Criticality safety evaluation for the direct disposal of used nuclear fuel; preparation of data for burnup credit evaluation (Contract research)

Yamamoto, Kento*; Akie, Hiroshi  ; Suyama, Kenya; Hosoyamada, Ryuji*

In the direct disposal of used nuclear fuel (UNF), criticality safety evaluation is one of the important issues since UNF contains some amount of fissile material. The recent development of higher-enrichment fuel has enhanced the benefit of the application of Burnup Credit. In the present study, the effects of the several parameters on the reactivity of disposal canister model were evaluated for used PWR fuel. The parameters are relevant to the uncertainties of depletion calculation code, irradiation history, and axial and horizontal burnup distribution, which are known to be important effect in the criticality safety evaluation adopting burnup credit. The latest data or methodology was adopted in this evaluation, based on the various latest studies. The appropriate margin of neutron multiplication factor in the criticality safety evaluation for UNF can be determined by adopting the methodology described in the present study.