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Calculation of heating values for the high flux isotope reactor

  • Joshua Peterson
  • , Germina Ilas

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Calculating the amount of energy released by a fission reaction (fission Q value) and the heating rate distribution in a nuclear reactor is an important part of the safety analysis. However, these calculations can become very complex. One of the codes that can be used for this type of analyses is the Monte Carlo transport code MCNP5. Currently it is impossible to calculate the Q value and heating rate disposition for delayed beta and delayed gamma particles directly from MCNP5. The purpose of this paper is to outline a rigorous method for indirectly calculating the Q values and heating rates in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), based on previous similar studies carried out for very high-temperature reactor configurations. This method has been applied in this study to calculate heating rates for the beginning of cycle (BOC) and end-of-cycle (EOC) states of HFIR. In addition, the BOC results obtained for HFIR are compared with corresponding results for the Advanced Test Reactor. The fission Q value for HFIR was calculated as 200.2 MeV for the BOC and 201.3 MeV for the EOC. It was also determined that 95.1% and 95.4% of the heat was deposited within the HFIR fuel plates for the BOC and EOC models, respectively. This methodology can also be used for heating rate calculations for HFIR experiments.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationInternational Conference on the Physics of Reactors 2012, PHYSOR 2012
Subtitle of host publicationAdvances in Reactor Physics
Pages2349-2358
Number of pages10
StatePublished - 2012
EventInternational Conference on the Physics of Reactors 2012: Advances in Reactor Physics, PHYSOR 2012 - Knoxville, TN, United States
Duration: Apr 15 2012Apr 20 2012

Publication series

NameInternational Conference on the Physics of Reactors 2012, PHYSOR 2012: Advances in Reactor Physics
Volume3

Conference

ConferenceInternational Conference on the Physics of Reactors 2012: Advances in Reactor Physics, PHYSOR 2012
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityKnoxville, TN
Period04/15/1204/20/12

Keywords

  • HFIR
  • Heating rate
  • MCNP5
  • ORIGEN
  • Q-value

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