Development of a criticality evaluation method considering the particulate behavior of nuclear fuel

核燃料粉末粒子の流動挙動を考慮した臨界特性評価手法の開発

酒井 幹夫; 山本 俊弘; 村崎 穣; 三好 慶典

Sakai, Mikio; Yamamoto, Toshihiro; Murazaki, Minoru; Miyoshi, Yoshinori

従来から行われてきたMOX燃料粉末の混合撹拌時の臨界特性評価では、粉体混合に伴うMOX燃料粉末界面(粉末と空気の境界面)の変形や粉末の混合状態を考慮することができなかった。そこで、離散要素法と核計算を結合し、粉末界面の変形を考慮できる臨界特性評価手法を開発した。粉末界面変形及び粉末の混合状態が中性子実効増倍率に及ぼす影響を評価した。

In the conventional criticality evaluation of the nuclear powder system, the effects of particulate behavior have not been considered. In other words, it is difficult to reflect the particle behavior into the conventional criticality evaluation. We have developed a novel criticality evaluation code to resolve this issue. The criticality evaluation code, coupling a Discrete Element Method simulation code with a continuous-energy Monte Carlo transport code, makes it possible to study the effect of the particulate behavior on a criticality evaluation. The criticality evaluation code has been applied to the powder system of the MOX fuel powder agitation process. The criticality evaluations have been performed under mixing the MOX fuel powder in a stirred vessel to investigate the effects of the powder boundary deformation and particulate mixture conditions on the criticality evaluation. The evaluation results revealed that the powder uniformity mixture condition and the boundary deformation could make the neutron effective multiplication factor decrease.