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Título del libro: Proceedings Of The International Conference On Physics Of Reactors, Physor 2024
Título del capítulo: Learning Nuclear Fuel Management, Case Study: Design of a Two-Year Equilibrium Cycle of a BWRX-300-like Small Modular Reactor

Autores UNAM:
JUAN LUIS FRANCOIS LACOUTURE;
Autores externos:

Idioma:

Año de publicación:
2024
Palabras clave:

Nuclear energy; Nuclear fuels; Nuclear power plants; Plant shutdowns; Reactivity (nuclear); Reactor refueling; Reactor shutdowns; Reactor startup; Small nuclear reactors; Boiling water; Case-studies; Equilibrium cycle; Management IS; Nuclear fuel management; Reactivity models; Small modular reactors; State of the art; Study design; Water reactors; Boiling water reactors


Resumen:

Nuclear fuel management is a discipline that must be part of the basic knowledge of a nuclear engineer. This article presents an example of its learning based on a timely case study. By applying basic knowledge, such as the linear reactivity model, and the use of well-known state-of-the-art reactor physics codes, the student can develop a preliminary design of a two-year equilibrium cycle of a BWRX-300-like small modular reactor. The starting point is the motivation of the study, since one of the options for the deployment of new nuclear power reactors in Mexico is the boiling water reactor, because the operating experience of two of this type of reactor in the country since 1990 and 1995, respectively. Furthermore, the flexibility of the small modular reactors is well-suited for the country's needs. The first approach was to determine the fuel batch fraction, average enrichment, and discharge burnup, through the linear reactivity model and CASMO-4 simulations. Afterwards, with Serpent, the reactor core was simulated to find, by an iterative process, the two-years equilibrium cycle and fix the batch average enrichment and the burnable absorber required to reduce the hot excess reactivity at the beginning of cycle under the power distribution constraint. Furthermore, the shutdown margin requirement was verified, and the fuel temperature and void reactivity coefficients as well. © 2024 AMERICAN NUCLEAR SOCIETY. All rights reserved.


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