Uncertainty Analysis of WWER-1000 Core Macroscopic Cross Sections due to Spectral Effects

The paper presents the results of uncertainty analysis of WWER‑1000 core macroscopic cross sections due to spectral effects during WWER‑1000 fuel burnup and the analysis of cross section sensitivity from thermophysical parameters of the calculated cell, which affect energy spectrum of neutron flux density. The calculation of changes in the isotopic composition during burnup and the preparation of macroscopic cross sections used the developed HELIOS computer model [1] for TVSA, which is currently operated at most Ukrainian WWER‑1000 units. The GRS approach applying Software for Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analyses (SUSA) [2] was chosen to assess the uncertainty of the macroscopic cross sections due to spectral effects and analysis of cross section sensitivity from thermophysical parameters. The spectral effect on macroscopic cross sections was taken into account by calculating the fuel burnup for variational sets of thermophysical parameters (fuel temperature, coolant temperature and density, boric acid concentration) prepared in advance by the SUSA program, as a result of which fuel isotopic composition vectors were obtained. After that, neutronic constants for the reference state were developed for each of the sets of isotopic composition, which corresponded to a certain set of thermophysical parameters. At the next stage, the uncertainty of macroscopic cross sections of the interaction due to the spectral effects on the isotopic composition of the fuel was analyzed using SUSA 4, followed by the analysis of cross section sensitivity from thermophysical parameters of the calculated cell affecting energy spectrum of neutron flux density. In the future, the uncertainty of two-group macroscopic diffusion constants can be used to estimate the overall uncertainty of neutronic characteristics in large-grid core calculations, in particular, in the safety analysis.