Investigation of Radiation Protection Parameters of Some Control Rod Types that Can Be Used in Akkuyu Nuclear Reactors

Kartini Research Reactor, which is situated in Yogyakarta, is a 100 kW TRIGA (Training, Research, and Isotope Production by General Atomic)-type reactor mainly used for educational and training purposes. A system for remote learning on nuclear reactor physics named the Internet Rector Laboratory has been developed and is fully operational since 2019. To enrich its curriculum, a new practicum module has been developed, that can be immediately implemented and does not require any additional equipment or materials. To ensure safety in reactor kinetics and radiation protection, a safety analysis on the implementation of the practicum module has been conducted using MCNP and ORIGEN utilizing the current conditions of the reactor regarding its fuel burnup and control rod positions at a certain power level. Based on the results of the analysis, the practicum is safe to perform from a neutronic and radiation protection perspective. Given the long half-life and the large amount of radiation exposure that comes from activation products of iron, it is recommended that only cadmium, boron, graphite, and aluminum are allowed to be irradiated during the practicum.Keywords: Internet Reactor Laboratory, Activation Product, Radiation Protection, Reactor Safety

Download Full-text

A HIGH-FIDELITY SIMULATION OF THE C5G7 BENCHMARK BY USING THE PARALLEL ENTER CODE

EPJ Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/epjconf/202124706023 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 247 ◽

pp. 06023

Author(s):

Zhenglin Ruan ◽

Haibing Guo

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

High Efficiency ◽

Nuclear Reactors ◽

Neutron Transport ◽

Reaction Cross ◽

High Fidelity ◽

Control Rod ◽

Section Data ◽

Transport Code ◽

Deterministic Transport

In simulation of advanced nuclear reactors, requirements like high precision, high efficiency and convenient to multi-physics coupling are putting forward. The deterministic transport method has the advantage of high efficiency, capable of obtaining detailed flux distribution and efficient in multi-physics coupling, but its accuracy is limited by the homogenized reaction cross-section data and core modelling exactness. The traditional two-steps homogenization strategy may introduce substantial deviation during the assembly calculation. It is possible to conduct a whole core deterministic transport simulation pin-by-pin to achieve higher accuracy, which eliminates the assembly homogenization process. The C5G7 benchmarks were proposed to test the ability of a modern deterministic transport code in analyzing whole core reactor problems without spatial homogenization. Different deterministic code that developed by different methods were applied to the benchmark simulation and some of them solved the benchmark accurately. However, there still exist some drawbacks in the given calculation processes which carried out by some other deterministic transport codes and we could find that the fuel pin cell in the assembly were not exactly geometrically modelled owing to the limit of the code. Consequently, the calculation precision could be improved by utilizing a high-fidelity geometry modelling. In this paper, the C5G7 benchmarks with different control rod position and different configuration were calculated by the finite element SN neutron transport code ENTER [1], and the results were presented after massively parallel computation on TIANHE-II supercomputer. By introducing a large scale high-fidelity unstructured meshes, high fidelity distributions of power and neutron flux were gained and compared with the results from other codes, excellent consistency were observed. To sum up, the ENTER code can meet those new requirements in simulation of advanced nuclear reactors and more works and researches will be implemented for a further improvement.

Download Full-text

Release of 108Ag from Irradiated PWR Control Rod Absorbers under Deep Repository Conditions

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/opl.2015.372 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 1744 ◽

pp. 217-222

Author(s):

O. Roth ◽

M. Granfors ◽

A. Puranen ◽

K. Spahiu

Keyword(s):

Nuclear Fuel ◽

Source Term ◽

Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽

Nuclear Reactors ◽

Reactor Irradiation ◽

Spent Fuel ◽

Control Rod ◽

Potential Source ◽

Absorber Material ◽

Control Rods

ABSTRACTIn a future Swedish deep repository for spent nuclear fuel, irradiated control rods from PWR nuclear reactors are planned to be stored together with the spent fuel. The control rod absorber consists of an 80% Ag, 5% Cd, 15% In alloy with a steel cladding. Upon in-reactor irradiation 108Ag is produced by neutron capture. Release of 108Ag has been identified as a potential source term for release of radioactive substances from the deep repository.Under reducing deep repository conditions, the Ag corrosion rate is however expected to be low which would imply that the release rate of 108Ag should be low under these conditions. The aim of this study is to investigate the dissolution of PWR control rod absorber material under conditions relevant to a future deep repository for spent nuclear fuel. The experiments include tests using irradiated control rod absorber material from Ringhals 2, Sweden. Furthermore, un-irradiated control rod absorber alloy has been tested for comparison. The experiments indicate that the release of Ag from the alloy when exposed to water is strongly dependent on the redox conditions. Under aerated conditions Ag is released at a significant rate whereas no release could be measured after 133 days during leaching under H2.

Download Full-text