Prelinary modeling to support the TREAT hodoscope system for fuel motion monitoring

Scott J. Thompson, James T. Johnson, Robert S. Schley, Clive H. Townsend, David L. Chichester

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

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Fuel motion is monitored in real time at the Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) using a direct-viewing hodoscope that monitors fast neutrons emitted from test fuel undergoing fission during transients. The hodoscope system is now being refurbished, after over twenty years, to once again support research and development activities examining the survival and failure modes of advanced nuclear reactor fuel systems under accident conditions. An important part of this activity is the development of high-fidelity modeling tools to predict the hodoscope's response to different fuel systems, in different test vehicles, throughout different transient cycles. Initial work has involved the collection of archival data related to how the hodoscope currently at TREAT was manufactured and installed, and the use of this data to create a preliminary radiation transport model using MCNP6. This model is now undergoing refinement to improve its fidelity and to permit its integration with other tools under development to model TREAT transients. The model will be used to study how fast-neutrons measured in the hodoscope's detectors relate to the fission of nuclear material in a test vehicle as a function of location within the vehicle and reactor power. The goal is to develop a time-dependent coupling factor that will relate the measured data to the fuel mass present within each pixel of the hodoscope's field of view. This paper presents the current status of the TREAT hodoscope refurbishment program and modeling activities related to interpreting hodoscope data and inferring fuel motion during transients.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPhysics of Reactors 2016, PHYSOR 2016
Subtitle of host publicationUnifying Theory and Experiments in the 21st Century
PublisherAmerican Nuclear Society
Pages426-433
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9781510825734
StatePublished - 2016
EventPhysics of Reactors 2016: Unifying Theory and Experiments in the 21st Century, PHYSOR 2016 - Sun Valley, United States
Duration: May 1 2016May 5 2016

Publication series

NamePhysics of Reactors 2016, PHYSOR 2016: Unifying Theory and Experiments in the 21st Century
Volume1

Conference

ConferencePhysics of Reactors 2016: Unifying Theory and Experiments in the 21st Century, PHYSOR 2016
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySun Valley
Period05/1/1605/5/16

Keywords

  • Fast neutron
  • Hodoscope
  • TREAT
  • Transient modeling

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