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Impact of weight percent gadolinium and the number of its fuel rods on the neutronic and safety parameters

Control of neutron multiplication in a nuclear reactor is fundamental in achieving stable reactor power. The present study has sought to determine the impact of gadolinium weight percent (w/o) in respect of the number of fuel rods on the neutronic and safety parameters of (Th, U)O-2 fuel in a Westin...

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Main Authors: Uguru, Edwin Humphrey, Sapli, Mohd Faiq Bin Ahmad, Sani, Siti Fairus Abdul, Khandaker, Mayeen Uddin, Rabir, Mohamad Hairie, Karim, Julia Abdul, Bradley, David Andrew
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier 2021
Subjects:
QC Physics
QD Chemistry
Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/28682/
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spelling my.um.eprints.286822022-08-22T04:31:21Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/28682/ Impact of weight percent gadolinium and the number of its fuel rods on the neutronic and safety parameters Uguru, Edwin Humphrey Sapli, Mohd Faiq Bin Ahmad Sani, Siti Fairus Abdul Khandaker, Mayeen Uddin Rabir, Mohamad Hairie Karim, Julia Abdul Bradley, David Andrew QC Physics QD Chemistry Control of neutron multiplication in a nuclear reactor is fundamental in achieving stable reactor power. The present study has sought to determine the impact of gadolinium weight percent (w/o) in respect of the number of fuel rods on the neutronic and safety parameters of (Th, U)O-2 fuel in a Westinghouse small modular reactor. The MCNPX 2.7 integrated with CINDER90 fuel depletion code was used. The results show that the k-infinite and reactivity swing peak decrease with increasing gadolinium weight percent, with the highest and lowest k-infinite recorded in the fuel assembly containing zero (0) and 12 w/o, respectively. The largest and lowest reactivity swing curve occurs in the fuel assembly with 3.6 and 12 w/o at similar to 15 and similar to 35 GWd/THM, respectively. It shows that the impact of gadolinium w/o and the number of fuel rods on k-infinite follow similar trend. Conversely, the reactivity swing curve is observed to flatten with increasing gadolinium w/o but increases with increase in the number of gadolinium burnable absorber fuel rods. These phenomenological variations suggest that flat reactivity swing and power control can be achieved within 9.2-12 w/o gadolinium although not without economic penalty on fuel utilisation. Elsevier 2021-11 Article PeerReviewed Uguru, Edwin Humphrey and Sapli, Mohd Faiq Bin Ahmad and Sani, Siti Fairus Abdul and Khandaker, Mayeen Uddin and Rabir, Mohamad Hairie and Karim, Julia Abdul and Bradley, David Andrew (2021) Impact of weight percent gadolinium and the number of its fuel rods on the neutronic and safety parameters. Radiation Physics and Chemistry, 188. ISSN 0969-806X, DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radphyschem.2021.109686 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radphyschem.2021.109686>. 10.1016/j.radphyschem.2021.109686
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic QC Physics
QD Chemistry
spellingShingle QC Physics
QD Chemistry
Uguru, Edwin Humphrey
Sapli, Mohd Faiq Bin Ahmad
Sani, Siti Fairus Abdul
Khandaker, Mayeen Uddin
Rabir, Mohamad Hairie
Karim, Julia Abdul
Bradley, David Andrew
Impact of weight percent gadolinium and the number of its fuel rods on the neutronic and safety parameters
description Control of neutron multiplication in a nuclear reactor is fundamental in achieving stable reactor power. The present study has sought to determine the impact of gadolinium weight percent (w/o) in respect of the number of fuel rods on the neutronic and safety parameters of (Th, U)O-2 fuel in a Westinghouse small modular reactor. The MCNPX 2.7 integrated with CINDER90 fuel depletion code was used. The results show that the k-infinite and reactivity swing peak decrease with increasing gadolinium weight percent, with the highest and lowest k-infinite recorded in the fuel assembly containing zero (0) and 12 w/o, respectively. The largest and lowest reactivity swing curve occurs in the fuel assembly with 3.6 and 12 w/o at similar to 15 and similar to 35 GWd/THM, respectively. It shows that the impact of gadolinium w/o and the number of fuel rods on k-infinite follow similar trend. Conversely, the reactivity swing curve is observed to flatten with increasing gadolinium w/o but increases with increase in the number of gadolinium burnable absorber fuel rods. These phenomenological variations suggest that flat reactivity swing and power control can be achieved within 9.2-12 w/o gadolinium although not without economic penalty on fuel utilisation.
format Article
author Uguru, Edwin Humphrey
Sapli, Mohd Faiq Bin Ahmad
Sani, Siti Fairus Abdul
Khandaker, Mayeen Uddin
Rabir, Mohamad Hairie
Karim, Julia Abdul
Bradley, David Andrew
author_facet Uguru, Edwin Humphrey
Sapli, Mohd Faiq Bin Ahmad
Sani, Siti Fairus Abdul
Khandaker, Mayeen Uddin
Rabir, Mohamad Hairie
Karim, Julia Abdul
Bradley, David Andrew
author_sort Uguru, Edwin Humphrey
title Impact of weight percent gadolinium and the number of its fuel rods on the neutronic and safety parameters
title_short Impact of weight percent gadolinium and the number of its fuel rods on the neutronic and safety parameters
title_full Impact of weight percent gadolinium and the number of its fuel rods on the neutronic and safety parameters
title_fullStr Impact of weight percent gadolinium and the number of its fuel rods on the neutronic and safety parameters
title_full_unstemmed Impact of weight percent gadolinium and the number of its fuel rods on the neutronic and safety parameters
title_sort impact of weight percent gadolinium and the number of its fuel rods on the neutronic and safety parameters
publisher Elsevier
publishDate 2021
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/28682/
_version_ 1744649131449647104
score 13.211869

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