel. A comparative analysis is presented for assemblies with homogeneous Gd 2 O 3 arrangements in each fuel element and with profiled Gd 2 O 3 arrangements. In the latter case, profiling depends on the neutron flux density in the layer which includes Gd fuel elements. This suggests that the arrangement of gadolinium oxide proportionally to the neutron flux density will improve the FA neutronic performance.The results were obtained using SERPENT (a continuous-energy multi-purpose three-dimensional Monte Carlo particle transport code). The assemblies with the used parameters for a 12-month fuel cycle have shown the method under consideration to be inefficient for a period of over 300 eff. days. With increased enrichment and content of gadolinium oxide, the use of profiled versions has turned out to be more rational for longer periods (up to 900 eff. days). Therefore, this phenomenon is relevant for the reactor life, whereas it proves to be insignificant for the fuel life. A complex relationship is noted between the gadolinium and uranium content in an assembly and the effective multiplication factor for the profiled and standard assemblies. This relationship requires further detailed consideration.

show abstract

The effect of burnable absorbers (Gd and Eu) on the neutronphysical characteristics of fuel assemblies of VVER-1000 reactors

Cited by 13 publications

References 4 publications

Comparison of methods for calculating the neutronic characteristics of a VVER-1200 fuel assembly

Comparison of methods for calculating the neutronic characteristics of a VVER-1200 fuel assembly

Burnable absorber element (Gd and Er) use in the WWER-type reactor to increase the refueling time

Effect of the Burnable Absorber Arrangement on the VVER(1200 Fuel Assembly Neutronic Performance

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

The effect of burnable absorbers (Gd and Eu) on the neutronphysical characteristics of fuel assemblies of VVER-1000 reactors

Cited by 13 publications

References 4 publications

﻿Comparison of methods for calculating the neutronic characteristics of a VVER-1200 fuel assembly

﻿Comparison of methods for calculating the neutronic characteristics of a VVER-1200 fuel assembly

Burnable absorber element (Gd and Er) use in the WWER-type reactor to increase the refueling time

Effect of the Burnable Absorber Arrangement on the VVER(1200 Fuel Assembly Neutronic Performance

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Comparison of methods for calculating the neutronic characteristics of a VVER-1200 fuel assembly

Comparison of methods for calculating the neutronic characteristics of a VVER-1200 fuel assembly