Systematic measurements and analyses for lead void reactivity worth in a plutonium core and two uranium cores with different enrichments

Fukushima, Masahiro; Goda, J.*; Oizumi, Akito; Bounds, J.*; Cutler, T.*; Grove, T.*; Hayes, D.*; Hutchinson, J.*; McKenzie, G.*; McSpaden, A.*; et al.

Nuclear Science and Engineering, 194(2), p.138 - 153, 2020/02

https://doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2019.1663089

To validate lead (Pb) nuclear cross sections, a series of integral experiments to measure lead void reactivity worth was conducted systematically in three fast spectra with different fuel compositions on the Comet critical assembly of the National Criticality Experiments Research Center. Previous experiments in a high-enriched uranium (HEU)/Pb and a low-enriched uranium (LEU)/Pb systems had been performed in 2016 and 2017, respectively. A follow-on experiment in a plutonium (Pu)/Pb system has been completed. The Pu/Pb system was constructed using lead plates and weapons grade plutonium plates that had been used in the Zero Power Physics Reactor (ZPPR) of Argonne National Laboratory until the 1990s. Furthermore, the HEU/Pb system was re-examined on the Comet critical assembly installed newly with a device that can guarantee the gap reproducibility with a higher accuracy and precision, and then the experimental data was re evaluated. Using the lead void reactivity worth measured in these three cores with different fuel compositions, the latest nuclear data libraries, JENDL 4.0 and ENDF/B VIII.0, were tested with the Monte Carlo calculation code MCNP version 6.1. As a result, the calculations by ENDF/B-VIII.0 were confirmed to agree with lead void reactivity worth measured in all the cores. It was furthermore found that the calculations by JENDL 4.0 overestimate by more than 20% for the Pu/Pb core while being in good agreements for the HEU/Pb and LEU/Pb cores.

Void reactivity evaluation by modified conversion ratio measurements in LWR critical experiments

Yoshioka, Kenichi*; Kikuchi, Tsukasa*; Gunji, Satoshi*; Kumanomido, Hironori*; Mitsuhashi, Ishi*; Umano, Takuya*; Yamaoka, Mitsuaki*; Okajima, Shigeaki; Fukushima, Masahiro; Nagaya, Yasunobu; et al.

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 52(2), p.282 - 293, 2015/02

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2014.937781

We have developed a void reactivity evaluation method by using modified conversion ratio measurements in a light water reactor (LWR) critical lattice. Assembly-wise void reactivity is evaluated from the "finite neutron multiplication factor", , deduced from the modified conversion ratio of each fuel rod. The distributions of modified conversion ratio and on a reduced-moderation LWR lattice, for which the improvement of negative void reactivity is a serious issue, were measured. Measured values were analyzed with a continuous-energy Monte Carlo method. The measurements and analyses agreed within the measurement uncertainty. The developed method is useful for validating the nuclear design methodology concerning void reactivity.

Present status of chemical analysis of uranyl nitrate solution used for the criticality experiments in NUCEF

Haga, Takahisa*; Gunji, Kazuhiko; Fukaya, Hiroyuki; Sonoda, Takashi; Sakazume, Yoshinori; Sakai, Yutaka; Niitsuma, Yasushi; Togashi, Yoshihiro; Miyauchi, Masakatsu; Sato, Takeshi; et al.

JAERI-Tech 2004-005, 54 Pages, 2004/02

JAERI-Tech-2004-005.pdf:2.06MB

Criticality experiments using uranyl nitrate solution fuel are being conducted at STACY (the Static Experiment Critical Facility) and TRACY (the Transient Experiment Critical Facility) in NUCEF (the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Safety Engineering Research Facility). Chemical analyses of the solution have been carried out to take necessary data for criticality experiments, for treatment and control of the fuel, and for safeguards purpose at the analytical laboratory placed in NUCEF. About 300 samples are analyzed annually that provide various kinds of data, such as uranium concentration, isolation acid concentration, uranium isotopic composition, concentration of fission product (FP) nuclides, tri-butyl phosphoric acid (TBP) concentration, impurities in the solution fuel and so on. This report summarizes the analytical methods and quality management of the analysis for uranyl nitrate solution relating to the criticality experiments.

Nuclear characteristics evaluation for a supercritical experiment facility using low-enriched uranium solution fuel, TRACY

Nakajima, Ken

Proceedings of International Conference on the New Frontiers of Nuclear Technology; Reactor Physics, Safety and High-Performance Computing (PHYSOR 2002) (CD-ROM), 8 Pages, 2002/10

The nuclear characteristics of TRACY, such as the criticality, the / ratio, the peak power, the energy of pulse, and the total energy, have been evaluated using the experimental data. TRACY is a supercritical reactor fueled with low-enriched uranyl nitrate aqueous solution to simulate criticality accidents in a fuel processing facility, such as a spent-fuel reprocessing plant. In this evaluation, the availability of criticality calculation and the models to evaluate the power and energy have been studied.

Integral tests of preliminary JENDL-5 for critical and shielding experiments

Nagaya, Yasunobu; Yokoyama, Kenji; Tada, Kenichi; Konno, Chikara

no journal, , 

The latest version of Japanese Evaluated Nuclear Data Library, JENDL-5, is planned to be released in 2021. To this end, we have performed integral tests of preliminary versions of JENDL-5 since 2018. In this presentation, we show the integral test results of JENDL-5 beta 3 update 1 for critical and shielding experiments. The critical test calculations have been done for experiments mainly in the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) handbook and conducted at JAEA. The shielding benchmark tests have been done mainly for FNS experiments at JAEA and OKTAVIAN experiments. We have confirmed that JENDL-5 beta 3 update 1 gives better than or the same prediction accuracy as the previous version of JENDL-4.0 in many test cases for the critical and shielding experiments.