Sensitivity analyses of initial compositions and cross sections for activation products of in-core structure materials

Yamamoto, Kento; Okumura, Keisuke ; Kojima, Kensuke; Okamoto, Tsutomu

To improve the prediction accuracy of concentrations of activation products (APs) in the field of nuclear back-end, it is important to investigate the elements and the nuclear reactions leading to generation of APs. To clarify quantitatively the source elements and the nuclear reactions dominating generation of APs, sensitivity analyses of initial compositions and cross sections were conducted using ORIGEN2.2 code and ORLIBJ40, which is a set of the 1-group cross section libraries based on JENDL-4.0. Activations of cladding tubes, end-plugs and spacers of fuel assemblies and channel boxes in BWR, whose materials are zirconium alloy, stainless steel, and nickel-chromium-based alloy, were analyzed. The results clarified quantitatively the source elements and the nuclear reactions dominating generation of APs. It was remarkable that the dominant generation pathways were clarified even for the nuclides generated through complicated pathways. In conclusion, the results of sensitivity analyses could be utilized to select the objective of elements for measurements of impurities in the materials and of nuclear data for improvement of accuracy.