Study on effect of local power distribution of fuel assembly on critical power of Reduced-Moderation Water Reactor (RMWR)

Nakatsuka, Toru  ; Nakano, Yoshihiro ; Okubo, Tsutomu

The viability of fuel assembly designs of Reduced-Moderation Water Reactor (RMWR) with fewer kinds of plutonium enrichment of MOX fuel which may result in high local peaking factor in peripheral rods were assessed in the present report. Critical powers of 217-rod bundles with peripheral peaks for upper and lower MOX regions of double-flat core of the RMWR were calculated by a subchannel analysis code NASCA. Peripheral peaking with the corresponding local peaking factor for the uniform plutonium enrichment design yields almost the same critical power as for the flat power distribution. Reduction in fuel fabrication burden may be possible by decreasing the number of the kind of plutonium fuel enrichment while maintaining the same thermal-hydraulic margin as the fuel assembly design with five enrichment types of MOX fuels.