{"title":"Enhancing the neutronic performance of SMART Small modular reactor using alternative fuel material","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.anucene.2024.110895","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>SMART, a conceptual small modular reactor (SMR), uses uranium dioxide (UO<sub>2</sub>) as fuel but is prone to damage in high-temperature scenarios like station blackout (SBO) accidents. This study analyzes the neutronic aspects of SMART with alternative fuels: UN (natural N), UN (enriched <sup>15</sup>N 99 %), UB<sub>2</sub> (enriched <sup>11</sup>B 100 %), and U<sub>3</sub>Si<sub>2</sub> using MCNP6 with the ENDF/B-VII.1 nuclear data library. The <sup>15</sup>N 99 % enriched nitride fuel has the highest k<sub>eff</sub> while improving safety by reducing radial power fraction and improving core cycle length with higher fissile content. Enriched <sup>15</sup>N nitride fuel, boride fuel, and silicide fuel are viable substitutions for oxide fuel. Reducing the enriched <sup>15</sup>N level in nitride fuel can manage excess reactivity at the beginning of the cycle. Despite different burnup levels, the neutron flux distribution, radial power peaking factor, and effective delayed neutron fraction (β<sub>eff</sub>) show minimal variation among the fuel types.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8006,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Nuclear Energy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annals of Nuclear Energy","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306454924005589","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
SMART, a conceptual small modular reactor (SMR), uses uranium dioxide (UO2) as fuel but is prone to damage in high-temperature scenarios like station blackout (SBO) accidents. This study analyzes the neutronic aspects of SMART with alternative fuels: UN (natural N), UN (enriched 15N 99 %), UB2 (enriched 11B 100 %), and U3Si2 using MCNP6 with the ENDF/B-VII.1 nuclear data library. The 15N 99 % enriched nitride fuel has the highest keff while improving safety by reducing radial power fraction and improving core cycle length with higher fissile content. Enriched 15N nitride fuel, boride fuel, and silicide fuel are viable substitutions for oxide fuel. Reducing the enriched 15N level in nitride fuel can manage excess reactivity at the beginning of the cycle. Despite different burnup levels, the neutron flux distribution, radial power peaking factor, and effective delayed neutron fraction (βeff) show minimal variation among the fuel types.
期刊介绍:
Annals of Nuclear Energy provides an international medium for the communication of original research, ideas and developments in all areas of the field of nuclear energy science and technology. Its scope embraces nuclear fuel reserves, fuel cycles and cost, materials, processing, system and component technology (fission only), design and optimization, direct conversion of nuclear energy sources, environmental control, reactor physics, heat transfer and fluid dynamics, structural analysis, fuel management, future developments, nuclear fuel and safety, nuclear aerosol, neutron physics, computer technology (both software and hardware), risk assessment, radioactive waste disposal and reactor thermal hydraulics. Papers submitted to Annals need to demonstrate a clear link to nuclear power generation/nuclear engineering. Papers which deal with pure nuclear physics, pure health physics, imaging, or attenuation and shielding properties of concretes and various geological materials are not within the scope of the journal. Also, papers that deal with policy or economics are not within the scope of the journal.