Development of the Joyo MK-II core bowing reactivity calculation code

not registered; not registered ; Aoyama, Takafumi ; Torimaru, Tadahiko

The study on the passive safety test by using the Experimental Fast Reactor Joyo has been performed to demonstrate the inherent safety of fast breeder reactors. In this study, emphasis was placed on the improvement on the accuracy of the feedback reactivity analysis. As a bowing reactivity might play a significant roll in ATWS analysis because of its effectively short time constant and relatively large magnitude, an emphasis was placed upon the evaluation of the analysis precision of bowing reactivity. Taking into account of the refueling and irradiation history of the individual core component, the core bowing behavior in Joyo has been analyzed by using the MK-II core management code system MAGI, the interface code TETRAS which interpolate neutron flux and coolant temperature at the position of wrapper tube, and the core bowing calculation code BEACON. Calculation accuracy of above mentioned system was evaluated through the comparison of calculated and measured permanent distortion of subassemblies. In 1996, core bowing reactivity has been calculated by AURORA code using the above calculated bowing behavior of individual core component as input. But because an approximate two dimensional material reactivity worth map was utilized in AURORA, it was made clear that some amount of error caused by extrapolation could not be neglected. Therefore calculation code ARCHCOM (Analysis of Reactivity Change due to Core Mechanics) which utilize three dimensional material reactivity worth map as input was developed for the Joyo MK-II core bowing reactivity calculation. This code reduces above mentioned extrapolation error that used to be occured at isolated core component, such as control rod or irradiation rig and at the interface region of fuel and reflector where had sharp material reactivity worth gradient.