Analyses on the BFS critical experiments; an analysis on the BFS-62-1 and 62-2 cores

Sugino, Kazuteru; not registered; Iwai, Takehiko*; Numata, Kazuyuki*

In order to support the Russian excess weapons plutonium disposition, the international collaboration has been started between Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) and Russian Institute of Physics and Power Engneering (IPPE). In the frame of the collaboration, JNC has carried out analyses on the BFS-62 assemblies that are constructed in the fast reactor critical experimental facility BFS-2 of IPPE. This report summarizes an experimental analysis on the BFS-62-1 and BFS-62-2 cores. The BFS-62-1 core models the present BN-600, and contains the enriched UO fuel surrounded by the UO blanket. The BFS-62-2 core has the same layout as the BFS-62-1 but the blanket region was replaced with stainless steel shield. For core parameter analyses, the 3-D Hexagonal-Z or XYZ geometry model was applied by not only diffusion calculation but also transport calculation. Further in terms of the utilization of the BFS experimental analysis data for the standard data base for FBR core design, consistency evaluation with JUPITER experimental analysis data has been performed using the cross-section adjustment method. As the result of analyses, good agreement was obtained between calculations and experiments for the criticality, the reaction rate ratio and reaction rate distribution in BFS-62-1. In the reaction rate distribution of BFS-62-2 calculation without cross-section adjustment produced big radial dependency of calculation over experiment value (C/E value) in the core region and overestimation in the shield region. Cross-section adjustment technique procedure improved those estimation, however alternation of cross-section of Iron, which was dominant in above improvement, compared to the cross-section error, and further investigation was required. Concerning the control rod worth of BFS-62-1, radial dependency of the C/E value was observed whether cross-section adjustment technique was applied or not, therefore comparison with results of other BFS-62 ...