Download or read book Pebble Bed Reactor Core Physics and Fuel Cycle Analysis written by and published by . This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Interim Report on Core Physics and Fuel Cycle Analysis of the Pebble Bed Reactor Power Plant Concept written by and published by . This book was released on 1977 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Calculations were made to predict the performance of a pebble bed reactor operated in a mode to produce fissile fuel (high conversion or breeding). Both a one pebble design and a design involving large primary feed pebbles and small fertile pebbles were considered. A relatively short residence time of the primary pebbles loaded with 233U fuel was found to be necessary to achieve a high breeding ratio, but this leads to relatively high fuel costs. A high fissile inventory is associated with a low C/Th ratio and a high thorium loading, causing the doubling time to be long, even though the breeding ratio is high, and the fuel cost of electrical product to be high. Production of 233U fuel from 235U feed was studied and performances of the converter and breeder reactor concepts were examined varying the key parameters.

Download or read book Physics of High Temperature Reactors written by Luigi Massimo and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2013-10-22 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Physics of High-Temperature Reactors focuses on the physics of high-temperature reactors (HTRs) and covers topics ranging from fuel cycles and refueling strategies to neutron cross-sections, transport and diffusion theory, and resonance absorption. Spectrum calculations and cross-section averaging are also discussed, along with the temperature coefficient and reactor control. Comprised of 16 chapters, this book begins with a general description of the HTR core as well as its performance limitations. The next chapter deals with general considerations about HTR physics, including quantities to be determined and optimized in the design of nuclear reactors. Potential scattering and resonance reactions between neutrons and atomic nuclei are then considered, together with basic aspects of transport and diffusion theory. Subsequent chapters explore methods for solving the diffusion equation; slowing-down and neutron thermalization in graphite; HTR core design, fuel management, and cost calculations; and core dynamics and accident analysis. The final chapter describes the sequence of reactor design calculations. This monograph is written primarily for students of HTR physics who are preparing to enter the field as well as technologists of other disciplines who are working on the system.

Download or read book Pebble Bed Reactors Design Optimization Methods and Their Application to the Pebble Bed Fluoride Salt Cooled High Temperature Reactor PB FHR written by Anselmo Tomas Cisneros and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 859 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Fluoride salt cooled High temperature Reactor (FHR) is a class of advanced nuclear reactors that combine the robust coated particle fuel form from high temperature gas cooled reactors, direct reactor auxillary cooling system (DRACS) passive decay removal of liquid metal fast reactors, and the transparent, high volumetric heat capacitance liquid fluoride salt working fluids - flibe (33%7Li2F-67%BeF) - from molten salt reactors. This combination of fuel and coolant enables FHRs to operate in a high-temperature low-pressure design space that has beneficial safety and economic implications. In 2012, UC Berkeley was charged with developing a pre-conceptual design of a commercial prototype FHR - the Pebble Bed- Fluoride Salt Cooled High Temperature Reactor (PB-FHR) - as part of the Nuclear Energy University Programs' (NEUP) integrated research project. The Mark 1 design of the PB-FHR (Mk1 PB-FHR) is 236 MWt flibe cooled pebble bed nuclear heat source that drives an open-air Brayton combine-cycle power conversion system. The PB-FHR's pebble bed consists of a 19.8% enriched uranium fuel core surrounded by an inert graphite pebble reflector that shields the outer solid graphite reflector, core barrel and reactor vessel. The fuel reaches an average burnup of 178000 MWt-d/MT. The Mk1 PB-FHR exhibits strong negative temperature reactivity feedback from the fuel, graphite moderator and the flibe coolant but a small positive temperature reactivity feedback of the inner reflector and from the outer graphite pebble reflector. A novel neutronics and depletion methodology - the multiple burnup state methodology was developed for an accurate and efficient search for the equilibrium composition of an arbitrary continuously refueled pebble bed reactor core. The Burnup Equilibrium Analysis Utility (BEAU) computer program was developed to implement this methodology. BEAU was successfully benchmarked against published results generated with existing equilibrium depletion codes VSOP and PEBBED for a high temperature gas cooled pebble bed reactor. Three parametric studies were performed for exploring the design space of the PB-FHR -- to select a fuel design for the PB-FHR] to select a core configuration; and to optimize the PB-FHR design. These parametric studies investigated trends in the dependence of important reactor performance parameters such as burnup, temperature reactivity feedback, radiation damage, etc on the reactor design variables and attempted to understand the underlying reactor physics responsible for these trends. A pebble fuel parametric study determined that pebble fuel should be designed with a carbon to heavy metal ratio (C/HM) less than 400 to maintain negative coolant temperature reactivity coefficients. Seed and thorium blanket-, seed and inert pebble reflector- and seed only core configurations were investigated for annular FHR PBRs - the C/HM of the blanket pebbles and discharge burnup of the thorium blanket pebbles were additional design variable for core configurations with thorium blankets. Either a thorium blanket or graphite pebble reflector is required to shield the outer graphite reflector enough to extend its service lifetime to 60 EFPY. The fuel fabrication costs and long cycle lengths of the thorium blanket fuel limit the potential economic advantages of using a thorium blanket. Therefore, the seed and pebble reflector core configuration was adopted as the baseline core configuration. Multi-objective optimization with respect to economics was performed for the PB-FHR accounting for safety and other physical design constraints derived from the high-level safety regulatory criteria. These physical constraints were applied along in a design tool, Nuclear Application Value Estimator, that evaluated a simplified cash flow economics model based on estimates of reactor performance parameters calculated using correlations based on the results of parametric design studies for a specific PB-FHR design and a set of economic assumptions about the electricity market to evaluate the economic implications of design decisions. The optimal PB-FHR design - Mark 1 PB-FHR - is described along with a detailed summary of its performance characteristics including: the burnup, the burnup evolution, temperature reactivity coefficients, the power distribution, radiation damage distributions, control element worths, decay heat curves and tritium production rates. The Mk1 PB-FHR satisfies the PB-FHR safety criteria. The fuel, moderator (pebble core, pebble shell, graphite matrix, TRISO layers) and coolant have global negative temperature reactivity coefficients and the fuel temperatures are well within their limits.

Download or read book Progress Report Pebble Bed Reactor Program written by and published by . This book was released on 1958-06 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Multiphase Flow and Heat Transfer in Pebble Bed Reactor Core written by Shengyao Jiang and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-11-19 with total page 510 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book introduces readers to gas flows and heat transfer in pebble bed reactor cores. It addresses fundamental issues regarding experimental and modeling methods for complex multiphase systems, as well as relevant applications and recent research advances. The numerical methods and experimental measurements/techniques used to solve pebble flows, as well as the content on radiation modeling for high-temperature pebble beds, will be of particular interest. This book is intended for a broad readership, including researchers and practitioners, and is sure to become a key reference resource for students and professionals alike.

Download or read book Modular Pebble Bed Reactor Project University Research Consortium Annual Report written by and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This project is developing a fundamental conceptual design for a gas-cooled, modular, pebble bed reactor. Key technology areas associated with this design are being investigated which intend to address issues concerning fuel performance, safety, core neutronics and proliferation resistance, economics and waste disposal. Research has been initiated in the following areas: · Improved fuel particle performance · Reactor physics · Economics · Proliferation resistance · Power conversion system modeling · Safety analysis · Regulatory and licensing strategy Recent accomplishments include: · Developed four conceptual models for fuel particle failures that are currently being evaluated by a series of ABAQUS analyses. Analytical fits to the results are being performed over a range of important parameters using statistical/factorial tools. The fits will be used in a Monte Carlo fuel performance code, which is under development. · A fracture mechanics approach has been used to develop a failure probability model for the fuel particle, which has resulted in significant improvement over earlier models. · Investigation of fuel particle physio-chemical behavior has been initiated which includes the development of a fission gas release model, particle temperature distributions, internal particle pressure, migration of fission products, and chemical attack of fuel particle layers. · A balance of plant, steady-state thermal hydraulics model has been developed to represent all major components of a MPBR. Component models are being refined to accurately reflect transient performance. · A comparison between air and helium for use in the energy-conversion cycle of the MPBR has been completed and formed the basis of a master's degree thesis. · Safety issues associated with air ingress are being evaluated. · Post shutdown, reactor heat removal characteristics are being evaluated by the Heating-7 code. · PEBBED, a fast deterministic neutronic code package suitable for numerous repetitive calculations has been developed. Use of the code has focused on scoping studies for MPBR design features and proliferation issues. Publication of an archival journal article covering this work is being prepared. · Detailed gas reactor physics calculations have also been performed with the MCNP and VSOP codes. Furthermore, studies on the proliferation resistance of the MPBR fuel cycle has been initiated using these code · Issues identified during the MPBR research has resulted in a NERI proposal dealing with turbo-machinery design being approved for funding beginning in FY01. Two other NERI proposals, dealing with the development of a burnup "meter" and modularization techniques, were also funded in which the MIT team will be a participant. · A South African MPBR fuel testing proposal is pending ($7.0M over nine years).

Download or read book Analysis of Granular Flow in a Pebble bed Nuclear Reactor written by and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pebble-bed nuclear reactor technology, which is currently being revived around the world, raises fundamental questions about dense granular flow in silos. A typical reactor core is composed of graphite fuel pebbles, which drain very slowly in a continuous refueling process. Pebble flow is poorly understood and not easily accessible to experiments, and yet it has a ma jor impact on reactor physics. To address this problem, we perform full-scale, discrete-element simulations in realistic geometries, with up to 440,000 frictional, viscoelastic 6cm-diameter spheres draining in a cylindrical vessel of diameter 3.5m and height 10m with bottom funnels angled at 30° or 60° . We also simulate a bidisperse core with a dynamic central column of smaller graphite moderator pebbles and show that little mixing occurs down to a 1:2 diameter ratio. We analyze the mean velocity, diffusion and mixing, local ordering and porosity (from Voronoi volumes), the residence-time distribution, and the effects of wall friction and discuss implications for reactor design and the basic physics of granular flow.

Download or read book Nuclear Reactor Core Fuel Cycle Analysis and Computation for Pressurized Water Reactors written by Mohamed A. Elmaghrabi and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Optimized Core Design and Fuel Management of a Pebble bed Type Nuclear Reactor written by Brian Boer and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) has been selected by the international Generation IV research initiative as one of the six most promising nuclear reactor concepts that are expected to enter service in the second half of the 21st century. As one of the fourth generation nuclear reactors, the VHTR is characterized by high plant efficiency and a high fuel discharge burn-up level. More specifically, the (pebble-bed type) High Temperature Reactor (HTR) is known for its inherently safe characteristics, coming from a negative temperature reactivity feedback, a low power density and a large thermal inertia of the core.

Download or read book Very High Temperature Reactor VHTR Deep Burn Core and Fuel Analysis Complete Design Selection for the Pebble Bed Reactor written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Deep-Burn (DB) concept focuses on the destruction of transuranic nuclides from used light water reactor fuel. These transuranic nuclides are incorporated into TRISO coated fuel particles and used in gas-cooled reactors with the aim of a fractional fuel burnup of 60 to 70% in fissions per initial metal atom (FIMA). This high performance is expected through the use of multiple recirculation passes of the fuel in pebble form without any physical or chemical changes between passes. In particular, the concept does not call for reprocessing of the fuel between passes. In principle, the DB pebble bed concept employs the same reactor designs as the presently envisioned low-enriched uranium core designs, such as the 400 MWth Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR-400). Although it has been shown in the previous Fiscal Year (2009) that a PuO2 fueled pebble bed reactor concept is viable, achieving a high fuel burnup, while remaining within safety-imposed prescribed operational limits for fuel temperature, power peaking and temperature reactivity feedback coefficients for the entire temperature range, is challenging. The presence of the isotopes 239-Pu, 240-Pu and 241-Pu that have resonances in the thermal energy range significantly modifies the neutron thermal energy spectrum as compared to a" standard," UO2-fueled core. Therefore, the DB pebble bed core exhibits a relatively hard neutron energy spectrum. However, regions within the pebble bed that are near the graphite reflectors experience a locally softer spectrum. This can lead to power and temperature peaking in these regions. Furthermore, a shift of the thermal energy spectrum with increasing temperature can lead to increased absorption in the resonances of the fissile Pu isotopes. This can lead to a positive temperature reactivity coefficient for the graphite moderator under certain operating conditions. The effort of this task in FY 2010 has focused on the optimization of the core to maximize the pebble discharge burnup level, while retaining its inherent safety characteristics. Using generic pebble bed reactor cores, this task will perform physics calculations to evaluate the capabilities of the pebble bed reactor to perform utilization and destruction of LWR used-fuel transuranics. The task will use established benchmarked models, and will introduce modeling advancements appropriate to the nature of the fuel considered (high TRU content and high burn-up).

Download or read book On the Evaluation of Pebble Bed Reactor Critical Experiments Using the PEBBED Code written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The PEBBED pebble bed reactor fuel management code under development at the Idaho National Laboratory is designed for rapid design and analysis of pebble bed high temperature reactors (PBRs). Embedded within the code are the THERMIX-KONVEK thermal fluid solver and the COMBINE-7 spectrum generation code for inline cross section homogenization. Because 1D symmetry can be found at each stage of core heterogeneity; spherical at TRISO and pebble levels, and cylindrical at the control rod and core levels, the 1-D transport capability of ANISN is assumed to be sufficient in most cases for generating flux solutions for cross section homogenization. Furthermore, it is fast enough to be executed during the analysis or the equilibrium core. Multi-group diffusion-based design codes such as PEBBED and VSOP are not expected to yield the accuracy and resolution of continuous energy Monte Carlo codes for evaluation of critical experiments. Nonetheless, if the preparation of multigroup cross sections can adequately capture the physics of the mixing of PBR fuel elements and leakage from the core, reasonable results may be obtained. In this paper, results of the application of PEBBED to two critical experiments (HTR Proteus and HTR-10) and associated computational models are presented. The embedded 1-D transport solver is shown to capture the double heterogeneity of the pebble fuel in unit cell calculations. Eigenvalue calculations of a whole core are more challenging, particularly if the boron concentration is uncertain. The sensitivity of major safety parameters to variations in modeling assumptions, however, is shown to be minimal. The embedded transport solver can also be used to obtain control rod worths but only with adjustment of the local spectrum. Results are compared to those of other codes as well as Core 4 of the HTR-Proteus experiment which contains partially inserted rods. They indicate the need for a reference solution to adjust the radius of the graphite in the control rod unit cell or some other method for obtaining the correct spectrum in these regions.

Download or read book A COMPARISON OF PEBBLE MIXING AND DEPLETION ALGORITHMS USED IN PEBBLE BED REACTOR EQUILIBRIUM CYCLE SIMULATION written by and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recirculating pebble-bed reactors are distinguished from all other reactor types by the downward movement through and reinsertion of fuel into the core during operation. Core simulators must account for this movement and mixing in order to capture the physics of the equilibrium cycle core. VSOP and PEBBED are two codes used to perform such simulations, but they do so using different methods. In this study, a simplified pebble-bed core with a specified flux profile and cross sections is used as the model for conducting analyses of two types of burnup schemes. The differences between the codes are described and related to the differences observed in the nuclide densities in pebbles discharged from the core. Differences in the methods for computing fission product buildup and average number densities lead to significant differences in the computed core power and eigenvalue. These test models provide a key component of an overall equilibrium cycle benchmark involving neutron transport, cross section generation, and fuel circulation.

Download or read book CORE ANALYSIS DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION OF A DEEP BURN PEBBLE BED REACTOR written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Achieving a high burnup in the Deep-Burn pebble bed reactor design, while remaining within the limits for fuel temperature, power peaking and temperature reactivity feedback, is challenging. The high content of Pu and Minor Actinides in the Deep-Burn fuel significantly impacts the thermal neutron energy spectrum. This can result in power and temperature peaking in the pebble bed core in locally thermalized regions near the graphite reflectors. Furthermore, the interplay of the Pu resonances of the neutron absorption cross sections at low-lying energies can lead to a positive temperature reactivity coefficient for the graphite moderator at certain operating conditions. To investigate the aforementioned effects a code system using existing codes has been developed for neutronic, thermal-hydraulic and fuel depletion analysis of Deep-Burn pebble bed reactors. A core analysis of a Deep-Burn Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (400 MWth) design has been performed for two Deep-Burn fuel types and possible improvements of the design with regard to power peaking and temperature reactivity feedback are identified.

Download or read book On line Interrogation of Pebble Bed Reactor Fuel Using Passive Gamma ray Spectometry written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Pebble Bed Reactor (PBR) is a helium-cooled, graphite-moderated high temperature nuclear power reactor. In addition to its inherently safe design, a unique feature of this reactor is its multipass fuel cycle in which graphite fuel pebbles (of varying enrichment) are randomly loaded and continuously circulated through the core until they reach their prescribed end-of-life burnup limit (8̃0,000-100,000 MWD/MTU). Unlike the situation with conventional light water reactors (LWRs), depending solely on computational methods to perform in-core fuel management will be highly inaccurate. As a result, an on-line measurement approach becomes the only accurate method to assess whether a particular pebble has reached its end-of-life burnup limit. In this work, an investigation was performed to assess the feasibility of passive gamma-ray spectrometry assay as an approach for on-line interrogation of PBR fuel for the simultaneous determination of burnup and enrichment on a pebble-by-pebble basis. Due to the unavailability of irradiated or fresh pebbles, Monte Carlo simulations were used to study the gamma-ray spectra of the PBR fuel at various levels of burnup. A pebble depletion calculation was performed using the ORIGEN code, which yielded the gamma-ray source term that was introduced into the input of an MCNP simulation. The MCNP simulation assumed the use of a high-purity coaxial germanium detector. Due to the lack of one-group high temperature reactor cross sections for ORIGEN, a heterogeneous MCNP model was developed to describe a typical PBR core. Subsequently, the code MONTEBURNS was used to couple the MCNP model and ORIGEN. This approach allowed the development of the burnup-dependent, one-group spectral-averaged PBR cross sections to be used in the ORIGEN pebble depletion calculation. Based on the above studies, a relative approach for performing the measurements was established. The approach is based on using the relative activities of Np-239/I-132 in combination with the relative activities of Cs-134/Co-60 (Co-60 is introduced as a dopant) to yield the burnup and enrichment for each pebble. Furthermore, a direct consequence of the relative approach is the ability to apply a self-calibration scheme using the multiple gamma lines of Ba-La-140 to establish the relative efficiency curve of the HPGe detector. An assessment of the expected uncertainty components in this approach showed that a maximum uncertainty of less than 5% should be feasible. To confirm the above findings, gamma-ray scans were performed on irradiated PULSTAR reactor fuel assemblies at North Carolina Sate University. The measurements used a 40% efficient n-type coaxial HPGe detector connected to an ORTEC DSPECplus digital Gamma-Ray Spectrometer, and a data acquisition computer.

Download or read book Core Optimization of a Deep Burn Pebble Bed Reactor written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Achieving a high fuel burnup in the Deep-Burn (DB) pebble bed reactor design, while remaining within the limits for fuel temperature, power peaking and temperature reactivity feedback, is challenging. The high content of Pu and Minor Actinides in the Deep-Burn fuel significantly impacts the thermal neutron energy spectrum as compared to a 'standard' UO2 fueled core. This can result in power and temperature peaking in the pebble bed core in locally thermalized regions near the graphite reflectors. Furthermore, the interplay of the Pu resonances of the neutron absorption cross sections at low-lying energies can lead to a positive temperature reactivity coefficient for the graphite moderator at certain operating conditions. The DB concept focuses on the destruction of spent fuel transuranics in TRISO coated particle fueled gas-cooled reactors with the aim of a fractional fuel burnup of 60-70% in fissions per initial metal atom (FIMA), using a single-pass, multi in-core fuel (re)cycling scheme. In principle, the DB pebble bed concept employs the same reactor designs as the present low enriched uranium core designs, i.e. the 400 MWth Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR-400). A Pu and Minor Actinide fueled PBMR-400 design serves as the starting point for a core optimization study. The fuel temperature, power peak, temperature reactivity coefficients, and burnup capabilities of the modified designs are analyzed with the PEBBED code. A code-to-code coupling with the PASTA code allows for the analysis of the TRISO fuel performance for both normal and Loss Of Forced Cooling conditions. An improved core design is sought, maximizing the fuel discharge burnup, while retaining negative temperature reactivity feedback coefficients for the entire temperature range and avoiding high fuel temperatures (fuel failure probabilities).

Download or read book EVALUATION OF THE INITIAL CRITICAL CONFIGURATION OF THE HTR 10 PEBBLE BED REACTOR written by William K. Terry and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report describes the evaluation of data from the initial criticality measurement of the HTR-10 pebble-bed reactor at the Institute of Nuclear Energy Technology in China to determine whether the data are of sufficient quality to use as benchmarks for reactor physics computer codes intended for pebble-bed reactor analysis. The evaluation applied the INL pebble-bed reactor physics code PEBBED to perform an uncertainty analysis on the core critical height. The overall uncertainty in k-effective was slightly over 0.5%, which is considered adequate for an experimental benchmark.