Subcriticality determination methodology during fuel loading of accelerator-driven system

ABSTRACT

We propose a subcriticality determination methodology to be applied during fuel loading of an accelerator-driven system (ADS). In this methodology, subcriticality is determined via the area ratio method (via the proton accelerator) in the first step and by the neutron source multiplication method (through the spontaneous fission neutrons of minor actinides) in subsequent steps; then, the number of fuel assemblies to be loaded in the next step is predicted. We performed a numerical simulation of the proposed methodology, and the estimated subcriticalities agreed well with those obtained by eigenvalue calculations. We also conducted an uncertainty assessment of the proposed methodology and deduced a value of 1000 pcm for the $k_{\mathrm{e}\mathrm{f}\mathrm{f}}$ uncertainty. The proposed methodology can be a candidate for practical subcriticality monitoring for ADSs.

KEYWORDS:

• Subcriticality
• area ratio method
• neutron source multiplication method
• accelerator-driven system

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).