Effect of high burn-up and MOX fuel on reprocessing, vitrification and disposal of PWR and BWR spent fuels based on accurate burn-up calculation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoshikawa, T.; Iwasaki, T.; Wada, K. [Tohoku Univ., Graduate School of Engineering, Dept. of Quantum Science and Energy Engineering, Sendai 980-8579 (Japan); Suyama, K. [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Shirakata-Shirane 2-4, Naka-gun, Ibaraki-ken 319-1195 (Japan)

2006-07-01

To examine the procedures of the reprocessing, the vitrification and the geologic disposal, precise burn-up calculation for high burn-up and MOX fuels has been performed for not only PWR but also BWR by using SWAT and SWAT2 codes which are the integrated bum-up calculation code systems combined with the bum-up calculation code, ORIGEN2, and the transport calculation code, SRAC (the collision probability method) or MVP (the continuous energy Monte Carlo method), respectively. The calculation results shows that all of the evaluated items (heat generation and concentrations of Mo and Pt) largely increase and those significantly effect to the current procedures of the vitrification and the geologic disposal. The calculation result by SWAT2 confirms that the bundle calculation is required for BWR to be discussed about those effects in details, especially for the MOX fuel. (authors)

EBSD and TEM Characterization of High Burn-up Mixed Oxide Fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Teague, Melissa C; Gorman, Brian P.; Miller, Brandon D; King, Jeffrey

2014-01-01

Understanding and studying the irradiation behavior of high burn-up oxide fuel is critical to licensing of future fast breeder reactors. Advancements in experimental techniques and equipment are allowing for new insights into previously irradiated samples. In this work dual column focused ion beam (FIB)/scanning electron microscope (SEM) was utilized to prepared transmission electron microscope samples from mixed oxide fuel with a burn-up of 6.7% FIMA. Utilizing the FIB/SEM for preparation resulted in samples with a dose rate of <0.5 mRem/h compared to approximately 1.1 R/h for a traditionally prepared TEM sample. The TEM analysis showed that the sample taken from the cooler rim region of the fuel pellet had approximately 2.5x higher dislocation density than that of the sample taken from the mid-radius due to the lower irradiation temperature of the rim. The dual column FIB/SEM was additionally used to prepared and serially slice approximately 25 um cubes. High quality electron back scatter diffraction (EBSD) were collected from the face at each step, showing, for the first time, the ability to obtain EBSD data from high activity irradiated fuel

MONJU experimental data analysis and its feasibility evaluation to build up the standard data base for large FBR nuclear core design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sugino, K.; Iwai, T.

2006-01-01

MONJU experimental data analysis was performed by using the detailed calculation scheme for fast reactor cores developed in Japan. Subsequently, feasibility of the MONJU integral data was evaluated by the cross-section adjustment technique for the use of FBR nuclear core design. It is concluded that the MONJU integral data is quite valuable for building up the standard data base for large FBR nuclear core design. In addition, it is found that the application of the updated data base has a possibility to considerably improve the prediction accuracy of neutronic parameters for MONJU. (authors)

On the thermal conductivity of UO2 nuclear fuel at a high burn-up of around 100 MWd/kgHM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walker, C.T.; Staicu, D.; Sheindlin, M.; Papaioannou, D.; Goll, W.; Sontheimer, F.

2006-01-01

A study of the thermal conductivity of a commercial PWR fuel with an average pellet burn-up of 102 MWd/kgHM is described. The thermal conductivity data reported were derived from the thermal diffusivity measured by the laser flash method. The factors determining the fuel thermal conductivity at high burn-up were elucidated by investigating the recovery that occurred during thermal annealing. It was found that the thermal conductivity in the outer region of the fuel was much higher than it would have been if the high burn-up structure were not present. The increase in thermal conductivity is a consequence of the removal of fission products and radiation defects from the fuel lattice during recrystallisation of the fuel grains (an integral part of the formation process of the high burn-up structure). The gas porosity in the high burn-up structure lowers the increase in thermal conductivity caused by recrystallisation

Full Core Burn-up Calculation at JRR-3 with MVP-BURN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Komeda, Masao; Yamamoto, Kazuyoshi; Kusunoki, Tsuyoshi

2008-01-01

Research reactors use a burnable poison to suppress an excess reactivity in the beginning of reactor lifetime. The JRR-3 (Japan Research Reactor No.3) has used cadmium wires of radius 0.02 cm as a burnable poison. This report describes burn-up calculations of plate fuel models and full core models with MVP-BURN, which is a burn-up calculation code using Monte Carlo method and has been developed in JAEA (Japan Atomic Energy Agency). As the results of calculations of plate models, between a model composed of one burn-up region along the radius direction and a model composed of a few burn-up regions along the radius direction, the effective absorption cross section of 113 Cd has had different tendency on reaching approximate 40. day (10000 MWd/t). And as results of calculations of full core model, it has been indicated that k eff is almost same till approximate 80. day (22000 MWd/t) between a model composed of one burn-up region along the vertical direction and a model composed of a few burn-up regions along the vertical direction. However difference of 113 Cd burn-up becomes pronounced and each k eff makes a difference after 80. day. (authors)

Behaviour of fission gas in the rim region of high burn-up UO2 fuel pellets with particular reference to results from an XRF investigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mogensen, M.; Walker, C.T.

1999-01-01

XRF and EPMA results for retained xenon from Battelle's high burn-up effects program are re-evaluated. The data reviewed are from commercial low enriched BWR fuel with burn-ups of 44.8-54.9 GWd/tU and high enriched PWR fuel with burn-ups from 62.5 to 83.1 GWd/tU. It is found that the high burn-up structure penetrated much deeper than initially reported. The local burn-up threshold for the formation of the high burn-up structure in those fuels with grain sizes in the normal range lay between 60 and 75 GWd/tU. The high burn-up structure was not detected by EPMA in a fuel that had a grain size of 78 μm although the local burn-up at the pellet rim had exceeded 80 GWd/tU. It is concluded that fission gas had been released from the high burn-up structure in three PWR fuel sections with burn-ups of 70.4, 72.2 and 83.1 GWd/tU. In the rim region of the last two sections at the locations where XRF indicated gas release the local burn-up was higher than 75 GWd/tU. (orig.)

Reduction on high level radioactive waste volume and geological repository footprint with high burn-up and high thermal efficiency of HTGR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fukaya, Yuji, E-mail: fukaya.yuji@jaea.go.jp; Nishihara, Tetsuo

2016-10-15

Highlights: • We evaluate the number of canisters and its footprint for HTGR. • We proposed new waste loading method for direct disposal of HTGR. • HTGR can significantly reduce HLW volume compared with LWR. - Abstract: Reduction on volume of High Level radioactive Waste (HLW) and footprint in a geological repository due to high burn-up and high thermal efficiency of High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) has been investigated. A helium-cooled and graphite-moderated commercial HTGR was designed as a Gas Turbine High Temperature Reactor (GTHTR300), and that has particular features such as significantly high burn-up of approximately 120 GWd/t, high thermal efficiency around 50%, and pin-in-block type fuel. The pin-in-block type fuel was employed to reduce processed graphite volume in reprocessing. By applying the feature, effective waste loading method for direct disposal is proposed in this study. By taking into account these feature, the number of HLW canister generations and its repository footprint are evaluated by burn-up fuel composition, thermal calculation and criticality calculation in repository. As a result, it is found that the number of canisters and its repository footprint per electricity generation can be reduced by 60% compared with Light Water Reactor (LWR) representative case for direct disposal because of the higher burn-up, higher thermal efficiency, less TRU generation, and effective waste loading proposed in this study for HTGR. But, the reduced ratios change to 20% and 50% if the long term durability of LWR canister is guaranteed. For disposal with reprocessing, the number of canisters and its repository footprint per electricity generation can be reduced by 30% compared with LWR because of the 30% higher thermal efficiency of HTGR.

Determination of burn-up of irradiated nuclear fuels using mass spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jagadish Kumar, S.; Telmore, V.M.; Shah, R.V.; Sasi Bhushan, K.; Paul, Sumana; Kumar, Pranaw; Rao, Radhika M.; Jaison, P.G.

2017-01-01

Burn-up defined as the atom percent fission, is a vital parameter used for assessing the performance of nuclear fuel during its irradiation in the reactor. Accurate data on the actinide isotopes are also essential for the reliable accountability of nuclear materials and for nuclear safeguards. Both destructive and non-destructive methods are employed in the post-irradiation analysis for the burn-up measurements. Though non-destructive methods are preferred from the point view of remote handling of irradiated fuels with high radioactivity, they do not provide the high accuracy as achieved by the chemical analysis methods. Thus destructive radiochemical and chemical analyses are still the established reference methods for accurate and reliable burn-up determination of irradiated nuclear fuels. In the destructive method, burn-up of irradiated nuclear fuel is determined by correlating the amount of a fission product formed during irradiation with that of heavy elements. Thus the destructive experimental determination of burn-up involves the dissolution of irradiated fuel samples followed by the separation and determination of heavy elements and fission product(s) to be used as burn-up monitor(s). Another approach for the experimental determination of burn-up is based on the changes in the abundances of the heavy element isotopes. A widely accepted method for burn-up determination is based on stable "1"4"8Nd and "1"3"9La as burn-up monitors. Several properties such as non-volatility, nearly same yields for thermal fissions of "2"3"5U and "2"3"9Pu etc justifies the selection of "1"4"8Nd as a burn-up monitor

Nondestructive, fast methods for burn-up study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaechter, L.; Hacman, D.; Mot, O.

1977-01-01

Nondestructive methods, based on high resolution-spectrometry successfully applied at Institute for Atomic Physics are presented. These methods are preferred to destructive chemical methods; the latter being costly and lengthy and not suitable for statistical prediction of nuclear fuel behaviour. The following methods are developed: methods for determining the burn up of fuel elements and fuel assemblies; a method for determining the U 235 and Pu 239 contributions to the burn up and a code written in FORTRAN IV for numerical calculation of Pu 239 fission vs. burn up; a high precision method for burnup determination by adding burnable poison; a method for prediction of specific power distribution in the fuel elements of a research or power reactors; a method for determining the power output of the fuel element in an operating power reactor; a method for determining the content of Pu 239 of the fuel element irradiated in a reactor. The results which were obtained by these methods improved the fuel management at the VVR-S reactor at Institute for Atomic Physics, Bucharest and may be applied to other reactor types [fr

Criterion for burn-up conditions in gas-cooled cryogenic current leads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bejan, A.; Cluss, E.M. Jr.

1976-01-01

Superconducting magnets are energized through helium vapour-cooled cryogenic current leads operating at high ratios of current to mass flow. The high current operation where lead temperature, runaway, and eventual burn-up are likely to occur is investigated. A simple criterion for estimating the burn-up operation conditions (current, mass flow) for a given lead geometry (cross-sectional area, length, heat exchanger area) is presented. This article stresses the role played by the available heat exchanger area in avoiding burn-up at high ratios of current to mass flow. (author)

Evaluation of the commercial FBR introduction date

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

White, M.K.; Merrill, E.T.

1981-09-01

This report examines one criterion for introducing a commercial FBR: economic competitiveness with a Light Water Reactor (LWR). For this analysis, the commercial FBR is assumed to be the fifth-of-a kind replicate which represents an economically mature plant. This FBR is deemed economically competitive when its life-cycle energy cost is less than or equal to that of an LWR. Results of this analysis are used in a comparative analysis of alternative FBR development stategies. The strategies evaluated in these studies assume both 1000- and 1457-MWe FBRs. Since the capital costs per kilowatt, and therefore the energy costs, for these two FBR sizes are different, they will become economically competitive at different times. The probability density function for the 1457-MW(e) FBR has an expected value date or weighted average date of 2030, compared with 2033 for the probability density function for the 1000-MW(e) FBR

Test of calorimetry for high burn-up plutonium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beets, C.; Carchon, R.; Fettweis, P.

1984-01-01

In recent times, the interest of applying calorimetry for safeguards purpose is steadily increasing. Calorimetric measurements have been performed on a set of high burn-up (25000 MWd/t) Pu samples, ranging in mass between 60 g and 2.5 kg Pu, distributed as PuO 2 powder embedded in stainless steel containers. The powers produced by these containers ranged between 0.8 W and 36 W. The calorimeter used was the Mound 150 type, and the isotopics and the Am content have been determined earlier by mass spectroscopy, completed with α and γ counting, and were later verified by the same methods. Watts/gram measurements were made on twelve 60 g samples of the same plutonium lot to demonstrate the Pu elemental and isotopic homogeneity, and hence, its suitability for subsequent NDA experiments. These samples were also measured in a stacked way to fill up the mass and wattage gaps between 60 g (0.8W) and 1 kg (14W). Calorimetric assay values, obtained with both isotopic measurements are discussed

Visualization test using piping group mock up specimen for evaluation of wastage phenomena in steam generator for FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kato, Keisuke; Yoshida, Atsuro; Arae, Kunihiko; Narabayashi, Tadashi; Ohshima, Hiroyuki; Kurihara, Akikazu

2012-01-01

There is a need for quantitative evaluation of wastage phenomena in steam generator for FBR. We focused attention on liquid droplet impingement erosion (LDIE) in wastage phenomena and performed basic study with piping group mock up specimen for quantitative evaluation of LDIE. First, we did visualization test of high pressure and high speed jet into the water. Test section mock up the crack of heat exchanger tube and neighboring heat exchanger tubes. We did the test under the following test conditions. Upstream pressure is 0.3MPa, vapor temperature is 300K, crack width is 0.1mm, and crack length is 40mm. (crack diameter is 0.2mm) Second, we did pressure and temperature measurement test in the same test conditions as before. We evaluated jet behavior at test section by those two tests. In addition, we did two phase flow analysis of the jet with TRAC code. (author)

Development of high performance liquid chromatography for rapid determination of burn-up of nuclear fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joseph, M.; Karunasagar, D.; Saha, B.

1996-01-01

Burn-up an important parameter during evaluation of the performance of any nuclear fuel. Among the various techniques available, the preferred one for its determination is based on accurate measurement of a suitable fission product monitor and the residual heavy elements. Since isotopes of rare earth elements are generally used as burn-up monitors, conditions were standardized for rapid separation (within 15 minutes) of light rare earths using high performance liquid chromatography based on either anion exchange (Partisil 10 SAX) in methanol-nitric acid medium or by cation exchange on a reverse phase column (Spherisorb 5-ODS-2 or Supelcosil LC-18) dynamically modified with 1-octane sulfonate or camphor-10-sulfonic acid (β). Both these methods were assessed for separation of individual fission product rare earths from their mixtures. A new approach has been examined in detail for rapid assay of neodymium, which appears promising for faster and accurate measurement of burn-up. (author)

Core burn-up calculation method of JRR-3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kato, Tomoaki; Yamashita, Kiyonobu

2007-01-01

SRAC code system is utilized for core burn-up calculation of JRR-3. SRAC code system includes calculation modules such as PIJ, PIJBURN, ANISN and CITATION for making effective cross section and calculation modules such as COREBN and HIST for core burn-up calculation. As for calculation method for JRR-3, PIJBURN (Cell burn-up calculation module) is used for making effective cross section of fuel region at each burn-up step. PIJ, ANISN and CITATION are used for making effective cross section of non-fuel region. COREBN and HIST is used for core burn-up calculation and fuel management. This paper presents details of NRR-3 core burn-up calculation. FNCA Participating countries are expected to carry out core burn-up calculation of domestic research reactor by SRAC code system by utilizing the information of this paper. (author)

FBR/VHTR deployment scenarios in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Richards, Matt; Kunitomi, Kazuhiko

2008-01-01

Co-deployment of Fast Breeder Reactors (FBRs) and Very High Temperature Reactors (VHTRs) can be used as the nuclear technologies to meet a significant portion of Japan's future energy demands. The FBR provides the fissile fuel for energy security and sustainability, and can be used to provide a significant portion of the electricity demand. The VHTR can provide flexible energy outputs (electricity, hydrogen, and high-temperature heat) with high efficiency, can operate with a wide variety of fuel cycles, and can be sited at locations that have limited availability of cooling water. These features, combined with its passive safety and high degree of proliferation resistance, make the VHTR an ideal complement for co-deployment with the FBR in Japan and also a very low-risk technology of export to foreign countries. In addition to hydrogen production, the high-temperature thermal energy produced by the VHTR fleet can be used for a wide variety of process-heat applications, and the VHTR can play a key role for significantly reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. This paper describes assessments for deploying FBRs and VHTRs in Japan using a closed fuel cycle, with the FBRs supplying the fissile material to sustain the combined FBR/VHTR fleet. (author)

Flexible fuel cycle system for the transition from LWR to FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukasawa, Tetsuo; Yamashita, Junichi; Hoshino, Kuniyoshi; Sasahira, Akira; Inoue, Tadashi; Minato, Kazuo; Sato, Seichi

2009-01-01

Japan will deploy commercial fast breeder reactor (FBR) from around 2050 under the suitable conditions for the replacement of light water reactor (LWR) with FBR. The transition scenario from LWR to FBR is investigated in detail and the flexible fuel cycle initiative (FFCI) system has been proposed as a optimum transition system. The FFCI removes ∼95% uranium from LWR spent fuel (SF) in LWR reprocessing and residual material named Recycle Material (RM), which is ∼1/10 volume of original SF and contains ∼50% U, ∼10% Pu and ∼40% other nuclides, is treated in FBR reprocessing to recover Pu and U. If the FBR deployment speed becomes lower, the RM will be stored until the higher speed again. The FFCI has some merits compared with ordinary system that consists of full reprocessing facilities for both LWR and FBR SF during the transition period. The economy is better for FFCI due to the smaller LWR reprocessing facility (no Pu/U recovery and fabrication). The FFCI can supply high Pu concentration RM, which has high proliferation resistance and flexibly respond to FBR introduction rate changes. Volume minimization of LWR SF is possible for FFCI by its conversion to RM. Several features of FFCI were quantitatively evaluated such as Pu mass balance, reprocessing capacities, LWR SF amounts, RM amounts, and proliferation resistance to compare the effectiveness of the FFCI system with other systems. The calculated Pu balance revealed that the FFCI could supply enough but no excess Pu to FBR. These evaluations demonstrated the applicability of FFCI system to the transition period from LWR to FBR cycles. (author)

Non-instrumented capsule design of HANARO irradiation test for the high burn-up large grain UO2 pellets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, D. H.; Lee, C. B.; Oh, D. S.

2001-01-01

Non-instrumented capsule was designed to irradiate the large grain UO 2 pellet developed for the high burn-up LWR fuel in the HANARO in-pile capsule. UO 2 pelletes will be irradiated up to the burn-up higher than 70 MWD/kgU in HANARO. To irradiate the UO 2 pellets up to the burn-up 70 MWD/kgU, need the time about 60 months and ensure the integrity of non-instrumented capsule for 30 months until replace the new capsule. In addition, to satisfy the safety criteria of HANARO such as prevention of ONB(Onset of Nucleate Boiling), fuel melting and wear damage of the capsule during the long term irradiation, design of the non-instrumented capsule was optimized

Countermeasures to cope with issues for the FBR cycle system and transitional core during FBR introductory period

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujimura, Koji; Sasahira, Akira; Yamashita, Junichi; Fukasawa, Tetsuo; Hoshino, Kuniyoshi

2007-01-01

The introduction of fast breeder reactors (FBRs) requires Pu be recovered from light water reactors (LWRs) spent fuel. The 'Flexible Fuel Cycle Initiative (FFCI)' can supply enough Pu and holds no surplus Pu, while responding flexibly to future technical and social uncertainties. In this paper, the potential of FFCI to increase economy of the fuel cycle system was investigated. On the other hand, during the FBR introductory period, Pu from LWR spent fuel is used for startup of FBRs. But the FBR core being loaded with Pu from LWR spent fuel has a larger burnup reactivity than the core being loaded with Pu from the FBR multi-recycling core. The increased burnup reactivity may reduce the cycle length of the FBR core. In this paper, an FBR transitional core concept to handle the issues of the FBR introductory period was investigated. The results obtained through this study are as follows. (1) The FFCI has a potential to flatten the reprocessing amount of LWR spent fuel and to increase economy of the next fuel cycle system. (2) Minor actinides - mixed FBR transitional core has a potential to maintain the operation cycle length even supposing use of Pu from LWR spent fuel. (author)

Cellular automata approach to investigation of high burn-up structures in nuclear reactor fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akishina, E.P.; Ivanov, V.V.; Kostenko, B.F.

2005-01-01

Micrographs of uranium dioxide (UO 2 ) corresponding to exposure times in reactor during 323, 953, 971, 1266 and 1642 full power days were investigated. The micrographs were converted into digital files isomorphous to cellular automata (CA) checkerboards. Such a representation of the fuel structure provides efficient tools for its dynamics simulation in terms of primary 'entities' imprinted in the micrographs. Besides, it also ensures a possibility of very effective micrograph processing by CA means. Interconnection between the description of fuel burn-up development and some exactly soluble models is ascertained. Evidences for existence of self-organization in the fuel at high burn-ups were established. The fractal dimension of microstructures is found to be an important characteristic describing the degree of radiation destructions

Development of high-strength aluminum alloys for basket in transport and storage cask for high burn-up spent fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maeguchi, T.; Sakaguchi, Y.; Kamiwaki, Y.; Ishii, M.; Yamamoto, T.

2004-01-01

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has developed high-strength borated aluminum alloys (high-strength B-Al alloys), suitable for application to baskets in transport and storage casks for high burn-up spent fuels. Aluminum is a suitable base material for the baskets due to its low density and high thermal conductivity. The aluminum basket would reduce weight of the cask, and effectively release heat generated by spent fuels. MHI had already developed borated aluminum alloys (high-toughness B-Al alloy), and registered them as ASME Code Case ''N-673''. However, there has been a strong demand for basket materials with higher strength in the case of MSF (Mitsubishi Spent Fuel) casks for high-burn up spent fuels, since the basket is required to stand up to higher stress at higher temperature. The high-strength basket material enables the design of a compact cask under a limitation of total size and weight. MHI has developed novel high-strength B-Al alloys which meet these requirements, based on a new manufacturing process. The outline of mechanical and metallurgical characteristics of the high-strength B-Al alloys is described in this paper

Observations on the CANDLE burn-up in various geometries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seifritz, W.

2007-01-01

We have looked at all geometrical conditions under which an auto catalytically propagating burnup wave (CANDLE burn-up) is possible. Thereby, the Sine Gordon equation finds a new place in the burn-up theory of nuclear fission reactors. For a practical reactor design the axially burning 'spaghetti' reactor and the azimuthally burning 'pancake' reactor, respectively, seem to be the most promising geometries for a practical reactor design. Radial and spherical burn-waves in cylindrical and spherical geometry, respectively, are principally impossible. Also, the possible applicability of such fission burn-waves on the OKLO-phenomenon and the GEOREACTOR in the center of Earth, postulated by Herndon, is discussed. A fast CANDLE-reactor can work with only depleted uranium. Therefore, uranium mining and uranium-enrichment are not necessary anymore. Furthermore, it is also possible to dispense with reprocessing because the uranium utilization factor is as high as about 40%. Thus, this completely new reactor type can open a new era of reactor technology

Isotopic analyses and calculation by use of JENDL-3.2 for high burn-up UO2 and MOX spent fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasahara, Akihiro; Matsumura, Tetsuo; Nicolaou, G.; Betti, M.; Walker, C.T.

1997-01-01

The post irradiation examinations (PIE) were carried out for high burn-up UO 2 spent fuel (3.8%U235, average burn-up:60GWd/t) and mixed oxide (MOX) spent fuel (5.07%Pu, average burn-up:45GWd/t). The PIE includes, a) isotopic analysis, b) electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) in pellet cross section and so on. The results of isotopic analyses and EPMA were compared with ORIGEN2/82 and VIM-BURN calculation results. In VIM-BURN calculation, the nuclear data of actinides were proceeded from new data file, JENDL-3.2. The sensitivities of power history and moderator density to nuclides composition were investigated by VIM-BURN calculation and consequently power history mainly effected on Am241 and Am242m and moderator density effected on fissile nuclides. From EPMA results of U and Pu distribution in pellet, VIM-BURN calculation showed reasonable distribution in pellet cross section. (author)

Validation of a continuous-energy Monte Carlo burn-up code MVP-BURN and its application to analysis of post irradiation experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okumura, Keisuke; Mori, Takamasa; Nakagawa, Masayuki; Kaneko, Kunio

2000-01-01

In order to confirm the reliability of a continuous-energy Monte Carlo burn-up calculation code MVP-BURN, it was applied to the burn-up benchmark problems for a high conversion LWR lattice and a BWR lattice with burnable poison rods. The results of MVP-BURN have shown good agreements with those of a deterministic code SRAC95 for burn-up changes of infinite neutron multiplication factor, conversion ratio, power distribution, and number densities of major fuel nuclides. Serious propagation of statistical errors along burn-up was not observed even in a highly heterogeneous lattice. MVP-BURN was applied to the analysis of a post irradiation experiment for a sample fuel irradiated up to 34.1 GWd/t, together with SRAC95 and SWAT. It was confirmed that the effect of statistical errors of MVP-BURN on a burned fuel composition was sufficiently small, and it could give a reference solution for other codes. In the analysis, the results of the three codes with JENDL-3.2 agreed with measured values within an error of 10% for most nuclides. However, large underestimation by about 20% was observed for 238 Pu, 242m Am and 244 Cm. It is probable that these discrepancies are a common problem for most current nuclear data files. (author)

A burn-up module coupling to an AMPX system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salvatore Duque, M.; Gomez, S.E.; Patino, N.E.; Abbate, M.J.; Sbaffoni, M.M.

1990-01-01

The Reactors and Neutrons Division of the Bariloche Atomic Center uses the AMPX system for the study of high conversion reactors (HCR). Such system allows to make neutronic calculations from the nuclear data library (ENDF/B-IV). The Nuclear Engineering career of the Balseiro Institute developed and implemented a burn-up module at a μ-cell level (BUM: Burn-up Module) which agrees with the requirement to be coupled to the AMPX system. (Author) [es

Nuclear fuel burn-up economy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matausek, M.

1984-01-01

In the period 1981-1985, for the needs of Utility Organization, Beograd, and with the support of the Scientific Council of SR Srbija, work has been performed on the study entitled 'Nuclear Fuel Burn-up Economy'. The forst [phase, completed during the year 1983 comprised: comparative analysis of commercial NPP from the standpoint of nuclear fuel requirements; development of methods for fuel burn-up analysis; specification of elements concerning the nuclear fuel for the tender documentation. The present paper gives the short description of the purpose, content and results achieved in the up-to-now work on the study. (author)

Study on the FBR cycle introduction scenario. 4. Evaluation of the FBR cycle introduction scenario from the viewpoints of the fuel cycle requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ono, Kiyoshi; Shiotani, Hiroki; Hirao, Kazunori

2003-07-01

This report is intended to explain the outline of the scenario studies on FBR (Fast Breeder Reactor) cycle introduction. Recently, people value the reduction of environmental impact in addition to the recycle of energy resources and the energy security in these scenario studies. This report summarizes the analysis about the necessity of plutonium recycling in LWR (Light water Reactor) from short-term view and about the necessity of FBR cycle introduction from a long-term view in Japan, by comparing 'FBR scenario' with 'LWR once-through scenario' and 'Pu recycle in LWR scenario', from the viewpoints of cumulative uranium demand, spent fuel storage, radioactive waste arising, etc. It becomes clear that the plutonium recycling in LWR has a good effect on the reduction of spent fuel storage and the cumulative natural uranium demand before FBR cycle introduction, from short-term view (20-30 years). On the other hand, this analysis also shows that there is much effect of FBR deployment not only on saving amount of uranium use and energy security but also on reduction of high-level radioactive waste (spent fuels and vitrified waste) and minor actinide arising, from long-term view (100-200 years). (author)

TRIGA criticality experiment for testing burn-up calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Persic, Andreja; Ravnik, Matjaz; Zagar, Tomaz

1999-01-01

A criticality experiment with partly burned TRIGA fuel is described. 20 wt % enriched standard TRIGA fuel elements initially containing 12 wt % U are used. Their average burn-up is 1.4 MWd. Fuel element burn-up is calculated in 2-D four group diffusion approximation using TRIGLAV code. The burn-up of several fuel elements is also measured by reactivity method. The excess reactivity of several critical and subcritical core configurations is measured. Two core configurations contain the same fuel elements in the same arrangement as were used in the fresh TRIGA fuel criticality experiment performed in 1991. The results of the experiment may be applied for testing the computer codes used for fuel burn-up calculations. (author)

FBR Plant Engineering Center annual report 2012

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2013-12-01

This annual report shows the last year's R and D activities of currently-reorganized FBR Plant Engineering Center, which was established on April 1, 2009. FBR Safety Technology Center was founded on April 1, 2013 by the consolidation of both the activities of 'former FBR Plant Engineering Center' and a portion of 'FBR Safety Evaluation Unit, Advanced Nuclear System Research and Development Directorate', especially concentrating on safety evaluations and analyses for severe accidents. As for FBR safety technology, it is necessary to continuously make an effort for compliance with new safety regulations in preparation for 'Monju' to restart, for safety enhancement evaluation and for safety technology upgrading. In this context, the new organization was founded in order to reinforce the safety evaluation capability, which will surely and steadily promote FBR safety-technology related activities. As a result, FBR Plant Engineering Center was abolished. This report summarizes the R and D activities at the former FBR Plant Engineering Center, aiming at contributing to the commercialization by using operation experiences and technology development results derived from the actual reactor 'Monju'. The activities are divided into five areas of operation-and-maintenance engineering, sodium engineering, reactor-core-and-fuel engineering, plant engineering, and safety engineering. This annual report is intended for a report of the activities of individual researcher in the center rather than that of the progress of the center as a whole. This will clarify the individual themes, progresses and problems of each researcher, which will, hopefully, facilitate communication with the outside researchers. (author)

Modelling of pore coarsening in the high burn-up structure of UO{sub 2} fuel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Veshchunov, M.S.; Tarasov, V.I., E-mail: tarasov@ibrae.ac.ru

2017-05-15

The model for coalescence of randomly distributed immobile pores owing to their growth and impingement, applied by the authors earlier to consideration of the porosity evolution in the high burn-up structure (HBS) at the UO{sub 2} fuel pellet periphery (rim zone), was further developed and validated. Predictions of the original model, taking into consideration only binary impingements of growing immobile pores, qualitatively correctly describe the decrease of the pore number density with the increase of the fractional porosity, however notably underestimate the coalescence rate at high burn-ups attained in the outmost region of the rim zone. In order to overcome this discrepancy, the next approximation of the model taking into consideration triple impingements of growing pores was developed. The advanced model provides a reasonable consent with experimental data, thus demonstrating the validity of the proposed pore coarsening mechanism in the HBS.

Development of hydrogen production technology using FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ono, Kiyoshi; Otaki, Akira; Chikazawa, Yoshitaka; Nakagiri, Toshio; Sato, Hiroyuki; Sekine, Takashi; Ooka, Makoto

2004-06-01

This report describes the features of technology, the schedule and the organization for the research and development regarding the hydrogen production technology using FBR thermal energy. Now, the hydrogen production system is proposed as one of new business models for FBR deployment. This system is the production of hydrogen either thermal energy at approximately from 500degC to 550degC or electricity produced by a sodium cooled FBR. Hydrogen is expected to be one of the future clean secondary energies without carbon-dioxide emission. Meanwhile the global energy demand will increase, especially in Asian countries, and the energy supply by fossil fuels is not the best choice considering the green house effect and the stability of energy supply. The development of the hydrogen technology using FBR that satisfies 'sustainable energy development' and 'utilization of energies free from environmental pollution' will be one of the promising options. Based on the above mentioned recognition, we propose the direction of the development, the issues to be solved, the time schedule, the budget, and the organization for R and D of three hydrogen production technologies, the thermochemical hybrid process, the low temperature steam reforming process, and the high temperature steam electrolysis process in JNC. (author)

Isotopic analyses and calculation by use of JENDL-3.2 for high burn-up UO{sub 2} and MOX spent fuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sasahara, Akihiro; Matsumura, Tetsuo [Central Research Inst. of Electric Power Industry, Komae, Tokyo (Japan). Komae Research Lab.; Nicolaou, G.; Betti, M.; Walker, C.T.

1997-03-01

The post irradiation examinations (PIE) were carried out for high burn-up UO{sub 2} spent fuel (3.8%U235, average burn-up:60GWd/t) and mixed oxide (MOX) spent fuel (5.07%Pu, average burn-up:45GWd/t). The PIE includes, (a) isotopic analysis, (b) electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) in pellet cross section and so on. The results of isotopic analyses and EPMA were compared with ORIGEN2/82 and VIM-BURN calculation results. In VIM-BURN calculation, the nuclear data of actinides were proceeded from new data file, JENDL-3.2. The sensitivities of power history and moderator density to nuclides composition were investigated by VIM-BURN calculation and consequently power history mainly effected on Am241 and Am242m and moderator density effected on fissile nuclides. From EPMA results of U and Pu distribution in pellet, VIM-BURN calculation showed reasonable distribution in pellet cross section. (author)

TRU composition changes and their influence on FBR core characteristics in the LWR-to-FBR transition period

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maruyama, Shuhei; Ohki, Shigeo; Mizuno, Tomoyasu

2009-01-01

In the conceptual core and fuel design studies in Fast Reactor Cycle Technology Development Project (FaCT Project) in Japan, much interest has been taken in the fuel nuclide compositions for a transition period from light water reactor to fast breeder reactor (FBR). In this paper, the range of transuranic (TRU) nuclide composition to be provided to FBR is evaluated with extended recycling scenario calculations. The influence of TRU composition changes on FBR core characteristics are also discussed with explanations of major contributing factors. (author)

FBR fuel cycle can be competitive

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allardajs, R.; Kholl, R.; Pilling, R.

1988-01-01

The investigation results of comparative determination of averaged values for FBR and PWR reactor energy cost fuel components in England are described. Time periods till 2000 and 2020 yrs are considered. Dependence of the results obtained on changes of different initial factors is analysed. The FBR reactor fuel cost component is shown to be identically sensitive to the change is spent fuel cost. There is another condition for PWR reactors, where two factors are important: cost of source uranium ore concentrate and currency rate of exchange. The investigation carried out has shown that competitable fuel cost component of FBR reactors is reached even in first fast reactors, i.e. from the start of their large-scale construction. Thus, successive decrease of the capital component of energy cost is the key of success ful economical application of FBR reactors

Fundamental burn-up mode in a pebble-bed type reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Xue-Nong; Kiefhaber, Edgar; Maschek, Werner

2008-01-01

This paper deals with a pebble-bed type reactor, in which the fuel is loaded from one side (top) and discharged from the other side (bottom). A boundary value problem of a single group diffusion equation coupled with simplified burn-up equations is studied, where the natural radioactive decay processes are neglected in the burn-up modelling. An asymptotic burning wave solution is found analytically in the one-dimensional case, which is called as fundamental burn-up mode. Among this solution family there are two particular cases, namely, a classic fundamental solution with a zero burn-up and a partial solitary burn-up wave solution with a highest burn-up. An example of Th-U conversion is considered and the solutions are presented in order to show the mechanism of the burning wave. (author)

Experimental modeling of high burn-up structure in SIMFUEL with ion irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baranov, V.; Isaenkova, M.; Lunev, A.; Tenishev, A.; Khlunov, A.

2013-01-01

Experiments are conducted to simulate high burn-up structure in accelerator conditions. Three ion irradiation schemes are used: 1. Xe 27+ 160 MeV up to 5x10 15 cm -2 (thermal spikes). 2. Xe 16+ 320 keV up to 1x10 17 cm -2 (collision cascades). 3. He + 20 keV up to 5,5x10 17 cm -2 (implantation stage). Structural characterization performed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray analysis and atomic force microscopy revealed prominent grain refinement in case of Xe 27+ irradiation. Artificial energy variation for incident ions showed varying size of subgrains. At maximum energy of incident ions, subgrain size amounts ∼ 320 nm. Moving to the edge of irradiated region changes the size to ∼ 170 nm. Typical size of coherent scattering regions matches subgrain size for high-energy irradiation. Low-energy irradiation results in less significant structural changes: flaky structure at random sites for samples irradiated with low-energy xenon ions and bubble nucleation for helium irradiation. Dislocation density increases significantly, and it is shown that a single fluence dependence exists for low- and high-energy irradiation. (authors)

Study on the thermal-hydraulic stability of high burn up STEP III fuel in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishikawa, M.; Kitamura, H.; Toba, A.; Omoto, A.

2004-01-01

Japanese BWR utilities have performed a joint study of the Thermal Hydraulic Stability of High Burn up STEP III Fuel. In this study, the parametric dependency of thermal hydraulic stability threshold was obtained. It was confirmed through experiments that the STEP III Fuel has sufficient stability characteristics. (author)

Study on design method for seismically isolated FBR plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirata, Kazuta; Yabana, Shuichi; Ohtori, Yasuki; Ishida, Katsuhiko; Sawada, Yoshihiro; Shiojiri; Hiroo; Mazda, Taiji

1998-01-01

CRIEPI conducted 'Demonstration test on FBR seismic isolation system' from 1987 to 1996 under contract with Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Japan. In the demonstration test, base isolation technologies are prepared and demonstrated to apply to FBR and the design guidelines are proposed. In this report overall contents of the design guidelines entitled Design guidelines for seismically base isolated FBR plants' are included. The design guidelines, as a rule, are limited to apply to FBR plants where entire reactor building is isolated in the horizontal direction using laminated rubber bearings as isolators. The design guidelines and its concepts, however, will be useful for the development of similar guidelines for other isolation systems using different type of isolation methods and other nuclear facilities. The design guidelines consist of three parts and appendices. The first part is 'Policy for Safety Design of Base Isolated FBR Plants' specifying the principles and the requirements in the planning and the design for the safety of base isolated FBR plants. The second part is Policy for Seismic Design of Base Isolated FBR' describing the principles and the requirements in the seismic design and the evaluation of safety for base isolated FBR plants. The third part is 'Design Methods for Seismic Isolated FBR Plants' detailing the methods, procedures and parameters to be used in the design and the evaluation of safety fro base isolated FBR plants. In appendices examples of design procedures for base isolated reactor building and laminated rubber bearings as well as various test data on laminated rubber bearings, etc. are shown. (author)

Operational reliability testing of FBR fuel in EBR-II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asaga, Takeo; Ukai, Shigeharu; Nomura, Shigeo; Shikakura, Sakae

1991-01-01

The operational reliability testing of FBR fuel has been conducting in EBR-II as a DOE/PNC collaboration program. This paper reviews the achieved summary of Phase-I test as well as outline of progressing Phase-II test. In Phase-I test, the reliability of FBR fuel pins including 'MONJU' fuel was demonstrated at the event of operational transient. Continued operation of the failed pins was also shown to be feasible without affecting the plant operation. The objectives of the Phase-II test is to extend the data base relating with the operational reliability for long life fuel, and to supply the highly quantitative evaluation. The valuable insight obtained in Phase-II test are considerably expected to be useful toward the achievement of commercial FBR. (author)

Burn-up measurements coupling gamma spectrometry and neutron measurement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Toubon, H.; Pin, P. [AREVA/CANBERRA, 1 rue des Herons, 78182 St Quentin-en-Yvelines Cedex (France); Lebrun, A. [IAEA, Wagramer Strasse 5, PO Box 100, Vienna (Austria); Oriol, L.; Saurel, N. [CEA Cadarache, 13108 Saint Paul Lez Durance Cedex (France); Gain, T. [AREVA/COGEMA Reprocessing Business Unit, La Hague, 50444 Beaumont Hague Cedex (France)

2006-07-01

The need to apply for burn-up credit arises with the increase of the initial enrichment of nuclear fuel. When burn-up credit is used in criticality safety studies, it is often necessary to confirm it by measurement. For the last 10 years, CANBERRA has manufactured the PYTHON system for such measurements. However, the method used in the PYTHON itself uses certain reactor data to arrive at burn-up estimates. Based on R and D led by CEA and COGEMA in the framework of burn-up measurement for burn-up credit and safeguards applications, CANBERRA is developing the next generation of burn-up measurement device. This new product, named SMOPY, is able to measure burn-up of any kind of irradiated fuel assembly with a combination of gamma spectrometry and passive neutron measurements. The measurement data is used as input to the CESAR depletion code, which has been developed and qualified by CEA and COGEMA for burn-up credit determinations. In this paper, we explain the complementary nature of the gamma and neutron measurements. In addition, we draw on our previous experience from PYTHON system and from COGEMA La Hague to show what types of evaluations are required to qualify the SMOPY system, to estimate its uncertainties, and to detect discrepancies in the fuel data given by the reactor plant to characterize the irradiated fuel assembly. (authors)

Burn-up measurements coupling gamma spectrometry and neutron measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toubon, H.; Pin, P.; Lebrun, A.; Oriol, L.; Saurel, N.; Gain, T.

2006-01-01

The need to apply for burn-up credit arises with the increase of the initial enrichment of nuclear fuel. When burn-up credit is used in criticality safety studies, it is often necessary to confirm it by measurement. For the last 10 years, CANBERRA has manufactured the PYTHON system for such measurements. However, the method used in the PYTHON itself uses certain reactor data to arrive at burn-up estimates. Based on R and D led by CEA and COGEMA in the framework of burn-up measurement for burn-up credit and safeguards applications, CANBERRA is developing the next generation of burn-up measurement device. This new product, named SMOPY, is able to measure burn-up of any kind of irradiated fuel assembly with a combination of gamma spectrometry and passive neutron measurements. The measurement data is used as input to the CESAR depletion code, which has been developed and qualified by CEA and COGEMA for burn-up credit determinations. In this paper, we explain the complementary nature of the gamma and neutron measurements. In addition, we draw on our previous experience from PYTHON system and from COGEMA La Hague to show what types of evaluations are required to qualify the SMOPY system, to estimate its uncertainties, and to detect discrepancies in the fuel data given by the reactor plant to characterize the irradiated fuel assembly. (authors)

Effect of burn-up on the thermal conductivity of uranium dioxide up to 100.000 MWd t-1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ronchi, C.; Sheindlin, M.; Staicu, D.; Kinoshita, M.

2004-01-01

The thermal diffusivity and specific heat of reactor-irradiated UO 2 fuel have been measured. Starting from end-of-life conditions at various burn-ups, measurements under thermal annealing cycles were performed in order to investigate the recovery of the thermal conductivity as a function of temperature. The separate effects of soluble fission products, of fission gas frozen in dynamical solution and of radiation damage were determined. In this context, particular emphasis was given to the behaviour of samples displaying the high burn-up rim structure. Recovery stages could be thoroughly investigated in samples that were irradiated at low burn-ups and/or at high irradiation temperatures. Other samples, in particular those exhibiting the characteristic rim structure, disintegrated at temperatures slightly higher than the irradiation temperature. Finally, from a database of several thousand measurements, an accurate formula for the in-pile thermal conductivity of UO 2 up to 100 GWd t -1 was developed, taking into account all the relevant effects and structural changes induced by reactor burn-up

Fission gas release at high burn-up: beyond the standard diffusion model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Landskron, H.; Sontheimer, F.; Billaux, M.R.

2002-01-01

At high burn-up standard diffusion models describing the release of fission gases from nuclear fuel must be extended to describe the experimental loss of xenon observed in the fuel matrix of the rim zone. Marked improvements of the prediction of integral fission gas release of fuel rods as well as of radial fission gas profiles in fuel pellets are achieved by using a saturation concept to describe fission gas behaviour not only in the pellet rim but also as an additional fission gas path in the whole pellet. (author)

LWR Spent Fuel Management for the Smooth Deployment of FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukasawa, T.; Yamashita, J.; Hoshino, K.; Sasahira, A.; Inoue, T.; Minato, K.; Sato, S.

2015-01-01

Fast breeder reactors (FBR) and FBR fuel cycle are indispensable to prevent the global warming and to secure the long-term energy supply. Commercial FBR expects to be deployed from around 2050 until around 2110 in Japan by the replacement of light water reactors (LWR) after their 60 years life. The FBR deployment needs Pu (MOX) from the LWR-spent fuel (SF) reprocessing. As Japan can posses little excess Pu, its balance control is necessary between LWR-SF management (reprocessing) and FBR deployment. The fuel cycle systems were investigated for the smooth FBR deployment and the effectiveness of proposed flexible system was clarified in this work. (author)

Burn-up measurement in the HTR-module-reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gerhards, E.

1993-05-01

The burn-up status of spherical HTR-fuel elements is determined by a γ-spectrometric analysis of Cs-137 activity. The γ-spectrum recorded by a semiconductor detector up to now is analyzed by complex mathematical and time-consuming methods. For the operation of the HTR-Module-Reactor, however, a fast evaluation of the burn-up status is necessary. It is shown that this can be ensured by a comparison between the measured spectra and simulation results. Using the computer-program HTROGEN and the program system SPECCALC especially developed for this problem the γ-spectra are evaluated as a function of the burn-up status. The method is applied to results available from the operation of the AVR-reactor. The burn-up status determined with different methods corresponds very well within the limits of accuracy. (orig.)

Study on hydrogen production using the fast breeder reactors (FBR)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kani, Yoshio

2003-01-01

As the fast breeder reactor (FBR) can effectively convert uranium-238 difficult to carry out nuclear fission at thermal neutron reactors to nuclear fissionable plutonium-239 to use it remarkable upgrading of application on uranium can be performed, to be expected for sustainable energy source. And, by reuse minor actinides of long half-life nuclides in reprocessed high level wasted solutions for fuels of nuclear reactors, reduction of radioactive poison based on high level radioactive wastes was enabled. As high temperature of about 800 centigrade was required on conventional hydrogen production, by new hydrogen production technique even at operation temperature of sodium-cooled FBR it can be enabled. Here were described for new hydrogen production methods applicable to FBR on palladium membrane hydrogen separation method carrying out natural gas/steam modification at reaction temperature of about 500 centigrade, low temperature thermo-chemical method expectable simultaneous simplification of production process, and electrolysis method expected on power load balancing. (G.K.)

Application of reactivity method to MTR fuel burn-up measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zuniga, A.; Ravnik, M.; Cuya, R.

2001-01-01

Fuel element burn-up has been measured for the first time by reactivity method in a MTR reactor. The measurement was performed in RP-10 reactor of Peruvian Institute for Nuclear Energy (IPEN) in Lima. It is a pool type 10MW material testing reactor using standard 20% enriched uranium plate type fuel elements. A fresh element and an element with well defined burn-up were selected as reference elements. Several elements in the core were selected for burn-up measurement. Each of them was replaced in its original position by both reference elements. Change in excess reactivity was measured using control rod calibration curve. The burn-up reactivity worth of fuel elements was plotted as a function of their calculated burnup. Corrected burn-up values of the measured fuel elements were calculated using the fitting function at experimental reactivity for all elements. Good agreement between measured and calculated burn-up values was observed indicating that the reactivity method can be successfully applied also to MTR fuel element burn-up determination.(author)

Summary: analysis of alternative FBR development strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burnham, J.B.

1981-12-01

This report summarizes the comparative evaluation of alternative strategies for the development of the commercial fast breeder reactor (FBR) in the United States. For planning purposes, a range of possible FBR development paths called strategies were selected for evaluation. These strategies, designed to be technically and economically feasible, were expressed in terms of the timing and nature of facilities/research and development programs required to reach full power operation of the first commercial FBR. Four of the seven strategies resulted in a large (1457 MWe) FBR as an end point, the other three in a 1000-MWe plant. Probability distributions were calculated for total strategy costs and time to completion. For the seven strategies analyzed, the costs (discounted 1980 dollars) ranged from $1.8 billion to $4.9 billion; the completion times ranged from 24 to 55 years

FBR and RBR particle bed space reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Powell, J.R.; Botts, T.E.

1983-01-01

Compact, high-performance nuclear reactor designs based on High-Temperature Gas Reactors (HTGRs) particulate fuel are investigated. The large surface area available with the small-diameter (approx. 500 microns) particulate fuel allows very high power densities (MW's/liter), small temperature differences between fuel and coolant (approx. 10 0 K), high coolant-outlet temperatures (1500 to 3000 0 K, depending on design), and fast reactor startup (approx. 2 to 3 seconds). Two reactor concepts are developed - the Fixed Bed Reactor (FBR), where the fuel particles are packed into a thin annular bed between two porous cylindrical drums, and the Rotating Bed Reactor (RBR), where the fuel particles are held inside a cold rotating (typically approx. 500 rpm) porous cylindrical drum. The FBR can operate steady-state in the closed-cycle He-cooled mode or in the open-cycle H 2 -cooled mode. The RBR will operate only in the open-cycle H 2 -cooled mode

LWR high burn-up operation and MOX introduction. Fuel cycle performance from the viewpoint of waste management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inagaki, Yaohiro; Iwasaki, Tomohiko; Niibori, Yuichi; Sato, Seichi; Ohe, Toshiaki; Kato, Kazuyuki; Torikai, Seishi; Nagasaki, Shinya; Kitayama, Kazumi

2009-01-01

From the viewpoint of waste management, a quantitative evaluation of LWR nuclear fuel cycle system performance was carried out, considering both higher burn-up operation of UO 2 fuel coupled with the introduction of MOX fuel. A major parameter to quantify this performance is the number of high-level waste (HLW) glass units generated per GWd (gigawatt-day based on reactor thermal power generation before electrical conversion). This parameter was evaluated for each system up to a maximum burn-up of 70GWd/THM (gigawatt-day per ton of heavy metal) assuming current conventional reprocessing and vitrification conditions where the waste loading of glass is restricted by the heat generation rate, the MoO 3 content, or the noble metal content. The results showed that higher burn-up operation has no significant influence on the number of glass units generated per GWd for UO 2 fuel, though the number of glass units per THM increases linearly with burn-up and is restricted by the heat generation rate. On the other hand, the introduction of MOX fuel causes the number of glass units per GWd to double owing to the increase in the heat generation rate. An extended cooling period of the spent fuel prior to reprocessing effectively reduces the heat generation rate for UO 2 fuel, while a separation of minor actinides (Np, Am, and Cm) from the high-level waste provides additional reduction for MOX fuel. However, neither of these leads to a substantial reduction in the number of glass units, since the MoO 3 content or the noble metal content restricts the number of glass units rather than the heat generation rate. These results suggest that both the MoO 3 content and the noble metal content provide the key to reducing the amount of waste glass that is generated, leading to an overall improvement in fuel cycle system performance. (author)

Development of advanced methodology for defect assessment in FBR power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meshii, Toshiyuki; Asayama, Tai

2001-03-01

As a preparation for developing a code for FBR post construction code, (a) JSME Code NA1-2000 was reviewed on the standpoint of applying it to FBR power plants and the necessary methodologies for defect assessment for FBR plants were pointed out (b) large capacity-high speed fatigue crack propagation (FCP) testing system was developed and some data were acquired to evaluate the FCP characteristics under thermal stresses. Results showed that the extended research on the following items are necessary for developing FBR post construction code. (1) Development of assessment for multiple defects due to creep damage. Multiple defects due to creep damage are not considered in the existing code, which is established for nuclear power plants in service under negligible-creep temperature. Therefore method to assess the integrity of these multiple defects due to creep damage is necessary. (2) FCP resistance for small load. Since components of FBR power plants are designed to minimize thermal stresses, the accuracy of FCP resistance for small load is important to estimate the crack propagation under thermal stresses accurately. However, there is not a sufficient necessary FCP data for small loads, maybe because the data is time consuming. Therefore we developed a large capacity-high speed FCP testing system, made a guideline for accelerated test and acquired some data to meet the needs. Continuous efforts to accumulate small load FCP data for various materials are necessary. (author)

Development of flaw assesment methodology for elevated temperature components of FBR plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimakawa, Takashi; Takahashi, Yukio; Miura, Naoki; Nakayama, Yasunari; Sawai, Tatsuaki; Tooya, Yuuji

1999-01-01

Fracture mechanics is applicable for the safety assessment of FBR component if a crack is assumed to exist. Inelastic response should be taken into account due to high temperature operation of FBR components. However, methodology for the application of inelastic fracture mechanics has not been established sufficiently. CRIEPI has been conducted research projects to develop a flaw assessment guideline for FBR components. This guideline consists of evaluation methods for creep-fatigue crack propagation, ductile fracture and sodium leak rate. The summary of evaluation methods on creep-fatigue crack and ductile fracture is presented in this paper. (author)

Two dimensional burn-up calculation of TRIGA core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Persic, A.; Ravnik, M.; Slavic, S.

1996-01-01

TRIGLAV is a new computer program for burn-up calculation of mixed core of research reactors. The code is based on diffusion model in two dimensions and iterative procedure is applied for its solution. The material data used in the model are calculated with the transport program WIMS. In regard to fission density distribution and energy produced by the reactor the burn-up increment of fuel elements is determined. In this paper the calculation model of diffusion constants and burn-up calculation are described and some results of calculations for TRIGA MARK II reactor are presented. (author)

MTR fuel element burn-up measurements by the reactivity method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zuniga, A.; Cuya, T.R.; Ravnik, M.

2003-01-01

Fuel element burn-up was measured by the reactivity method in the 10 MW Peruvian MTR reactor RP-10. The main purpose of the experiment was testing the reactivity method for an MTR reactor as the reactivity method was originally developed for TRIGA reactors. The reactivity worth of each measured fuel element was measured in its original core position in order to measure the burn-up of the fuel elements that were part of the experimental core. The burn-up of each measured fuel element was derived by interpolating its reactivity worth from the reactivity worth of two reference fuel elements of known burn-up, whose reactivity worth was measured in the position of the measured fuel element. The accuracy of the method was improved by separating the reactivity effect of burn-up from the effect of the position in the core. The results of the experiment showed that the modified reactivity method for fuel element burn-up determination could be applied also to MTR reactors. (orig.)

The role of grain boundary fission gases in high burn-up fuel under reactivity initiated accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lemoine, F.; Papin, J.; Frizonnet, J.M.; Cazalis, B.; Rigat, H.

2002-01-01

In the frame of reactivity-initiated accidents (RIA) studies, the CABRI REP-Na programme is currently performed, focused on high burn-up UO 2 and MOX fuel behaviour. From 1993 to 1998, seven tests were performed with UO 2 fuel and three with MOX fuel. In all these tests, particular attention has been devoted to the role of fission gases in transient fuel behaviour and in clad loading mechanisms. From the analysis of experimental results, some basic phenomena were identified and a better understanding of the transient fission gas behaviour was obtained in relation to the fuel and clad thermo-mechanical evolution in RIA, but also to the initial state of the fuel before the transient. A high burn-up effect linked to the increasing part of grain boundary gases is clearly evidenced in the final gas release, which would also significantly contribute to the clad loading mechanisms. (authors)

An investigation into fuel pulverization with specific reference to high burn-up LOCA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yagnik, Suresh; Turnbull, James; Noirot, Jean; Walker, Clive; Hallstadius, Lars; Waeckel, N.; Blanpain, P.

2014-01-01

To investigate the phenomenon of high burn-up fuel pellet material potentially disintegrating into powder under a rapid temperature transient, such as in a LOCA-type accident scenario, two independent scoping studies were commissioned. The first was to investigate the effect of hydrostatic restraint pressure on Fission Gas Release (FGR) from small samples of highly irradiated fuel (71 MWd/kgU) during a series of rapid temperature ramps. Experimentally, when the FGR increased rapidly during the temperature transients, the fuel was assumed to be 'pulverized', i.e., fragmented into powder. In the second series of experiments, laser heating of small samples was used to investigate the temperature at which fuel pulverization was initiated. Subsequent to fuel disintegration, there was always a spectrum of particle sizes present. The significance of this observation was recognized in the context of extended burn-up operation in commercial reactors. Based on the observation from these investigations, a fuel fragmentation threshold has been discussed and developed. We conclude that fuel disintegration could be of potential importance in limiting the performance and productive lifetime of nuclear fuel. However, since only fuel closely adjacent to ballooned or ruptured cladding would be released in a LOCA-type transient, expulsion of pulverized fuel from the ruptured fuel rod is not considered a safety issue; cooling of the defected assembly remains possible and there is no issue with respect to local criticality. (author)

Comparison of seismic isolation concepts for FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shiojiri, H.; Mazda, T.; Kasai, H.; Kanda, J.N.; Kubo, T.; Madokoro, M.; Shimomura, T.; Nojima, O.

1989-01-01

This paper seeks to verify the reliability and effectiveness of seismic isolation for FBR. Some results of the preliminary study of the program are described. Seismic isolation concepts and corresponding seismic isolation devices were selected. Three kinds of seismically-isolated FBR plant concepts were developed by applying promising seismic isolation concepts to the non-isolated FBR plant, and by developing plant component layout plans and building structural designs. Each plant was subjected to seismic response analysis and reduction in the amount of material of components and buildings were estimated for each seismic isolation concepts. Research and development items were evaluated

Creep fatigue design of FBR components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhoje, S.B.; Chellapandi, P.

1997-01-01

This paper deals with the characteristic features of Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) with reference to creep fatigue, current creep fatigue design approach in compliance with RCCMR (1987) design code, material data, effects of weldments and neutron irradiation, material constitutive models employed, structural analysis and further R and D required for achieving maturity in creep fatigue design of FBR components. For the analysis reported in this paper, material constitutive models developed based on ORNIb (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) and Chaboche viscoplastic theories are employed to demonstrate the potential of FBR components for higher plant temperatures and/or longer life. The results are presented for the studies carried out towards life prediction of Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) components. (author). 24 refs, 8 figs, 5 tabs

Research and development of FBR fuel reprocessing in PNC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoshino, T.

1976-05-01

The research program of the PNC for FBR fuel reprocessing in Japan is discussed. The general characteristics of FBR fuel reprocessing are pointed out and a comparison with LWR fuel is made. The R and D program is based on reprocessing using the aqueous Purex process. So far, some preliminary steps of the research program have been carried out, these include solvent extraction test, off-gas treatment test, voloxidation process study, solidification test of high-level liquid waste, and study of the dissolution behaviour of irradiated mixed oxide fuel. By the end of the 1980s, a pilot plant for FBR fuel reprocessing will be completed. For the design of the pilot plant, further research will be carried out in the following fields: head-end techniques; voloxidation process; dissolution and extraction techniques; waste treatment techniques. A time schedule for the different steps of the program is included

Instant release of fission products in leaching experiments with high burn-up nuclear fuels in the framework of the Euratom project FIRST- Nuclides

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lemmens, K., E-mail: klemmens@sckcen.be [Waste and Disposal Expert Group, Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK-CEN), Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol (Belgium); González-Robles, E.; Kienzler, B. [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Institute for Nuclear Waste Disposal (KIT-INE), PO Box 3640, D-76021 Karlsruhe (Germany); Curti, E. [Laboratory for Waste Management, Nuclear Energy and Safety Dept., Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Serrano-Purroy, D. [European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre - JRC, Directorate G - Nuclear Safety & Security, Department G.III, PO Box 2340, D-76125 Karlsruhe (Germany); Sureda, R.; Martínez-Torrents, A. [CTM Centre Tecnològic, Plaça de la Ciència 2, 08243 Manresa (Spain); Roth, O. [Studsvik, Nuclear AB, 611 82 Nyköping (Sweden); Slonszki, E. [Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Energiatudományi Kutatóközpont (MTA EK), PO Box 49, H-1525 Budapest (Hungary); Mennecart, T. [Waste and Disposal Expert Group, Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK-CEN), Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol (Belgium); Günther-Leopold, I. [Laboratory for Waste Management, Nuclear Energy and Safety Dept., Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Hózer, Z. [Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Energiatudományi Kutatóközpont (MTA EK), PO Box 49, H-1525 Budapest (Hungary)

2017-02-15

The instant release of fission products from high burn-up UO{sub 2} fuels and one MOX fuel was investigated by means of leach tests. The samples covered PWR and BWR fuels at average rod burn-up in the range of 45–63 GWd/t{sub HM} and included clad fuel segments, fuel segments with opened cladding, fuel fragments and fuel powder. The tests were performed with sodium chloride – bicarbonate solutions under oxidizing conditions and, for one test, in reducing Ar/H{sub 2} atmosphere. The iodine and cesium release could be partially explained by the differences in sample preparation, leading to different sizes and properties of the exposed surface areas. Iodine and cesium releases tend to correlate with FGR and linear power rating, but the scatter of the data is significant. Although the gap between the fuel and the cladding was closed in some high burn-up samples, fissures still provide possible preferential transport pathways. - Highlights: • Leach tests were performed to study the instant release of fission products from high burn-up UO{sub 2} fuels and one MOX fuel. • In these tests, the fission gas release given by the operator was a pessimistic estimator of the iodine and cesium release. • Iodine and cesium release is proportional to linear power rating beyond 200 W cm{sup −1}. • Closure of the fuel-cladding gap at high burn-up slows down the release. • The release rate decreases following an exponential equation.

Method of start-up of rotary plug sealing devices in FBR type reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakuragi, Masanori; Akita, Haruo

1980-01-01

Purpose: To rapidly and safely start-up the rotary plug sealing device by controlling to eliminate the pressure difference in the pressures of gases exerting on the liquid surfaces in the inner and the outer cylinders of a sealing alloy vessel in the rotary plug of a FBR type reactor. Method: In a case where an abnormal state results in the pressure difference of gases exerted on the liquid surfaces in the inner and the outer cylinders of a vessel charged with sealing alloy in a rotary plug and the sealing valve for the back-up gas supply tube is rapidly closed to seal the sealing portion, the pressure in the gas supply tube is controlled so that the pressure difference in the gases exerted on the liquid surfaces in the inner and outer cylinders while closing the sealing valve. Then, after conforming that the pressure is controlled to a predetermined level at which the pressure difference can be regarded to be zero, the sealing valve is gradually opened while regulating the pressure in the gas supply tube so as to maintain the pressure difference to a predetermined level. This prevents the occurrence of external disturbances upon opening of the sealing valve and enables rapid and safety start-up for the rotary plug sealing device. (Moriyama, K.)

Actinide-only and full burn-up credit in criticality assessment of RBMK-1500 spent nuclear fuel storage cask using axial burn-up profile

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barkauskas, V., E-mail: vytenis.barkauskas@ftmc.lt; Plukiene, R., E-mail: rita.plukiene@ftmc.lt; Plukis, A., E-mail: arturas.plukis@ftmc.lt

2016-10-15

Highlights: • RBMK-1500 fuel burn-up impact on k{sub eff} in the SNF cask was calculated using SCALE 6.1. • Positive end effect was noticed at certain burn-up for the RBMK-1500 spent nuclear fuel. • The non-uniform uranium depletion is responsible for the end effect in RBMK-1500 SNF. • k{sub eff} in the SNF cask does not exceed a value of 0.95 which is set in the safety requirements. - Abstract: Safe long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) is one of the main issues in the field of nuclear safety. Burn-up credit application in criticality analysis of SNF reduces conservatism of usually used fresh fuel assumption and implies a positive economic impact for the SNF storage. Criticality calculations of spent nuclear fuel in the CONSTOR® RBMK-1500/M2 cask were performed using pre-generated ORIGEN-ARP spent nuclear fuel composition libraries, and the results of the RBMK-1500 burn-up credit impact on the effective neutron multiplication factor (k{sub eff}) have been obtained and are presented in the paper. SCALE 6.1 code package with the STARBUCKS burn-up credit evaluation tool was used for modeling. Pre-generated ARP (Automatic Rapid Processing) crosssection libraries based on ENDF/B-VII cross section library were used for fast burn-up inventory modeling. Different conditions in the SNF cask were modeled: 2.0% and 2.8% initial enrichment fuel of various burn-up and water density inside cavities of the SNF cask. The fuel composition for the criticality analysis was chosen taking into account main actinides and most important fission products used in burn-up calculations. A significant positive end effect is noticed from 15 GWd/tU burn-up for 2.8% enrichment fuel and from 9 GWd/tU for 2.0% enrichment fuel applying the actinide-only approach. The obtained results may be applied in further evaluations of the RBMK type reactor SNF storage as well as help to optimize the SNF storage volume inside the CONSTOR® RBMK-1500/M2 cask without compromising criticality

Actinide-only and full burn-up credit in criticality assessment of RBMK-1500 spent nuclear fuel storage cask using axial burn-up profile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barkauskas, V.; Plukiene, R.; Plukis, A.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • RBMK-1500 fuel burn-up impact on k_e_f_f in the SNF cask was calculated using SCALE 6.1. • Positive end effect was noticed at certain burn-up for the RBMK-1500 spent nuclear fuel. • The non-uniform uranium depletion is responsible for the end effect in RBMK-1500 SNF. • k_e_f_f in the SNF cask does not exceed a value of 0.95 which is set in the safety requirements. - Abstract: Safe long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) is one of the main issues in the field of nuclear safety. Burn-up credit application in criticality analysis of SNF reduces conservatism of usually used fresh fuel assumption and implies a positive economic impact for the SNF storage. Criticality calculations of spent nuclear fuel in the CONSTOR® RBMK-1500/M2 cask were performed using pre-generated ORIGEN-ARP spent nuclear fuel composition libraries, and the results of the RBMK-1500 burn-up credit impact on the effective neutron multiplication factor (k_e_f_f) have been obtained and are presented in the paper. SCALE 6.1 code package with the STARBUCKS burn-up credit evaluation tool was used for modeling. Pre-generated ARP (Automatic Rapid Processing) crosssection libraries based on ENDF/B-VII cross section library were used for fast burn-up inventory modeling. Different conditions in the SNF cask were modeled: 2.0% and 2.8% initial enrichment fuel of various burn-up and water density inside cavities of the SNF cask. The fuel composition for the criticality analysis was chosen taking into account main actinides and most important fission products used in burn-up calculations. A significant positive end effect is noticed from 15 GWd/tU burn-up for 2.8% enrichment fuel and from 9 GWd/tU for 2.0% enrichment fuel applying the actinide-only approach. The obtained results may be applied in further evaluations of the RBMK type reactor SNF storage as well as help to optimize the SNF storage volume inside the CONSTOR® RBMK-1500/M2 cask without compromising criticality safety.

Cost-benefit analysis on FBR cycle R and D for the world

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawasaki, Hirotsugu

2006-01-01

This analysis was estimated on the assumption that the nuclear power generation will be changed by FBR and both LWR and FBR indicate same nuclear power generation cost and the environmental load. The cost-benefit analysis results on FBR cycle R and D in the world showed that increase of power generation cost with increase of uranium fuel cost will be avoided and decrease of power generation cost by introducing FBR. The cost-benefit analysis results on FBR cycle R and D in Japan showed that about 9 billions yen will be obtained by the above two economic effects. Cost-benefit effects by introducing FBR, economic estimation method of cost-benefit effect, range and contents of cost-benefit effect on FBR R and D, preconditions of evaluation, and evaluation results are explained. (S.Y.)

Storage and disposal of high-level radioactive waste from advanced FBR fuel cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishihara, Kenji; Oigawa, Hiroyuki; Nakayama, Shinichi; Ono, Kiyoshi; Shiotani, Hiroki

2011-01-01

Waste management of fast breeder reactor (FBR) fuel cycle with and without partitioning and transmutation (P and T) technology was investigated by focusing on thermal constraints due to heat deposition from waste in storage and disposal facilities including economics aspects of those facilities. Partitioning of minor actinides (MAs) and heat-generating fission products in high-level waste can enlarge the containment ratio of waste elements in the glass waste forms and shorten predisposal storage period. Though MAs can be transmuted in FBRs or dedicated transmuters, heat-generating fission products are difficult to be transmuted; they are partitioned and stored for a long time before disposal. The disposal concepts for heat-generating fission products and remainders such as rare-earth elements depend on storage period that ranges from several years to several hundreds of years. Short-term storage results in small size of storage facilities and large size of repositories, and vice versa for long-term storage. This trade-off relation was analyzed by estimating repository size as a function of storage period. The result shows that transmutation of MAs is essentially effective to reduce repository size regardless to storage period, and a combination of P and T can provide a smaller repository than the conventional one by two orders of magnitude. The cost analysis for waste management was also made based on rough assumptions on storage, transportation and repository excluding cost for introducing P and T that are still under evaluation. Cost of waste management for FBR without P and T is 0.25 Yen/kWh that is slightly smaller than that for LWR without P and T, 0.30 Yen/kWh. The introduction of MA transmutation to the FBR results in cost of 0.20 Yen/kWh, and full introduction of P and T provides the smallest cost of 0.08 Yen/kWh. (author)

Increased fuel burn-up and fuel cycle equilibrium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Debes, M.

2001-01-01

Improvement of nuclear competitiveness will rely mainly on increased fuel performance, with higher burn-up, and reactors sustained life. Regarding spent fuel management, the EDF current policy relies on UO 2 fuel reprocessing (around 850 MTHM/year at La Hague) and MOX recycling to ensure plutonium flux adequacy (around 100 MTHM/year, with an electricity production equivalent to 30 TWh). This policy enables to reuse fuel material, while maintaining global kWh economy with existing facilities. It goes along with current perspective to increase fuel burn-up up to 57 GWday/t mean in 2010. The following presentation describes the consequences of higher fuel burn-up on fuel cycle and waste management and implementation of a long term and global equilibrium for decades in spent fuel management resulting from this strategy. (author)

Propagation of statistical and nuclear data uncertainties in Monte Carlo burn-up calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia-Herranz, Nuria; Cabellos, Oscar; Sanz, Javier; Juan, Jesus; Kuijper, Jim C.

2008-01-01

Two methodologies to propagate the uncertainties on the nuclide inventory in combined Monte Carlo-spectrum and burn-up calculations are presented, based on sensitivity/uncertainty and random sampling techniques (uncertainty Monte Carlo method). Both enable the assessment of the impact of uncertainties in the nuclear data as well as uncertainties due to the statistical nature of the Monte Carlo neutron transport calculation. The methodologies are implemented in our MCNP-ACAB system, which combines the neutron transport code MCNP-4C and the inventory code ACAB. A high burn-up benchmark problem is used to test the MCNP-ACAB performance in inventory predictions, with no uncertainties. A good agreement is found with the results of other participants. This benchmark problem is also used to assess the impact of nuclear data uncertainties and statistical flux errors in high burn-up applications. A detailed calculation is performed to evaluate the effect of cross-section uncertainties in the inventory prediction, taking into account the temporal evolution of the neutron flux level and spectrum. Very large uncertainties are found at the unusually high burn-up of this exercise (800 MWd/kgHM). To compare the impact of the statistical errors in the calculated flux with respect to the cross uncertainties, a simplified problem is considered, taking a constant neutron flux level and spectrum. It is shown that, provided that the flux statistical deviations in the Monte Carlo transport calculation do not exceed a given value, the effect of the flux errors in the calculated isotopic inventory are negligible (even at very high burn-up) compared to the effect of the large cross-section uncertainties available at present in the data files

Propagation of statistical and nuclear data uncertainties in Monte Carlo burn-up calculations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garcia-Herranz, Nuria [Departamento de Ingenieria Nuclear, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, UPM (Spain)], E-mail: nuria@din.upm.es; Cabellos, Oscar [Departamento de Ingenieria Nuclear, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, UPM (Spain); Sanz, Javier [Departamento de Ingenieria Energetica, Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia, UNED (Spain); Juan, Jesus [Laboratorio de Estadistica, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, UPM (Spain); Kuijper, Jim C. [NRG - Fuels, Actinides and Isotopes Group, Petten (Netherlands)

2008-04-15

Two methodologies to propagate the uncertainties on the nuclide inventory in combined Monte Carlo-spectrum and burn-up calculations are presented, based on sensitivity/uncertainty and random sampling techniques (uncertainty Monte Carlo method). Both enable the assessment of the impact of uncertainties in the nuclear data as well as uncertainties due to the statistical nature of the Monte Carlo neutron transport calculation. The methodologies are implemented in our MCNP-ACAB system, which combines the neutron transport code MCNP-4C and the inventory code ACAB. A high burn-up benchmark problem is used to test the MCNP-ACAB performance in inventory predictions, with no uncertainties. A good agreement is found with the results of other participants. This benchmark problem is also used to assess the impact of nuclear data uncertainties and statistical flux errors in high burn-up applications. A detailed calculation is performed to evaluate the effect of cross-section uncertainties in the inventory prediction, taking into account the temporal evolution of the neutron flux level and spectrum. Very large uncertainties are found at the unusually high burn-up of this exercise (800 MWd/kgHM). To compare the impact of the statistical errors in the calculated flux with respect to the cross uncertainties, a simplified problem is considered, taking a constant neutron flux level and spectrum. It is shown that, provided that the flux statistical deviations in the Monte Carlo transport calculation do not exceed a given value, the effect of the flux errors in the calculated isotopic inventory are negligible (even at very high burn-up) compared to the effect of the large cross-section uncertainties available at present in the data files.

Numerical solution of matrix exponential in burn-up equation using mini-max polynomial approximation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawamoto, Yosuke; Chiba, Go; Tsuji, Masashi; Narabayashi, Tadashi

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We propose a new numerical solution of matrix exponential in burn-up depletion calculations. • The depletion calculation with extremely short half-lived nuclides can be done numerically stable with this method. • The computational time is shorter than the other conventional methods. - Abstract: Nuclear fuel burn-up depletion calculations are essential to compute the nuclear fuel composition transition. In the burn-up calculations, the matrix exponential method has been widely used. In the present paper, we propose a new numerical solution of the matrix exponential, a Mini-Max Polynomial Approximation (MMPA) method. This method is numerically stable for burn-up matrices with extremely short half-lived nuclides as the Chebyshev Rational Approximation Method (CRAM), and it has several advantages over CRAM. We also propose a multi-step calculation, a computational time reduction scheme of the MMPA method, which can perform simultaneously burn-up calculations with several time periods. The applicability of these methods has been theoretically and numerically proved for general burn-up matrices. The numerical verification has been performed, and it has been shown that these methods have high precision equivalent to CRAM

Calculation of isotope burn-up and change in efficiency of absorbing elements of WWER-1000 control and protection system during burn-up

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Timofeeva, O.A.; Kurakin, K.U.

2006-01-01

The report deals with fast and thermal neutron flows distribution in structural elements of WWER-1000 fuel assembly and absorbing rods, determination of absorbing isotope burn-up and worth variation in WWER reactor control and protection system rods. Simulation of absorber rod burn-up is provided using code package SAPPHIRE 9 5 end RC W WER allowing detailed description of the core segment spatial model. Maximum burn-up of absorbing rods and respective worth variation of control and protection system rods is determined on the basis of a number of calculations considering known characteristics of fuel cycles (Authors)

Burn-up measurements on nuclear reactor fuels using high performance liquid chromatography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sivaraman, N.; Subramaniam, S.; Srinivasan, T.G.; Vasudeva Rao, P.R.

2002-01-01

Burn-up measurements on thermal as well as fast reactor fuels were carried out using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A column chromatographic technique using di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (HDEHP) coated column was employed for the isolation of lanthanides from uranium, plutonium and other fission products. Ion-pair HPLC was used for the separation of individual lanthanides. The atom percent fissions were calculated from the concentrations of the lanthanide (neodymium in the case of thermal reactor and lanthanum for the fast reactor fuels) and from uranium and plutonium contents of the dissolver solutions. The HPLC method was also used for determining the fractional fissions from uranium and plutonium for the thermal reactor fuel. (author)

A Study for Burn-up Calculation applied on 400MWth PBMR Core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luu, Nam Hai; Kim, Hong Chul; Kim, Soon Young; Kim, Jong Kyung; Noh, Jae Man

2007-01-01

The 400MWth Pebble-bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) is an advanced high temperature gas cooled-reactor (HTGR). It possesses a very high efficiency and attractive economics without compromising the high levels of passive safety expected of advanced nuclear designs. With this reason, PBMR is a target which researchers especially in nuclear engineering field study carefully and therefore it is regarded as the leader in the power generation field. There are many research results about benchmark problems but results of the burn-up process are still poor. Hence, in this study a burn-up calculation was performed with PBMR using MONTEBURNS code in which MCNP modeling linked a depletion systems is used

JOYO modification program for demonstration tests of FBR innovative technology development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshimi, H.; Hachiya, Y.

1990-01-01

A plan is under way at PNC to modify the experimental fast reactor JOYO. The project is called MARK-III (MK-III) program. The purpose of MK-III is to expand the function of JOYO, and to make it possible to receive demonstration tests of new or high level technologies for FBR development. The MK-III program consists of two main modifications: conversion to a highly efficient irradiation facility; and a modification for demonstration testing of new technologies and concepts that have a high potential to reduce FBR plant construction cost, to evaluate plant reliability and to improve plant safety. These modifications are scheduled to start in 1991

Deuterides of light elements: low-temperature thermonuclear burn-up and applications to thermonuclear fusion problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frolov, A.M.; Smith, V.H.; Smith, G.T.

2002-01-01

Thermonuclear burn-up and thermonuclear applications are discussed for a number of deuterides and DT hydrides of light elements. These deuterides and corresponding DT hydrides are often used as thermonuclear fuels or components of such fuels. In fact, only for these substances thermonuclear energy gain exceeds (at some densities and temperatures) the bremsstrahlung loss and other high-temperature losses, i.e., thermonuclear burn-up is possible. Herein, thermonuclear burn-up in these deuterides and DT hydrides is considered in detail. In particular, a simple method is proposed to determine the critical values of the burn-up parameter x c for these substances and their mixtures at different temperatures and densities. The results for equimolar DT mixtures coincide quite well with the results of previous calculations. Also, the natural or Z limit is determined for low-temperature thermonuclear burn-up in the deuterides of light elements. (author)

Advanced hybrid process with solvent extraction and pyro-chemical process of spent fuel reprocessing for LWR to FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujita, Reiko; Mizuguchi, Koji; Fuse, Kouki; Saso, Michitaka; Utsunomiya, Kazuhiro; Arie, Kazuo

2008-01-01

Toshiba has been proposing a new fuel cycle concept of a transition from LWR to FBR. The new fuel cycle concept has better economical process of the LWR spent fuel reprocessing than the present Purex Process and the proliferation resistance for FBR cycle of plutonium with minor actinides after 2040. Toshiba has been developing a new Advanced Hybrid Process with Solvent Extraction and Pyrochemical process of spent fuel reprocessing for LWR to FBR. The Advanced Hybrid Process combines the solvent extraction process of the LWR spent fuel in nitric acid with the recovery of high pure uranium for LWR fuel and the pyro-chemical process in molten salts of impure plutonium recovery with minor actinides for metallic FBR fuel, which is the FBR spent fuel recycle system after FBR age based on the electrorefining process in molten salts since 1988. The new Advanced Hybrid Process enables the decrease of the high-level waste and the secondary waste from the spent fuel reprocessing plants. The R and D costs in the new Advanced Hybrid Process might be reduced because of the mutual Pyro-chemical process in molten salts. This paper describes the new fuel cycle concept of a transition from LWR to FBR and the feasibility of the new Advanced Hybrid Process by fundamental experiments. (author)

Success tree analysis on the technologies development for FBR commercialization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

An, Shigehiro; Taniyama, Hiroshi; Nagai, Hiroshi.

1991-01-01

In order to obtain a secure energy supply in future, it is important to establish a system for plutonium utilization via the FBR which is superior to the uranium utilization system with respect to both safety and good economics. In spite of this obvious need, the commercialization of the FBR is facing delays. Although several factors, for example, improvement of LWR technologies, stable supply of low cost uranium, opposition to nuclear power, etc. are contributors, the primary reason for the delay is the unfavorable economics of the FBR itself. In this paper the key technologies leading to reduced FBR costs are identified and their development strategies are discussed. (author)

Fission Gas Release in LWR Fuel Rods Exhibiting Very High Burn-Up

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carlsen, H.

1980-01-01

Two UO2Zr BWR type test fuel rods were irradiated to a burn-up of about 38000 MWd/tUO2. After non-destructive characterization, the fission gas released to the internal free volume was extracted and analysed. The irradiation was simulated by means of the Danish fuel performance code WAFER-2, which...

Development of a method for xenon determination in the microstructure of high burn-up nuclear fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horvath, M. I.

2008-01-01

In nuclear fuel, in approximately one quarter of the fissions, one of the two formed fission products is gaseous. These are mainly the noble gases xenon and krypton with isotopes of xenon contributing up to 90% of the product gases. These noble fission gases do not combine with other species, and have a low solubility in the normally used uranium oxide matrix. They can be dissolved in the fuel matrix or precipitate in nanometer-sized bubbles within the fuel grain, in micrometer-sized bubbles at the grain boundaries, and a fraction also precipitates in fuel pores, coming from fuel fabrication. A fraction of the gas can also be released into the plenum of the fuel rod. With increasing fission, and therefore burn-up, the ceramic fuel material experiences a transformation of its structure in the 'cooler' rim region of the fuel. A subdivision occurs of the original fuel grains of few microns size into thousands of small grains of sub-micron sizes. Additionally, larger pores are formed, which also leads into an increasing porosity in the fuel rim, called high burn-up structure. In this structure, only a small fraction of the fission gas remains in the matrix, the major quantity is said to accumulate in these pores. Because of this accumulation, the knowledge of the quantities of gas within these pores is of major interest in consideration to burn-up, fuel performance and especially for safety issues. In case of design based accidents, i.e. rapidly increasing temperature transients, the behavior of the fuel has to be estimated. Various analytical techniques have been used to determine the Xe concentration in nuclear fuel samples. The capabilities of EPMA (Electron Probe Micro-Analyser) and SIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry) have been studied and provided some qualitative information, which has been used for determining Xe-matrix concentrations. First approaches combining these two techniques to estimate pore pressures have been recently reported. However, relevant Xe

Development of the adjusted nuclear cross-section library based on JENDL-3.2 for large FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yokoyama, Kenji; Ishikawa, Makoto; Numata, Kazuyuki

1999-04-01

JNC (and PNC) had developed the adjusted nuclear cross-section library in which the results of the JUPITER experiments were reflected. Using this adjusted library, the distinct improvement of the accuracy in nuclear design of FBR cores had been achieved. As a recent research, JNC develops a database of other integral data in addition to the JUPITER experiments, aiming at further improvement for accuracy and reliability. In 1991, the adjusted library based on JENDL-2, JFS-3-J2 (ADJ91R), was developed, and it has been used on the design research for FBR. As an evaluated nuclear library, however, JENDL-3.2 is recently used. Therefore, the authors developed an adjusted library based on JENDL-3.2 which is called JFS-3-J3.2(ADJ98). It is known that the adjusted library based on JENDL-2 overestimated the sodium void reactivity worth by 10-20%. It is expected that the adjusted library based on JENDL-3.2 solve the problem. The adjusted library JFS-3-J3.2(ADJ98) was produced with the same method as the adjusted library JFS-3-J2(ADJ91R) and used more integral parameters of JUPITER experiments than the adjusted library JFS-3-J2(ADJ91R). This report also describes the design accuracy estimation on a 600 MWe class FBR with the adjusted library JFS-3-J3.2(ADJ98). Its main nuclear design parameters (multiplication factor, burn-up reactivity loss, breeding ratio, etc.) except the sodium void reactivity worth which are calculated with the adjusted library JFS-3-J3.2(ADJ98) are almost the same as those predicted with JFS-3-J2(ADJ91R). As for the sodium void reactivity, the adjusted library JFS-3-J3.2(ADJ98) estimates about 4% smaller than the JFS-3-J2(ADJ91R) because of the change of the basic nuclear library from JENDL-2 to JENDL-3.2. (author)

Inner wall attack and its inhibition method for FBR fuel pin cladding at high burnup

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Yongli; Long Bin; Li Jingang; Wan Jiaying

1998-01-01

The inner wall attack of the modified 316-Ti S.S. cladding tubes manufactured in China used FBR at 10at.% burnup was investigated by means of the out of pile simulation tests. The inner surface morphologies of the cladding tubes attached by fission products Cs, Te, I and Se at 700 deg. C under lower and high oxygen potentials were observed respectively, and the depth of attack was also measured. The burst strength, maximum circum expansion and the appearances of fracture were measured and observed respectively for the cladding tubes attacked by fission products. Based on the mechanism of FBR fuel cladding chemical interaction (FCCI), Cr, Zr and Nb were used as the oxygen absorbers respectively, in order to inhibit the inner wall attack of the cladding tubes. The corrosion morphologies and depth, the penetration depth of the fission products in the inner surface of the cladding tubes were detected. The inhibition effectiveness of the oxygen absorbers for the inner wall attack of the cladding tubes was evaluated. (author)

The transuranic mass balance during the introduction of metal fuel FBR cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yokoo, Takeshi; Inoue, Tadashi

1999-01-01

The mass flow of plutonium and minor actinides is calculated for a future light water reactor-fast breeder reactor (LWR-FBR) transition scenario, in which power generation by LWRs is continued on a certain scale for a long period before the replacement by FBRs begins. The burnup of the LWR spent fuel is considered to be higher than the current standard. It is assumed that all the plutonium and minor actinides recovered from LWRs are used to start up and feed metal fuel commercial FBRs, which replace those LWRs that have reached the end of their life. The results show that the accumulated plutonium and minor actinides from the LWRs can be consistently consumed without further accumulation, by gradually establishing the FBR power generation and its fuel cycle on the same scale. The optimum content of the minor actinides in the standard FBR fuel is about 2 weight percents. This result indicates that if FBRs are introduced in the future, extension of the LWR usage period will cause no significant problems in terms of the consumption of accumulated transuranic elements. (author)

Comparison of measured and calculated burn-up of AVR-Fuel-Elements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wagemann, R.

1974-03-15

Burn-up comparisons are made for small batches of three types of AVR fuel elements using a coupled EREBUS-MUPO neutronic analysis compared against test results from both nondestructive gamma-ray measurements of cesium-137 activity and destructive mass spectrometry measurements of the ratio of U-233 to U-235. The comparisons are relatively good for average burn-up and reasonably good for burn-up distributions.

Part 6. Internationalization and collocation of FBR fuel cycle facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stevenson, M.G.; Abramson, P.B.; LeSage, L.G.

1980-01-01

This report examines some of the non-proliferation, technical, and institutional aspects of internationalization and/or collocation of major facilities of the Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) fuel cycle. The national incentives and disincentives for establishment of FBR Fuel Cycle Centers are enumerated. The technical, legal, and administrative considerations in determining the feasibility of FBR Fuel Cycle Centers are addressed by making comparisons with Light Water Reactor (LWR) centers which have been studied in detail by the IAEA and UNSRC

Effect of local burn-up variation on computed mean nuclide concentrations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moeller, W.

1982-01-01

Mean concentrations of U-235, U-236, U-238, Pu-239, Pu-240, Pu-241 and Pu-242 in some volume areas of WWER-440 fuel assemblies have been calculated from corresponding burn-up microdistribution data and compared with those calculated from burn-up mean values. Differences occurring were below 3% for the uranium nuclides but, at low burn-ups, considerable for Pu-241 and Pu-242. (author)

Effect of Core Configurations on Burn-Up Calculations For MTR Type Reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussein, H.M.; Sakr, A.M.; Amin, E.H.

2011-01-01

Three-dimensional burn-up calculations of MTR-type research reactor were performed using different patterns of control rods , to examine their effect on power density and neutron flux distributions throughout the entire core and on the local burn-up distribution. Calculations were performed using the computer codes' package M TR P C system , using the cell calculation transport code WIMS-D4 and the core calculation diffusion code CITVAP. A depletion study was done and the effects on the reactor fuel were studied, then an empirical formula was generated for every fuel element type, to correlate irradiation to burn-up percentage. Keywords: Neutronic Calculations, Burn-Up, MTR-Type Research Reactors, MTR P C Package, Empirical Formula For Fuel Burn-Up.

Effect of error propagation of nuclide number densities on Monte Carlo burn-up calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tohjoh, Masayuki; Endo, Tomohiro; Watanabe, Masato; Yamamoto, Akio

2006-01-01

As a result of improvements in computer technology, the continuous energy Monte Carlo burn-up calculation has received attention as a good candidate for an assembly calculation method. However, the results of Monte Carlo calculations contain the statistical errors. The results of Monte Carlo burn-up calculations, in particular, include propagated statistical errors through the variance of the nuclide number densities. Therefore, if statistical error alone is evaluated, the errors in Monte Carlo burn-up calculations may be underestimated. To make clear this effect of error propagation on Monte Carlo burn-up calculations, we here proposed an equation that can predict the variance of nuclide number densities after burn-up calculations, and we verified this equation using enormous numbers of the Monte Carlo burn-up calculations by changing only the initial random numbers. We also verified the effect of the number of burn-up calculation points on Monte Carlo burn-up calculations. From these verifications, we estimated the errors in Monte Carlo burn-up calculations including both statistical and propagated errors. Finally, we made clear the effects of error propagation on Monte Carlo burn-up calculations by comparing statistical errors alone versus both statistical and propagated errors. The results revealed that the effects of error propagation on the Monte Carlo burn-up calculations of 8 x 8 BWR fuel assembly are low up to 60 GWd/t

Experimental studies of spent fuel burn-up in WWR-SM reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alikulov, Sh. A.; Baytelesov, S.A.; Boltaboev, A.F.; Kungurov, F.R. [Institute of Nuclear Physics, Ulughbek township, 100214, Tashkent (Uzbekistan); Menlove, H.O.; O’Connor, W. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Osmanov, B.S., E-mail: bari_osmanov@yahoo.com [Research Institute of Applied Physics, Vuzgorodok, 100174 Tashkent (Uzbekistan); Salikhbaev, U.S. [Institute of Nuclear Physics, Ulughbek township, 100214, Tashkent (Uzbekistan)

2014-10-01

Highlights: • Uranium burn-up measurement from {sup 137}Cs activity in spent reactor fuel. • Comparison to reference sample with known burn-up value (ratio method). • Cross-check of the approach with neutron-based measurement technique. - Abstract: The article reports the results of {sup 235}U burn-up measurements using {sup 137}Cs activity technique for 12 nuclear fuel assemblies of WWR-SM research reactor after 3-year cooling time. The discrepancy between the measured and the calculated burn-up values was about 3%. To increase the reliability of the data and for cross-check purposes, neutron measurement approach was also used. Average discrepancy between two methods was around 12%.

Technical development on burn-up credit for spent LWR fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakahara, Yoshinori; Suyama, Kenya; Suzaki, Takenori

2000-10-01

Technical development on burn-up credit for spent LWR fuels had been performed at JAERI since 1990 under the contract with Science and Technology Agency of Japan entitled 'Technical Development on Criticality Safety Management for Spent LWR Fuels'. Main purposes of this work are to obtain the experimental data on criticality properties and isotopic compositions of spent LWR fuels and to verify burn-up and criticality calculation codes. In this work three major experiments of exponential experiments for spent fuel assemblies to obtain criticality data, non-destructive gamma-ray measurement of spent fuel rods for evaluating axial burn-up profiles, and destructive analyses of spent fuel samples for determining precise burn-up and isotopic compositions were carried out. The measured data obtained were used for validating calculation codes as well as an examination of criticality safety analyses. Details of the work are described in this report. (author)

Technical development on burn-up credit for spent LWR fuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nakahara, Yoshinori; Suyama, Kenya; Suzaki, Takenori [eds.] [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

2000-10-01

Technical development on burn-up credit for spent LWR fuels had been performed at JAERI since 1990 under the contract with Science and Technology Agency of Japan entitled 'Technical Development on Criticality Safety Management for Spent LWR Fuels'. Main purposes of this work are to obtain the experimental data on criticality properties and isotopic compositions of spent LWR fuels and to verify burn-up and criticality calculation codes. In this work three major experiments of exponential experiments for spent fuel assemblies to obtain criticality data, non-destructive gamma-ray measurement of spent fuel rods for evaluating axial burn-up profiles, and destructive analyses of spent fuel samples for determining precise burn-up and isotopic compositions were carried out. The measured data obtained were used for validating calculation codes as well as an examination of criticality safety analyses. Details of the work are described in this report. (author)

Description of JNC's analytical method and its performance for FBR cores

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishikawa, M.

2000-01-01

The description of JNC's analytical method and its performance for FBR cores includes: an outline of JNC's Analytical System Compared with ERANOS; a standard data base for FBR Nuclear Design in JNC; JUPITER Critical Experiment; details of Analytical Method and Its Effects on JUPITER; performance of JNC Analytical System (effective multiplication factor k eff , control rod worth, and sodium void reactivity); design accuracy of a 600 MWe-class FBR Core. JNC developed a consistent analytical system for FBR core evaluation, based on JENDL library, f-table method, and three dimensional diffusion/transport theory, which includes comprehensive sensitivity tools to improve the prediction accuracy of core parameters. JNC system was verified by analysis of JUPITER critical experiment, and other facilities. Its performance can be judged quite satisfactory for FBR-core design work, though there is room for further improvement, such as more detailed treatment of cross-section resonance regions

Development of wire wrapping technology for FBR fuel pin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nogami, Tetsuya; Seki, Nobuo; Sawayama, Takeo; Ishibashi, Takashi

1991-01-01

For the FBR fuel assembly, the spacer wire is adopted to maintain the space between fuel pins. The developments have been carried out to achieve automatically wire wrapping with high precision. Based on the fundamental technology developed through the mock-up test operation, Joyo 'MK-I', fuel pin fabrication was started using partially mechanized wire wrapping machine in 1973. In 1978, an automated wire wrapping machine for Joyo 'MK-II' was developed by the adoption of some improvements for the wire inserting system to end plug hole and the precision of wire pitch. On the bases of these experiences, fully automated wire wrapping machine for 'Monju' fuel pin was installed at Plutonium Fuel Production Facility (PFPF) in 1987. (author)

Characterization of alternative FBR development strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boegel, A.J.; Clausen, M.J.

1981-08-01

Near-term decisions regarding the nature and place of the FBR development program must be made. This study is part of a larger program designed to provide the Department of Energy (DOE) with imformation that can be used to make strategic programmatic decisions. The focus of this report is the description of alternative approaches for developing the FBR and the quantification of the duration and cost of each alternative. The time frames of the alternative approaches are investigated in companion reports (White 1981 and Fraley 1981). The results of these analyses will be described in a summary report

Present state of development of demonstration FBR and prospect of practical use

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inagaki, Tatsutoshi

1996-01-01

As for the FBR development in Japan, the Atomic Energy Commission revised the long term plan on the research, development and utilization of atomic energy in June, 1994, and under the basic policy that through the considerable period of using LWRs together, FBRs will be adopted as the main nuclear power plants in future, it was decided to establish FBR technology system so that the practical use of FBRs becomes feasible by about 2030 through two demonstration FBRs following the experimental FBR 'Joyo' and the prototype FBR 'Monju'. The Monju started power generation and transmission in August, 1995, but secondary sodium leak accident occurred in December, 1995, and at present it is stopped. The demonstration FBR No. 1 is a top entry type loop reactor, and the power output is about 660 MWe. The start of construction is scheduled at the beginning of 2000s. The research on the whole plant design is carried out as the research on the optimization of demonstration FBR plant for three years from fiscal year 1994. The design of the demonstration FBR No. 1, the research and development for it, the prospect of the practical use and the research and development for the practical use are reported. (K.I.)

Determination of nuclear fuel burn-up using mass spectrometric techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saha, B.; Bagyalakshmi, R.; Periaswami, G.; Kavimandan, V.D.; Chitambar, S.A.; Jain, H.C.; Mathews, C.K.

1977-01-01

Determination of burn-up using a stable fission product monitor such as 148 Nd and heavy elements, determined by isotope dilution mass spectrometry gives the most accurate data. This report describes the work carried out to standardise the conditions for burn-up determination. Some typical results are given. (author)

Development of FBR cycle data base system (II)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kubota, Sadae; Ohtaki, Akira; Hirao, Kazuhiro

2003-05-01

In the 'Feasibility Study on Commercialized FBR Cycle Systems (F/S)', scenario evaluations, cost-benefit evaluations and system characteristic evaluations to show the significance of the FBR cycle system introduction concretely are performed while design studies for FBR plants, reprocessing systems and fabrication systems are conducted. In these evaluations, future society of various conditions and situation is assumed, and investigation and analysis about needs and social effects of FBR cycle are carried out. In this study, promising FBR cycle concepts are suggested by taking information such as domestic and foreign policies and bills, an economic prediction, a supply and demand prediction of resources, a project of technology development into consideration in addition to system design information. The development of the FBR Cycle Database which this report introduced started in 1999 fiscal year to enable managed unitarity and searched reference information to use for the above scenario evaluations, cost-benefit evaluations and system characteristic evaluations. In 2000 fiscal year, its prototype was made and used tentatively, and we extracted the problems in operation and functions from that, and, in 2001 fiscal year, the entry system and the search system using the Web page were made in order to solve problems of the prototype, and started use in our group. Moreover, in 2002 fiscal year, we expanded and improved the search system and promoted the efficiency of management work, and use in JNC through intranet of the database was started. In addition, as a result of having made the entry of about 350 data in 2002 fiscal year, the collected number of the database reaches about 7,250 by the end of March, 2003. We are to continue the entry of related information of various evaluations in F/S phase 2 from now on. In addition, we are to examine improvement of convenience of the search system and cooperation with the economy database. (author)

IFPE/HBEP REV.1, Battelle's High Burn-Up Effects Programme for Fuel Performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turnbull, J.A.

2002-01-01

Description: It contains data from phase 2 and 3 on fabrication, dimensions, fuel and cladding properties and composition, reactor conditions and Post Irradiation Examination (PIE) data of the High Burn-up Effects Programme (HBEP) carried out at the Battelle North-west Laboratories. Each data set contains a full irradiation history with clad temperature and local power listed for each rod at 5, 10 or 12 axial zones as a function of cumulative time to the end of the given time interval over which the power has been constant. Data is provided for 45 rods from phase 2 and 36 rods from phase 3. The different rods have been manufactured by: ASEA/TVO, BN, BNFL, FBFC, FRA/CEA, GE, KWU/CE, WEC

Small high temperature gas-cooled reactors with innovative nuclear burning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liem, Peng Hong; Ismail; Sekimoto, Hiroshi

2008-01-01

Since the innovative concept of CANDLE (Constant Axial shape of Neutron Flux, nuclide densities and power shape During Life of Energy producing reactor) burning strategy was proposed, intensive research works have been continuously conducted to evaluate the feasibility and the performance of the burning strategy on both fast and thermal reactors. We learned that one potential application of the burning strategy for thermal reactors is for the High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors (HTGR) with prismatic/block-type fuel elements. Several characteristics of CANDLE burning strategy such as constant reactor characteristics during burn-up, no need for burn-up reactivity control mechanism, proportionality of core height with core lifetime, sub-criticality of fresh fuel elements, etc. enable us to design small sized HTGR with a high degree of safety easiness of operation and maintenance, and long core lifetime which are required for introducing the reactors into remote areas or developing countries with limited infrastructures and resources. In the present work, we report our evaluation results on small sized block-type HTGR designs with CANDLE burning strategy and compared with other existing small HTGR designs including the ones with pebble fuel elements, under both uranium and thorium fuel cycles. (author)

Practicalization strategic research of FBR cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-01-01

Practicalization strategic research of FBR cycle consists of two phases such as phase I (FY 1999-2000) and phase II (to FY 2005). In every phase, research and development plants and results are checked and reviewed. The assessment indexes are five development objects such as safety, economical efficiency, resource effective utilization, environmental load decrease and nuclear non-proliferation and technical realization, too. Reactor core, FBR plant system and fuel cycle system are investigated. We selected the research subjects of cooling materials as sodium, heavy metals (lead and lead bismuth alloy), gas (carbon dioxide and helium) and water (boiling water, power water and supercritical pressure water) and fuel types as cladding tube fuel (oxide, nitride and metal) and coated fuel particle (oxide and nitride) for helium gas cooling reactor. In FY1999, the good reactor core and FBR plant system for every cooling materials are studied. Two reprocessing (a wet reprocessing using aqueous solution and a dry method) were selected. In FY 2000, we will investigate effects of throughput, plant concept and cost and evaluate achievement of development objects and then decide the development plan. (S.Y.)

Simulated LOCA Test and Characterization Study Related to High Burn-Up Issue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, D. J.; Jung, Y. I.; Choi, B. K.; Park, S. Y.; Kim, H. G.; Park, J. Y.

2012-01-01

For the safety evaluation of fuel cladding during the injection of emergency core coolant, simulated Loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) test was performed by using Zircaloy-4 fuel cladding samples. Zircaloy-4 tube samples with and without prehydring were oxidized in a steam environment with the test temperature of 1200 .deg. C. Prehydrided cladding was prepared from as-fabricated Zircaloy-4 to study the effects of hydrogen on mechanical properties of cladding during high temperature oxidation and quench conditions. In order to measure the ductility of the tube samples embrittled by quenching water, ring compression test was carried out by using 8 mm ring sample sectioned from oxidized tube sample and microstructural analysis was also performed after simulated LOCA test. The results showed that hydrogen increases oxygen solubility and pickup rate in the beta layer. This reduces ductility of prehydrided fuel cladding compared with as-fabricated cladding. Trend in ductility decrease for prehydrided sample under simulated LOCA condition was very similar with data obtained from tests conducted using irradiated high burn-up fuel claddings

Reactivity loss validation of high burn-up PWR fuels with pile-oscillation experiments in MINERVE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leconte, P.; Vaglio-Gaudard, C.; Eschbach, R.; Di-Salvo, J.; Antony, M.; Pepino, A. [CEA, DEN, DER, Cadarache, F-13108 Saint-Paul-Lez-Durance (France)

2012-07-01

The ALIX experimental program relies on the experimental validation of the spent fuel inventory, by chemical analysis of samples irradiated in a PWR between 5 and 7 cycles, and also on the experimental validation of the spent fuel reactivity loss with bum-up, obtained by pile-oscillation measurements in the MINERVE reactor. These latter experiments provide an overall validation of both the fuel inventory and of the nuclear data responsible for the reactivity loss. This program offers also unique experimental data for fuels with a burn-up reaching 85 GWd/t, as spent fuels in French PWRs never exceeds 70 GWd/t up to now. The analysis of these experiments is done in two steps with the APOLLO2/SHEM-MOC/CEA2005v4 package. In the first one, the fuel inventory of each sample is obtained by assembly calculations. The calculation route consists in the self-shielding of cross sections on the 281 energy group SHEM mesh, followed by the flux calculation by the Method Of Characteristics in a 2D-exact heterogeneous geometry of the assembly, and finally a depletion calculation by an iterative resolution of the Bateman equations. In the second step, the fuel inventory is used in the analysis of pile-oscillation experiments in which the reactivity of the ALIX spent fuel samples is compared to the reactivity of fresh fuel samples. The comparison between Experiment and Calculation shows satisfactory results with the JEFF3.1.1 library which predicts the reactivity loss within 2% for burn-up of {approx}75 GWd/t and within 4% for burn-up of {approx}85 GWd/t. (authors)

Reactivity effect of spent fuel depending on burn-up history

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayashi, Takafumi; Suyama, Kenya; Nomura, Yasushi

2001-06-01

It is well known that a composition of spent fuel depends on various parameter changes throughout a burn-up period. In this study we aimed at the boron concentration and its change, the coolant temperature and its spatial distribution, the specific power, the operation mode, and the duration of inspection, because the effects due to these parameters have not been analyzed in detail. The composition changes of spent fuel were calculated by using the burn-up code SWAT, when the parameters mentioned above varied in the range of actual variations. Moreover, to estimate the reactivity effect caused by the composition changes, the criticality calculations for an infinite array of spent fuel were carried out with computer codes SRAC95 or MVP. In this report the reactivity effects were arranged from the viewpoint of what parameters gave more positive reactivity effect. The results obtained through this study are useful to choose the burn-up calculation model when we take account of the burn-up credit in the spent fuel management. (author)

Estimation of the impact of manufacturing tolerances on burn-up calculations using Monte Carlo techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bock, M.; Wagner, M. [Gesellschaft fuer Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit mbH, Garching (Germany). Forschungszentrum

2012-11-01

In recent years, the availability of computing resources has increased enormously. There are two ways to take advantage of this increase in analyses in the field of the nuclear fuel cycle, such as burn-up calculations or criticality safety calculations. The first possible way is to improve the accuracy of the models that are analyzed. For burn-up calculations this means, that the goal to model and to calculate the burn-up of a full reactor core is getting more and more into reach. The second way to utilize the resources is to run state-of-the-art programs with simplified models several times, but with varied input parameters. This second way opens the applicability of the assessment of uncertainties and sensitivities based on the Monte Carlo method for fields of research that rely heavily on either high CPU usage or high memory consumption. In the context of the nuclear fuel cycle, applications that belong to these types of demanding analyses are again burn-up and criticality safety calculations. The assessment of uncertainties in burn-up analyses can complement traditional analysis techniques such as best estimate or bounding case analyses and can support the safety analysis in future design decisions, e.g. by analyzing the uncertainty of the decay heat power of the nuclear inventory stored in the spent fuel pool of a nuclear power plant. This contribution concentrates on the uncertainty analysis in burn-up calculations of PWR fuel assemblies. The uncertainties in the results arise from the variation of the input parameters. In this case, the focus is on the one hand on the variation of manufacturing tolerances that are present in the different production stages of the fuel assemblies. On the other hand, uncertainties that describe the conditions during the reactor operation are taken into account. They also affect the results of burn-up calculations. In order to perform uncertainty analyses in burn-up calculations, GRS has improved the capabilities of its general

Burn-up credit in criticality safety of PWR spent fuel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mahmoud, Rowayda F., E-mail: Rowayda_mahmoud@yahoo.com [Metallurgy Department, Nuclear Research Center, Atomic Energy Authority (Egypt); Shaat, Mohamed K. [Nuclear Engineering, Reactors Department, Nuclear Research Center, Atomic Energy Authority (Egypt); Nagy, M.E.; Agamy, S.A. [Professor of Nuclear Engineering, Nuclear and Radiation Department, Alexandria University (Egypt); Abdelrahman, Adel A. [Metallurgy Department, Nuclear Research Center, Atomic Energy Authority (Egypt)

2014-12-15

Highlights: • Designing spent fuel wet storage using WIMS-5D and MCNP-5 code. • Studying fresh and burned fuel with/out absorber like “B{sub 4}C and Ag–In–Cd” in racks. • Sub-criticality was confirmed for fresh and burned fuel under specific cases. • Studies for BU credit recommend increasing fuel burn-up to 60.0 GWD/MTU. • Those studies require new core structure materials, fuel composition and cladding. - Abstract: The criticality safety calculations were performed for a proposed design of a wet spent fuel storage pool. This pool will be used for the storage of spent fuel discharged from a typical pressurized water reactor (PWR). The mathematical model based on the international validated codes, WIMS-5 and MCNP-5 were used for calculating the effective multiplication factor, k{sub eff}, for the spent fuel stored in the pool. The data library for the multi-group neutron microscopic cross-sections was used for the cell calculations. The k{sub eff} was calculated for several changes in water density, water level, assembly pitch and burn-up with different initial fuel enrichment and new types and amounts of fixed absorbers. Also, k{sub eff} was calculated for the conservative fresh fuel case. The results of the calculations confirmed that the effective multiplication factor for the spent fuel storage is sub-critical for all normal and abnormal states. The future strategy for the burn-up credit recommends increasing the fuel burn-up to a value >60.0 GWD/MTU, which requires new fuel composition and new fuel cladding material with the assessment of the effects of negative reactivity build up.

Treatment of PAHs in waters using the GAC-FBR process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hickey, R.F.; Sunday, A.; Wagner, D.; Groshko, V.; Rajan, R.V.; Leuschner, A.; Hayes, T.D.

1995-01-01

Pilot studies were conducted to determine the utility of the granular activated carbon fluidized-bed reactor (GAC-FBR) process to treat groundwater from manufactured gas plant (MGP) sites containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and a process effluent water from a deep subsurface dense, nonaqueous-phase liquid (DNAPL) removal process at an MGP site. Removal of naphthalene exceeded 99.9%, and overall PAH removals of 99+% were observed at organic loading rates (OLRs) exceeding 4-kg chemical oxygen demand (COD)/m 3 -d and a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of about 6 min. Analysis of PAHs accumulated on GAC and oxygen consumption clearly demonstrated that removal of 2- to 4-ring PAHs was due primarily to biological oxidation and not to adsorption. Analysis of influent and effluent samples using Microtox reg-sign indicated removal of toxicity. Full-scale application of the GAC-FBR process has begun at a Superfund site in Pennsylvania. The GAC-FBR is being used to treat a 15-gal per min (gpm) process effluent flow from a subsurface DNAPL removal process. Initial results confirm the ability of the process to treat PAHs at high OLRs and short HRTs

Neutronics performances study of silicon carbide as an inert matrix to achieve very high burn-up for light water reactor fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chabert, C.; Coulon-Picard, E.; Pelletier, M.

2007-01-01

In order to extend the actual limits of light water reactors, the Cea has put emphasis on the exploration of major fuel innovations that would allow us to increase the competitiveness, the safety and flexibility, while keeping the standard PWR environment. Different fuel concepts have been chosen and are actually studied to evaluate their advantages and drawbacks. The objectives of these new fuels are to increase the safety performances and to achieve a very high burn-up. One concept is a CERCER fuel with silicon carbide (SiC) as an inert matrix devoted to reduce the fuel temperature at nominal conditions. Besides the investigation of the neutronic performance, analyses on the thermomechanical performances, the fuel fabrication, the fuel reprocessing and economic aspects have been performed. This paper presents particularly neutronic results obtained for the CERCER fuel. The results show that a very high burn-up, a high safety performance and a better competitiveness cannot be achieved with this fuel concept. (authors)

Oxygen stoichiometry shift of irradiated LWR-fuels at high burn-ups: Review of data and alternative interpretation of recently published results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spino, J.; Peerani, P.

2008-01-01

The available oxygen potential data of LWR-fuels by the EFM-method have been reviewed and compared with thermodynamic data of equivalent simulated fuels and mixed oxide systems, combined with the analysis of lattice parameter data. Up to burn-ups of 70-80 GWd/tM the comparison confirmed traditional predictions anticipating the fuels to remain quasi stoichiometric along irradiation. However, recent predictions of a fuel with average burn-up around 100 GWd/tM becoming definitely hypostoichiometric were not confirmed. At average burn-ups around 80 GWd/tM and above, it is shown that the fuels tend to acquire progressively slightly hyperstoichiometric O/M ratios. The maximum derived O/M ratio for an average burn-up of 100 GWd/tM lies around 2.001 and 2.002. Though slight, the stoichiometry shift may have a measurable accelerating impact on fission gas diffusion and release

Long-term scenarios of power reactors and fuel cycle development and the role of reduced moderation water reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Osamu; Tatematsu, Kenji; Tanaka, Yoji

2000-01-01

Reduced moderation spectrum reactor is one of water cooled type reactors in future, which is based on the advanced technology of conventional nuclear power plants. The reduced moderation water reactor (RMWR) has various advantages, such as effective utilization of uranium resources, high conversion ratio, high burn-up, long-term cycle operation, and multiple recycle of plutonium. The RMWR is expected to be a substitute of fast breeder reactor (FBR) of which the development encounters with some technical and financial difficulties, and discontinues in many countries. The role of the RMWR on long-term scenarios of power reactor and fuel cycle development in Japan is investigated from the point of view of uranium resource needed. The consumption of natural uranium needed up to the year 2200 is calculated on various assumptions for the following three cases: (1) no breeder reactor; plutonium-thermal cycle in conventional light water reactor, (2) introduction of the FBR, and (3) introduction of the RMWR. The amounts of natural uranium consumption depends largely on the conversion ratio and plutonium quantity needed of a reactor type. The RMWR has a possibility as a substitute technology of the FBR with the improvement of conversion ratio and high burn-up. (Suetake, M.)

Long-term scenarios of power reactors and fuel cycle development and the role of reduced moderation water reactors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sato, Osamu; Tatematsu, Kenji; Tanaka, Yoji [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

2000-06-01

Reduced moderation spectrum reactor is one of water cooled type reactors in future, which is based on the advanced technology of conventional nuclear power plants. The reduced moderation water reactor (RMWR) has various advantages, such as effective utilization of uranium resources, high conversion ratio, high burn-up, long-term cycle operation, and multiple recycle of plutonium. The RMWR is expected to be a substitute of fast breeder reactor (FBR) of which the development encounters with some technical and financial difficulties, and discontinues in many countries. The role of the RMWR on long-term scenarios of power reactor and fuel cycle development in Japan is investigated from the point of view of uranium resource needed. The consumption of natural uranium needed up to the year 2200 is calculated on various assumptions for the following three cases: (1) no breeder reactor; plutonium-thermal cycle in conventional light water reactor, (2) introduction of the FBR, and (3) introduction of the RMWR. The amounts of natural uranium consumption depends largely on the conversion ratio and plutonium quantity needed of a reactor type. The RMWR has a possibility as a substitute technology of the FBR with the improvement of conversion ratio and high burn-up. (Suetake, M.)

Nuclear fuel burn-up economy; Ekonomija izgaranja nuklearnog goriva

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matausek, M [Institute of nuclear sciences Boris Kidric, Vinca, Beograd (Yugoslavia)

1984-07-01

In the period 1981-1985, for the needs of Utility Organization, Beograd, and with the support of the Scientific Council of SR Srbija, work has been performed on the study entitled 'Nuclear Fuel Burn-up Economy'. The forst [phase, completed during the year 1983 comprised: comparative analysis of commercial NPP from the standpoint of nuclear fuel requirements; development of methods for fuel burn-up analysis; specification of elements concerning the nuclear fuel for the tender documentation. The present paper gives the short description of the purpose, content and results achieved in the up-to-now work on the study. (author)

Development of FBR cycle data base system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kubota, Sadae; Ohtaki, Akira; Hirao, Kazuhiro

2002-06-01

In the 'Feasibility Study on Commercialized Fast Reactor Cycle System (F/S)'. scenario evaluations, cost-benefit evaluations and system characteristic evaluations to show significance of the Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) cycle system introduction concretely are performed in parallel with a design study for FBR plants, reprocessing systems and fabrication systems. In these evaluations, informations such as economic prospects, prospects for supply and demand of resources and a progress of engineering development are used in addition to design information. This report explains a FBR Cycle Database in order to carry out management and search of various design information and the relating information. The prototype system of the database was completed in the 2000 fiscal year, and the problem of the user number restriction of the prototype system has been improved by Web-ization in the 2001 fiscal year. About 7,000 data are stored in this data base (as of the end of March, 2002). The expansion of user etc., and the continuation of input work of various evaluation information will be carried out, in the phase 2 of F/S. (author)

Modeling of WWER-440 Fuel Pin Behavior at Extended Burn-up

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Koliel, M.S.; Abou-Zaid, A.A.; El-Kafas, A.A.

2004-01-01

Currently, there is an ongoing effort to increase fuel discharge burn-up of all LWRs fuel including WWER's as much as possible in order to decrease power production cost. Therefore, burn-up is expected to be increased to 60 to 70 Mwd/kg U. The change in the fuel radial power distribution as a function of fuel burn up can affect the radial fuel temperature distribution as well as the fuel microstructure in the fuel pellet rim. In this paper, the radial burn-up and fissile products distributions of WWER-440 UO 2 fuel pin were evaluated using MCNP 4B and ORIGEN2 codes. The impact of the thermal conductivity on predicted fission gas release calculations is needed. For the analysis, a typical WWER-440 fuel pin and surrounding water moderator are considered in a hexagonal pin cell well. The thermal release and the athermal release from the pellet rim were modeled separately. The fraction of the rim structure and the excessive porosity in the rim structure in isothermal irradiation as a function of the fuel burn-up was predicted. a computer program; RIMSC-01, is developed to perform the required FGR calculations. Finally, the relevant phenomena and the corresponding models together with their validation are presented

Control rod drives for FBR type reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikakura, Hiroaki.

1990-01-01

The control rod drives for an FBR type reactor of the present invention eliminate obstacles deposited on attracting surfaces between an electromagnet and an armature which connect control rods to recover their retaining power. That is, a sealed chamber capable of controlling its inner pressure by an operation from the outside of a reactor is disposed in an extension pipe, and a nozzle connected to the sealed chamber and facing at the lower end thereof to the attracting surface is disposed. Liquid sodium sucked by evacuating the sealed chamber is jetted out from the nozzle by pressurizing the chamber to simultaneously eliminate obstacles deposited to the attracting surfaces of the electromagnet and the control rod. Alternatively, a nozzle protruding from and retracting to the lower surface of the electromagnet is disposed opposing to each of the attracting surfaces of the electromagnet and the control rod. Similar effect can also be obtained if gases are jetted out in this state. As a result, control rod drives of high reliability for a FBR type reactor can be obtained. (I.S.)

Development of a method for xenon determination in the microstructure of high burn-up nuclear fuel[Dissertation 17527

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Horvath, M. I

2008-07-01

In nuclear fuel, in approximately one quarter of the fissions, one of the two formed fission products is gaseous. These are mainly the noble gases xenon and krypton with isotopes of xenon contributing up to 90% of the product gases. These noble fission gases do not combine with other species, and have a low solubility in the normally used uranium oxide matrix. They can be dissolved in the fuel matrix or precipitate in nanometer-sized bubbles within the fuel grain, in micrometer-sized bubbles at the grain boundaries, and a fraction also precipitates in fuel pores, coming from fuel fabrication. A fraction of the gas can also be released into the plenum of the fuel rod. With increasing fission, and therefore burn-up, the ceramic fuel material experiences a transformation of its structure in the 'cooler' rim region of the fuel. A subdivision occurs of the original fuel grains of few microns size into thousands of small grains of sub-micron sizes. Additionally, larger pores are formed, which also leads into an increasing porosity in the fuel rim, called high burn-up structure. In this structure, only a small fraction of the fission gas remains in the matrix, the major quantity is said to accumulate in these pores. Because of this accumulation, the knowledge of the quantities of gas within these pores is of major interest in consideration to burn-up, fuel performance and especially for safety issues. In case of design based accidents, i.e. rapidly increasing temperature transients, the behavior of the fuel has to be estimated. Various analytical techniques have been used to determine the Xe concentration in nuclear fuel samples. The capabilities of EPMA (Electron Probe Micro-Analyser) and SIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry) have been studied and provided some qualitative information, which has been used for determining Xe-matrix concentrations. First approaches combining these two techniques to estimate pore pressures have been recently reported. However

IFPE/IFA-597.3, centre-line temperature, fission gas release and clad elongation at high burn-up (60-62 MWd/kg)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turnbull, J.A.

2003-01-01

Description: The fuel segments for the high burn-up integral rod behaviour test IFA-597 were taken from fuel rod 33-25065, which was irradiated in the Ringhals 1 BWR for approximately 12 years. The irradiation of this rod and its sibling rod 33-25046 was performed in two stages. During the first irradiation, 1980 to 1986, the rods were part of Ringhals assembly 6477 and an approximate rod averaged burn-up of 31 MWd/kg UO 2 was reached. The rods were then placed into fuel assembly 9902 for a second period of irradiation from 1986 to 1992. The location of the fuel rods 33-25065 and 33-25046 in this assembly were in positions 9902/D and 9902/E4 respectively. A final rod averaged burn-up of 52 MWd/kg UO 2 was achieved. The burn-up at the location of the Halden segments was estimated as 59 MWd/kg UO 2 , well beyond the formation of High Burn-up Structure (Hobs) formation at the pellet rim. At the rim, the burn-up was estimated as 130 MWd/kg UO 2 . After commercial irradiation, PIE was performed at Studsvik. Inner and outer clad oxide thickness measurements were 42 and 5 microns respectively. The measured cold rod diameter varied between 12.20 and 12.25 mm, thus only a small amount of creep-down had occurred from the original diameter of 12.25 mm. Cold gap measurements were taken by diametral compression of the clad onto the fuel. The stiffness changes twice during these measurements, the first (relocated gap) associated with the onset of pellet fragment movement, the second (compressed gap) when the fragments are together and the pellet is compressed. For these rods, the compressed diametral gap was measured as 30 microns. This is in agreement with the pellet and cladding being in contact during the final irradiation cycle, i.e., at ∼12 kW/m. FGR measurements were made after puncturing and values of 2.5%-3.3% were calculated from the extracted gas. The uncertainty is due to different methods of calculation. Ceramography showed a normal crack pattern and no evidence of

The current status of research and development concerning steam generator acoustic leak detection for the demonstration FBR plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Higuchi, Masahisa

1990-01-01

The Japan Atomic Power Co. (JAPC) started the research and development into Acoustic Leak Detection for the Demonstration FBR (D-FBR) plant in 1989. Acoustic Leak Detection is expected as a water leak detection system in the Steam Generator for the first D-FBR plant. JAPC is presently analyzing data on Acoustic Leak Detection in order to form some basic concepts and basic specifications about leak detection. Both low frequency types and high frequency types are selected as candidates for Acoustic Leak Detection. After a review of both types, either one will be selected for the D-FBT plant. A detailed Research and Development plan on Acoustic Leak Detection, which should be carried out prior to starting the construction of the D-FBR plant, is under review. (author). 3 figs, 2 tabs

Analysis on burn-up behaviors for accelerator-driven sub-critical facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Guisheng; Zhao Zhixiang; Zhang Baocheng; Shen Qinbiao; Ding Dazhao

2000-01-01

An analysis is performed on burn-up behaviors for accelerator-driven sub-critical reactor by means of the code PASC-1 for neutronics calculation, the code CBURN for burn-up calculation and 44 group constants is processed by CENDL-2 and ENDF/B-6 using NJOY-91.91

The build-up and characterization of nuclear burn-up wave in a fast ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

K V Anoop

2018-02-07

Feb 7, 2018 ... evaluating the quality of the wave by the researchers working in the field of nuclear burn-up wave build-up and propagation. Keywords. ... However, there are concerns relating to the nuclear safety, ... Simulation studies have.

FBR structural material test facility in flowing sodium environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shanmugasundaram, M.; Kumar, Hemant; Ravi, S.

2016-01-01

In Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR), components such as Control and Safety Rod Drive Mechanism (CSRDM), Diverse Safety Rod Drive Mechanism (DSRDM), Transfer arm and primary sodium pumps etc., are experiencing friction and wear between the moving parts in contact with liquid sodium at high temperature. Hence, it is essential to evaluate the friction and wear behaviour to validate the design of components. In addition, the above core structural reactor components such as core cover plate, control plugs etc., undergoes thermal striping which is random thermal cycling induced by flow stream resulting from the mixing of non isothermal jets near that component. This leads to development of surface cracks and assist in crack growth which in turn may lead to failure of the structural component. Further, high temperature components are often subjected to low cycle fatigue due to temperature gradient induced cyclic thermal stresses caused by start-ups, shutdowns and transients. Also steady state operation at elevated temperature introduces creep and the combination of creep and fatigue leads to creep-fatigue interactions. Therefore, resistance to low cycle fatigue, creep and creep-fatigue are important considerations in the design of FBR components. Liquid sodium is used as coolant and hence the study of the above properties in dynamic sodium are equally important. In view of the above, facility for materials testing in sodium (INSOT) has been constructed and in operation for conducting the experiments such as tribology, thermal stripping, low cycle fatigue, creep and creep-fatigue interaction etc. The salient features of the operation and maintenance of creep and fatigue loops of INSOT facility are discussed in detail. (author)

TEM Characterization of High Burn-up Microstructure of U-7Mo Alloy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jian Gan; Brandon Miller; Dennis Keiser; Adam Robinson; James Madden; Pavel Medvedev; Daniel Wachs

2014-04-01

As an essential part of global nuclear non-proliferation effort, the RERTR program is developing low enriched U-Mo fuels (< 20% U-235) for use in research and test reactors that currently employ highly enriched uranium fuels. One type of fuel being developed is a dispersion fuel plate comprised of U-7Mo particles dispersed in Al alloy matrix. Recent TEM characterizations of the ATR irradiated U-7Mo dispersion fuel plates include the samples with a local fission densities of 4.5, 5.2, 5.6 and 6.3 E+21 fissions/cm3 and irradiation temperatures of 101-136?C. The development of the irradiated microstructure of the U-7Mo fuel particles consists of fission gas bubble superlattice, large gas bubbles, solid fission product precipitates and their association to the large gas bubbles, grain subdivision to tens or hundreds of nanometer size, collapse of bubble superlattice, and amorphisation. This presentation will describe the observed microstructures specifically focusing on the U-7Mo fuel particles. The impact of the observed microstructure on the fuel performance and the comparison of the relevant features with that of the high burn-up UO2 fuels will be discussed.

Treatment and follow-up results of children with electrical burn who observed in burn intensive care unit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Çiğdem Aliosmanoğlu

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Electrical burns are infrequent relative to other injuries, but they are associated with high morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to assess management and follow-up results of pediatric patients’ who observed in intensive care unit and also review the precautions for preventing electrical burns.Materials and methods: Totally 22 patients aged under 17 years who were observed in the burn intensive care unit of Şanlıurfa Education and Research Hospital during the period between July 2009-October 2010. Cases were investigated retrospectively. The patients’ age, gender, total burn surface area, length of stay in hospital, musculo-skeletal system complication, cardiovascular system complication, kidney damage and attempts were recorded.Results: Of the 22 cases, 19 (86.3% were male and 3 (13.7% were female. The mean age of the patients was 11.5 years. In 10 (45.4% children burns were occurred in workplace and working area and 12 (54.6% were occurred in the home environment. Depth of burns were third degree in 10 (45.4% children and second degree in 12 (54.6%. The mean percentage of burn surface area was 25.9%. The mean length of stay in hospital was 17 days. Debridement and grafting were performed to 12 (54.6% cases and 10 (45.4% children were treated with dressings. No patient had increased creatinine kinase levels, oliguria, myoglobuinuria and arrhythmia. The mean hospitalization time was 17 days.Conclusion: Nearly half of patients underwent debridement plus grafting. None of our patients developed renal failure other severe system dysfunction.

Technical Development on Burn-up Credit for Spent LWR Fuel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gauld, I.C.

2001-12-26

Technical development on burn-up credit for spent LWR fuels had been performed at JAERI since 1990 under the contract with Science and Technology Agency of Japan entitled ''Technical Development on Criticality Safety Management for Spent LWR Fuels.'' Main purposes of this work are to obtain the experimental data on criticality properties and isotopic compositions of spent LWR fuels and to verify burnup and criticality calculation codes. In this work three major experiments of exponential experiments for spent fuel assemblies to obtain criticality data, non-destructive gamma-ray measurement of spent fuel rods for evaluating axial burn-up profiles, and destructive analyses of spent fuel samples for determining precise burn-up and isotopic compositions were carried out. The measured data obtained were used for validating calculation codes as well as an examination of criticality safety analyses. Details of the work are described in this report.

Base technology development of new materials for FBR performance innovations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kano, Shigeki; Koyama, Masahiro; Nomura, Shigeo; Morikawa, Satoru; Ueno, Fumiyoshi

1989-01-01

This paper describes the base technology development of new materials for FBR performance innovations at the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation. The contents are as follows: (1) development of sodium and radiation resistant new materials, (2) development of high performance shielding material, (3) development of high performance control material, (4) development of new functional materials for reactor instrumentation. (author)

High burn rate solid composite propellants

Science.gov (United States)

Manship, Timothy D.

High burn rate propellants help maintain high levels of thrust without requiring complex, high surface area grain geometries. Utilizing high burn rate propellants allows for simplified grain geometries that not only make production of the grains easier, but the simplified grains tend to have better mechanical strength, which is important in missiles undergoing high-g accelerations. Additionally, high burn rate propellants allow for a higher volumetric loading which reduces the overall missile's size and weight. The purpose of this study is to present methods of achieving a high burn rate propellant and to develop a composite propellant formulation that burns at 1.5 inches per second at 1000 psia. In this study, several means of achieving a high burn rate propellant were presented. In addition, several candidate approaches were evaluated using the Kepner-Tregoe method with hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene (HTPB)-based propellants using burn rate modifiers and dicyclopentadiene (DCPD)-based propellants being selected for further evaluation. Propellants with varying levels of nano-aluminum, nano-iron oxide, FeBTA, and overall solids loading were produced using the HTPB binder and evaluated in order to determine the effect the various ingredients have on the burn rate and to find a formulation that provides the burn rate desired. Experiments were conducted to compare the burn rates of propellants using the binders HTPB and DCPD. The DCPD formulation matched that of the baseline HTPB mix. Finally, GAP-plasticized DCPD gumstock dogbones were attempted to be made for mechanical evaluation. Results from the study show that nano-additives have a substantial effect on propellant burn rate with nano-iron oxide having the largest influence. Of the formulations tested, the highest burn rate was a 84% solids loading mix using nano-aluminum nano-iron oxide, and ammonium perchlorate in a 3:1(20 micron: 200 micron) ratio which achieved a burn rate of 1.2 inches per second at 1000

Technological study report on synthetic evaluation for FBR cycle. The report of the feasibility studies on commercialized FBR cycle system. Phase 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shinoda, Yoshihiko; Ohtaki, Akira; Kofuji, Hirohide; Ono, Kiyoshi; Hirao, Kazunori

2001-03-01

This report is intended to explain the outline of the characteristic evaluation work on various FR cycle system concepts, following the design work, in the 1st phase of the JNC's 'Feasibility Study on Commercialized Fast Reactor Cycle System (the F/S)' (from 1999 to March 2001). The purpose of this characteristic evaluation is to reveal the performance of candidate FR cycle systems. For this synthetic estimation, six viewpoints, such as Economics, Effective utilization of uranium resource, Reduction of environmental impact, Safety, Proliferation resistance, and Technological feasibility, are selected. In addition, aiming at the practical use in phase 2, we examined an application to FBR research and development of cost benefit analysis method used for the policy evaluation. Furthermore, long-term nuclear material mass flow was analyzed and the scenario of 'FBR application for the hydrogen production' is proposed, considering how FBR would be utilized for the 21st century. And, a database including the various documents and data used for evaluation was constructed. (author)

Creep-fatigue life property of FBR high-temperature structural materials under tension-torsion loading and life evaluation method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ogata, Takashi; Nitta, Akito

1994-01-01

Creep-fatigue damage in high temperature structural components in a FBR progress under multiaxial stress condition depending on their operating conditions and configuration. Therefore, multiaxial stress effects on creep-fatigue damage evolution must be clarified to make precise creep-fatigue damage evaluation of these components. In this study, creep-fatigue tests in FBR high temperature materials such as SUS304, 316FR stainless steels and a modified 9Cr steel were conducted under biaxial stress subjecting tension-compression and torsion loading, in order to examine biaxial stress effects on failure mechanism and life property, and to discuss creep-fatigue life evaluation methods under biaxial stress. Main results obtained in this study are summarized as follows: 1. The main cracks under cyclic torsion loading propagated by shear mode in three materials. But intergranular failure was occurred in SUS304 and 316FR, and transgranular failure was observed in Mod.9Cr steel. 2. Nonlinear damage accumulation model proposed based on uniaxial creep-fatigue test results was extended to apply for creep-fatigue damage evaluation under biaxial stress state by considering the biaxial stress effects on fatigue and creep damage evolution. 3. It was confirmed that creep-fatigue life under biaxial stress could be predicted by the extended evaluation method with higher accuracy than existing methods. (author)

Pediatric superficial scald burns--reassessment of our follow-up protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Egro, Francesco M; O'Neill, Jennifer K; Briard, Robert; Cubison, Tania C S; Kay, Alan R; Estela, Catalina M; Burge, Timothy S

2010-01-01

The most common pediatric burn injury is a superficial scald. The current follow-up protocol for such burns includes review of the patient at 2 weeks postinjury and then 2 months later. The authors decided to review the protocol to assess the need for this second follow-up. A retrospective study reviewed the case notes of patients younger than 16 years at the time of their injury presenting with a scald over 5% TBSA. The progress of healing and scar development up to 5 years follow-up was assessed. This study showed that scalds healing within 2 weeks following injury rarely became hypertrophic. A prospective study was performed over a 10-month period. All children who suffered a superficial partial-thickness scald injury were included. At the 2-week appointment, the need for further follow-up was predicted. The accuracy of this prediction was assessed 2 months later. This study showed that an experienced member of the burns team could reliably predict at 2-week appointment those children who could be safely discharged with no subsequent need for scar management. This study suggests that it will be safe to modify the follow-up protocol, reducing the number of clinic attendances.

Three dimensional Burn-up program parallelization using socket programming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haliyati R, Evi; Su'ud, Zaki

2002-01-01

A computer parallelization process was built with a purpose to decrease execution time of a physics program. In this case, a multi computer system was built to be used to analyze burn-up process of a nuclear reactor. This multi computer system was design need using a protocol communication among sockets, i.e. TCP/IP. This system consists of computer as a server and the rest as clients. The server has a main control to all its clients. The server also divides the reactor core geometrically to in parts in accordance with the number of clients, each computer including the server has a task to conduct burn-up analysis of 1/n part of the total reactor core measure. This burn-up analysis was conducted simultaneously and in a parallel way by all computers, so a faster program execution time was achieved close to 1/n times that of one computer. Then an analysis was carried out and states that in order to calculate the density of atoms in a reactor of 91 cm x 91 cm x 116 cm, the usage of a parallel system of 2 computers has the highest efficiency

Performance of high burned PWR fuel during transient

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yanagisawa, Kazuaki; Fujishiro, Toshio

1992-01-01

In a majority of Japanese light water type commercial powder reactors (LWRs), UO 2 pellet sheathed by zircaloy cladding is used. Licensed discharged burn-up of the PWR fuel rod is going to be increased from 39 MWd/kgU to 48 MWd/kgU. This requests the increased reliability of cladding material as a strong barrier against fission product (FP). A long time usage in the neutron field and in the high temperature coolant will cause the zircaloy hardening and embrittlement. The cladding material is also degraded by waterside corrosion. These degradations are enhanced much by increased burn-up. A increased magnitude of the pellet-cladding mechanical interaction (PCMI) is of importance for increasing the stress of cladding material. In addition, aggressive FPs released from the fuel tends to attack the cladding material to cause stress corrosion cracking (SCC). At the Nuclear Safety Research Reactor (NSRR) in JAERI, 14 x 14 PWR type fuel rods preirradiation up to 42 MWd/kgU was prepared for the transient pulse irradiation under the simulated reactivity initiated accident (RIA) conditions. This will cause a prompt increase of the fuel temperature and stress on the highly burned cladding material. In the present paper, steady-state and transient behavior observed from the tested PWR fuel rod and calculational results obtained from the computer code FPRETAIN will be described. (author)

Sintered-to-size FBR fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rasmussen, D.E.; Schaus, P.S.

1984-04-01

Fabrication of sintered-to-size PuO 2 -UO 2 fuel pellets was completed for testing of proposed FBR product specifications. Approximately 6000 pellets were fabricated to two nominal diameters and two densities by cold pressing and sintering to size. Process control and correlation between test and production batches are discussed

FBR type reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuoki, Akira; Yamakawa, Masanori.

1985-01-01

Purpose: To enable safety and reliable after-heat removal from a reactor core. Constitution: During ordinary operation of a FBR type reactor, sodium coolants heated to a high temperature in a reactor core are exhausted therefrom, collide against the reactor core upper mechanisms to radially change the flowing direction and then enter between each of the guide vanes. In the case if a main recycling pump is failed and stopped during reactor operation and the recycling force is eliminated, the swirling stream of sodium that has been resulted by the flow guide mechanism during normal reactor operation is continuously maintained within a plenum at a high temperature. Accordingly, the sodium recycling force in the coolant flow channels within the reactor vessel can surely be maintained for a long period of time due to the centrifugal force of the sodium swirling stream. In this way, since the reactor core recycling flow rate can be secured even after the stopping of the main recycling pump, after-heat from the reactor core can safely and surely be removed. (Seki, T.)

Extended fuel swelling models and ultra high burn-up fuel behavior of U–Pu–Zr metallic fuel using FEAST-METAL

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karahan, Aydın, E-mail: karahan@alum.mit.edu [Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems, Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, 24-215, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Andrews, Nathan C., E-mail: nandrews@mit.edu [Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems, Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, 24-215, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)

2013-05-15

Highlights: ► Improved fuel swelling models in phase structure dependent form. ► A probabilistic verification exercise for the open porosity formation threshold. ► Satisfactory validation effort for available EBR-II database. ► Ultra high burn-up behavior of U–6Zr fuel with 60% smear density fuel. -- Abstract: Computational models in FEAST-METAL U–Pu–Zr metallic fuel behavior code have been upgraded to improve fission gas, solid fission product swelling, and pore sintering behavior in a microstructure dependent form. First, fission gas bubble growth is modeled by selecting small and large bubble groups according to a fixed number of gas atoms per bubble group. Small bubbles nucleated at phase boundaries grow via gas migration and turn into large bubbles. Furthermore, bubble morphology for each phase structure is captured by selecting the number of atoms per bubble and the shape of the bubbles in a phase dependent form. The gas diffusion coefficients for the single gamma phase and effective dual (α + δ) and (β + γ) phase structures are modeled separately, using the activation energy of the corresponding phase structure. In this study, it is found that pressure sintering of the interconnected porosity in dual phases should be less effective than the reference model in order to match clad strain and fission gas release behavior. In addition to these improvements, a probabilistic approach is taken to verify the fission gas-swelling threshold at which interconnected porosity begins. This fracture problem is treated as a function of critical crack length formed via bubble coalescence. It was found that a 10% gas-swelling threshold is appropriate for a wide range of gas bubble sizes. The new version of FEAST-METAL predicts the burn-up, smear density, and axial variation of the clad hoop strain and fission gas release behavior satisfactorily for selected test pins under EBR-II conditions. The code is used to predict ultra-high burn-up U–Pu–6Zr vented

Extended fuel swelling models and ultra high burn-up fuel behavior of U–Pu–Zr metallic fuel using FEAST-METAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karahan, Aydın; Andrews, Nathan C.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Improved fuel swelling models in phase structure dependent form. ► A probabilistic verification exercise for the open porosity formation threshold. ► Satisfactory validation effort for available EBR-II database. ► Ultra high burn-up behavior of U–6Zr fuel with 60% smear density fuel. -- Abstract: Computational models in FEAST-METAL U–Pu–Zr metallic fuel behavior code have been upgraded to improve fission gas, solid fission product swelling, and pore sintering behavior in a microstructure dependent form. First, fission gas bubble growth is modeled by selecting small and large bubble groups according to a fixed number of gas atoms per bubble group. Small bubbles nucleated at phase boundaries grow via gas migration and turn into large bubbles. Furthermore, bubble morphology for each phase structure is captured by selecting the number of atoms per bubble and the shape of the bubbles in a phase dependent form. The gas diffusion coefficients for the single gamma phase and effective dual (α + δ) and (β + γ) phase structures are modeled separately, using the activation energy of the corresponding phase structure. In this study, it is found that pressure sintering of the interconnected porosity in dual phases should be less effective than the reference model in order to match clad strain and fission gas release behavior. In addition to these improvements, a probabilistic approach is taken to verify the fission gas-swelling threshold at which interconnected porosity begins. This fracture problem is treated as a function of critical crack length formed via bubble coalescence. It was found that a 10% gas-swelling threshold is appropriate for a wide range of gas bubble sizes. The new version of FEAST-METAL predicts the burn-up, smear density, and axial variation of the clad hoop strain and fission gas release behavior satisfactorily for selected test pins under EBR-II conditions. The code is used to predict ultra-high burn-up U–Pu–6Zr vented

Reactivity management and burn-up management on JRR-3 silicide-fuel-core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kato, Tomoaki; Araki, Masaaki; Izumo, Hironobu; Kinase, Masami; Torii, Yoshiya; Murayama, Yoji

2007-08-01

On the conversion from uranium-aluminum-dispersion-type fuel (aluminide fuel) to uranium-silicon-aluminum-dispersion-type fuel (silicide fuel), uranium density was increased from 2.2 to 4.8 g/cm 3 with keeping uranium-235 enrichment of 20%. So, burnable absorbers (cadmium wire) were introduced for decreasing excess reactivity caused by the increasing of uranium density. The burnable absorbers influence reactivity during reactor operation. So, the burning of the burnable absorbers was studied and the influence on reactor operation was made cleared. Furthermore, necessary excess reactivity on beginning of operation cycle and the time limit for restart after unplanned reactor shutdown was calculated. On the conversion, limit of fuel burn-up was increased from 50% to 60%. And the fuel exchange procedure was changed from the six-batch dispersion procedure to the fuel burn-up management procedure. The previous estimation of fuel burn-up was required for the planning of fuel exchange, so that the estimation was carried out by means of past operation data. Finally, a new fuel exchange procedure was proposed for effective use of fuel elements. On the procedure, burn-up of spent fuel was defined for each loading position. The average length of fuel's staying in the core can be increased by two percent on the procedure. (author)

Establishing a PWR burn-up library

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lutz, D.C.

1981-01-01

Starting out from data file ENDF/B IV /1/, a cross-section library has been established for the calculation of operating conditions in pressurized water reactors of the type used in BIBLIS B. The library includes macroscopic, homogenized 2-group cross-sections for all types of fuel elements used in this reactor, including those equipped with boron glass rods. For their calculation the previous irradiation of the fuel has been taken into consideration by approximation. Information on fuel consumption from cell burn-up calculations has been stored in a separate data file. It was designed as a base for the determination of cross sections to be used in the calculation of the incident ''main-steam pipe fracture''. For this library the description of cross sections as a function of the moderator status chose the water densities at 300 0 C/155 bar, 190 0 C/140 bar and 100 0 C/100 bar as fixed values. The burn-up library has been tested by a three-dimensional calculation for the 1sup(st) cycle of the BIBLIS B-reactor using program QUABOX /2/. This showed variances with the anticipated course concerning critically, which can be explained almost quantitatively by known deficiencies of the ENDF/b-IV library. (orig.) [de

Instant release fraction and matrix release of high burn-up UO{sub 2} spent nuclear fuel: Effect of high burn-up structure and leaching solution composition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Serrano-Purroy, D., E-mail: Daniel.serrano-purroy@ec.europa.eu [European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Transuranium Elements, P.O. Box 2340, D-76125 Karlsruhe (Germany); Clarens, F.; Gonzalez-Robles, E. [CTM Centre Tecnologic, Avda. Bases de Manresa 1, 08240 Barcelona (Spain); Glatz, J.P.; Wegen, D.H. [European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Transuranium Elements, P.O. Box 2340, D-76125 Karlsruhe (Germany); Pablo, J. de [CTM Centre Tecnologic, Avda. Bases de Manresa 1, 08240 Barcelona (Spain); Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Avda. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Casas, I.; Gimenez, J. [Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Avda. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona (Spain); Martinez-Esparza, A. [ENRESA, C/Emilio Vargas 7, 28043 Madrid (Spain)

2012-08-15

Two weak points in Performance Assessment (PA) exercises regarding the alteration of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) are the contribution of the so-called Instant Release Fraction (IRF) and the effect of High Burn-Up Structure (HBS). This manuscript focuses on the effect of HBS in matrix (long term) and instant release of a Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) SNF irradiated in a commercial reactor with a mean Burn-Up (BU) of 60 GWd/tU. In order to study the HBS contribution, two samples from different radial positions have been prepared. One from the centre of the SNF, labelled CORE, and one from the periphery, enriched with HBS and labelled OUT. Static leaching experiments have been carried out with two synthetic leaching solutions: bicarbonate (BIC) and Bentonitic Granitic Groundwater (BGW), and in all cases under oxidising conditions. IRF values have been calculated from the determined Fraction of Inventory in Aqueous Phase (FIAP). In all studied cases, some radionuclides (RN): Rb, Sr and Cs, have shown higher release rates than uranium, especially at the beginning of the experiment, and have been considered as IRF. Redox sensitive RN like Mo and Tc have been found to dissolve slightly faster than uranium and further studies might be needed to confirm if they can also be considered part of the IRF. Most of the remaining studied RN, mainly actinides and lanthanides, have been found to dissolve congruently with the uranium matrix. Finally, Zr, Ru and Rh presented lower release rates than the matrix. Higher matrix release has been determined for CORE than for OUT samples showing that the formation of HBS might have a protective effect against the oxidative corrosion of the SNF. On the contrary, no significant differences have been observed between the two studied leaching solutions (BIC and BGW). Two different IRF contributions have been determined. One corresponding to the fraction of inventory segregated in the external open grain boundaries, directly available to water and

Micrographic study on distribution of fission products in high burn-up metallic alloy fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kolay, S.; Basu, M.; Das, D.

2012-01-01

One of the important mandates in the three-stage nuclear power generation programme of India is to utilize uranium-plutonium based alloy fuels in enabling shorter doubling time for breeding of the fissile isotopes ( 239 Pu and 233 U ) to be used in thorium based driver fuel in the third stage. Reported information shows the successful performance of alloy fuel with somewhat porous matrix in achieving 10-15 atom% burnup. The porosity and microstructure of these alloys are strongly dependent on their composition and phases present. Porosity also influences the extent of fuel swelling and gas release. So to assess fuel performance and fuel integrity under high burn-up condition it is essential to have knowledge about the new phases formed and their redistribution that occurs as a result of inter-diffusion and temperature gradient. This study addresses these issues taking the base alloy U-10 wt %Zr

Continuous Ethanol Production Using Immobilized-Cell/Enzyme Biocatalysts in Fluidized-Bed Bioreactor (FBR)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nghiem, NP

2003-11-16

The immobilized-cell fluidized-bed bioreactor (FBR) was developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Previous studies at ORNL using immobilized Zymomonas mobilis in FBR at both laboratory and demonstration scale (4-in-ID by 20-ft-tall) have shown that the system was more than 50 times as productive as industrial benchmarks (batch and fed-batch free cell fermentations for ethanol production from glucose). Economic analysis showed that a continuous process employing the FBR technology to produce ethanol from corn-derived glucose would offer savings of three to six cents per gallon of ethanol compared to a typical batch process. The application of the FBR technology for ethanol production was extended to investigate more complex feedstocks, which included starch and lignocellulosic-derived mixed sugars. Economic analysis and mathematical modeling of the reactor were included in the investigation. This report summarizes the results of these extensive studies.

Study of nuclear fuel burn-up

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pavelescu, M.; Borza, M.

1975-01-01

The authors approach theoretical treatment of isotopic composition changement for nuclear fuel in nuclear reactors. They show the difficulty of exhaustive treatment of burn-up problems and introduce the principal simplifying principles. Due to these principles they write and solve analytically the evolution equations of the concentration for the principal nuclides both in the case of fast and thermal reactors. Finally, they expose and comment the results obtained in the case of a power fast reactor. (author)

On-line extraction of the variance caused by burn-up in in-core three-dimensional power distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Yaqi; Luo Zhengpei; Li Fu; Liu Wenfeng

2001-01-01

In most of PWRs, the ex-core ion-chambers are the sole real-time sensors to respond to in-core power and its axial offset. However, the calibration coefficient of the ion-chambers depends on the (3D) power distribution and varies with the burn-up. People expect to know the variance in distribution caused by burn-up directly from the signals of ion-chambers. This expectation is not realized as yet, because an ion-chamber almost only responds to its nearest fuel assemblies. The authors then developed a two-step method for burn-up characteristic extraction: the harmonics synthesis method and harmonics' burn-up grouping. Using the extracted burn-up characteristics, the relationship between the readings of the ex-core ion-chambers and the in-core 3D power distribution is set up. Through the simulation on the heating reactor, the method of burn-up characteristic extraction is verified under engineering conditions. It is possible to on-line extract the variance caused by burn-up in 3D power distribution

Burn-up TRIGA Mark II benchmark experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Persic, A.; Ravnik, M.; Zagar, T.

1998-01-01

Different reactor codes are used for calculations of reactor parameters. The accuracy of the programs is tested through comparison of the calculated values with the experimental results. Well-defined and accurately measured benchmarks are required. The experimental results of reactivity measurements, fuel element reactivity worth distribution and fuel-up measurements are presented in this paper. The experiments were performed with partly burnt reactor core. The experimental conditions were well defined, so that the results can be used as a burn-up benchmark test case for a TRIGA Mark II reactor calculations.(author)

Study on the sensitivity of Self-Powered Neutron Detectors (SPND) and its change due to burn-up

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Gyuseong; Lee, Wanno; Yoon, Jeong-Hyoun.

1996-01-01

Self-Powered Neutron Detectors (SPND) are currently used to estimate the power generation distribution and fuel burn-up in several nuclear power reactors in Korea. While they have several advantages such as small size, low cost, and relatively simple electronics required in conjunction with its usage, it has some intrinsic problems of the low level of output current, a slow response time, the rapid change of sensitivity which makes it difficult to use for a long term. In this paper, Monte Carlo simulation was accomplished to calculate the escape probability as a function of the birth position for the typical geometry of rhodium-based SPNDs. Using the simulation result, the burn-up profile of rhodium number density and the neutron sensitivity is calculated as a function of burn-up time in the reactor. The sensitivity of the SPND decreases non-linearly due to the high absorption cross-section and the non-uniform burn-up of rhodium in the emitter rod. The method used here can be applied to the analysis of other types of SPNDs and will be useful in the optimum design of new SPNDs for long-term usage. (author)

Build-up and management of transuranium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uematsu, Kunihiko

1984-01-01

About 17,000,000 kW is generated by nuclear power station at present and this figure correspond to 20 % of total power generation in Japan, and is expected to increase year after year. Following the increase of power generation, build-up of Transuraium from nuclear power station will increase as a matter of course. In 2,000 AD; the build-up of Pu and TPu is expected to reach up to 200 T(TPu = 24 T). Effective management of TPu build-up is now an urgent problem Recycling of Pu and TPu including LWR-Pu recycling, ATR-Pu recycling and FBR-Pu recycling were investigated. In LWR-Pu recycling, recycling quantities of Pu and TPu, and generation of power increase following the repetition of recycling. In ATR-Pu recycling, the increase of TPu following recycling is more remakable than that of LWR-Pu recycling. On the contrary, in FBR-Pu recycling, TPu decreases following the repetition of recycling. The decrease of TPu is thought to be caused by extinction effect in FBR. All of these recycling are suitable for the utilization of Pu, but FBR-Pu recycling is most effective for utilization of Pu and decrease of TPu. Accordingly, when LWR or ATR recycling is applied, Pu shall be transferred to FBR after 1 - 2 recycling. For long-term management of TPu, recycling is not sufficient and some positive method such as oxtinction by strong neutron source like proton linear accelerator is necessary. Fundamental researches on nuclear fuel cycle, nuclide separation method and extinction process of TPu must be carried out. (Ishimitsu, A.)

Calculation of heat rating and burn-up for test fuel pins irradiated in DR 3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bagger, C.; Carlsen, H.; Hansen, K.

1980-01-01

A summary of the DR 3 reactor and HP1 rig design is given followed by a detailed description of the calculation procedure for obtaining linear heat rating and burn-up values of fuel pins irradiated in HP1 rigs. The calculations are carried out rather detailed, especially regarding features like end pellet contribution to power as a function of burn-up, gamma heat contributions, and evaluation of local values of heat rating and burn-up. Included in the report is also a description of the fast flux- and cladding temperature calculation techniques currently used. A good agreement between measured and calculated local burn-up values is found. This gives confidence to the detailed treatment of the data. (author)

The burn-up credit physics and the 40. Minerve anniversary; La physique du credit Burn-Up et le 40. anniversaire de Minerve

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santamarina, A [CEA/Cadarache, Departement d' Etudes des Reacteurs, DER/SPRC, 13 - Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France); Toubon, H [Cogema, 78 - Velizy Villacoublay (France); Trakas, C [FRAMATOME, 92 - Paris La Defense (France); and others

2000-03-21

The technical meeting organized by the SFEN on the burn-up credit (CBU) physics, took place the 23 november 1999 at Cadarache. the first presentation dealt with the economic interest and the neutronic problems of the CBU. Then two papers presented how taking into account the CBU in the industry in matter of transport, storage in pool, reprocessing and criticality calculation (MCNP4/Apollo2-F benchmark). An experimental method for the reactivity measurement through oscillations in the Minerve reactor, has been presented with an analysis of the possible errors. The future research program OSMOSE, taking into account the minor actinides in the CBU, was also developed. The last paper presented the national and international research programs in the CBU domain, in particular experiments realized in CEA/Valduc and the OECD Burn-up Criticality Benchmark Group activities. (A.L.B.)

Establishing the fuel burn-up measuring system for 106 irradiated assemblies of Dalat reactor by using gamma spectrometer method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen Minh Tuan; Pham Quang Huy; Tran Tri Vien; Trang Cao Su; Tran Quoc Duong; Dang Tran Thai Nguyen

2013-01-01

The fuel burn-up is an important parameter needed to be monitored and determined during a reactor operation and fuel management. The fuel burn-up can be calculated using computer codes and experimentally measured. This work presents the theory and experimental method applied to determine the burn-up of the irradiated and 36% enriched VVR-M2 fuel type assemblies of Dalat reactor. The method is based on measurement of Cs-137 absolute specific activity using gamma spectrometer. Designed measuring system consists of a collimator tube, high purity Germanium detector (HPGe) and associated electronics modules and online computer data acquisition system. The obtained results of measurement are comparable with theoretically calculated results. (author)

Thermomechanical behavior and modeling of zircaloy cladding tubes from an unirradiated state to high burn-up

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaeffler-Le Pichon, I.; Geyer, P.; Bouffioux, P.

1997-01-01

Creep laws are nowadays commonly used to simulate the fuel rod response to the solicitations it faces during its life. These laws are sufficient for describing the base operating conditions (where only creep appears), but they have to be improved for power ramp conditions (where hardening and relaxation appear). The modification due to a neutronic irradiation of the thermomechanical behavior of stress-relieved Zircaloy 4 fuel tubes that have been analysed for five different fluences ranging from a non-irradiated material to a material for which the combustion rate was very high is presented. In the second part, a viscoplastic model able to simulate, for different isotherms, out-of-flux anisotropic mechanical behavior of the cladding tubes irradiated until high burn-up is proposed. Finally, results of numerical simulations show the ability of the model to reproduce the totality of the thermomechanical experiments. (author)

Axial gas transport and loss of pressure after ballooning rupture of high burn-up fuel rods subjected to LOCA conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wiesenack, Wolfgang; Oberlaender, Barbara; Kekkonen, Laura

2008-01-01

The OECD Halden Reactor Project has implemented integral in-pile tests on issues related to fuel behaviour under LOCA conditions. In this test series, the interaction of bonded fuel and cladding, the behaviour of fragmented fuel around the ballooning area, and the axial gas communication in high burn-up rods as affected by gap closure and fuel-clad bonding are of major interest for the investigations. In the Halden reactor tests, the decay heat is simulated by a low level of nuclear heating, in contrast to the heating conditions implemented in hot laboratory set-ups, and the thermal expansion of fuel and cladding relative to each other is more similar to the real event. The paper deals with observations regarding the loss of rod pressure following the rupture of the cladding. In the majority of the tests conducted so far, the rod pressure dropped practically instantaneously as a consequence of ballooning rupture, while one test showed a remarkably slow pressure loss. The slow loss of pressure in this test was analysed, showing that the 'hydraulic diameter' of the rod over an un-distended upper part was about 30 - 35 μm which is typical of high burn-up fuel at hot-standby conditions. The 'plug' of fuel restricts the gas flow from the plenum through the fuel column and thus limits the availability of high pressure gas for driving the ballooning. This observation is relevant for the analysis of the behaviour of a full length fuel rod under LOCA conditions since restricted gas flow may influence bundle blockage and the number of failures. (authors)

Determination of nuclear fuel burn-up

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kristak, J.; Vobecky, M.

1973-01-01

Samples containing a known content of 235 U were irradiated with several different neutron doses and activities were determined of radionuclides including 125 Sb, 144 Ce, 134 Cs, 154 Eu, 103 Ru, 95 Zr. The values thus obtained were divided by the 137 Cs activity value. The resulting neutron dose-dependent value is plotted into a calibration graph. The degree of nuclear fuel burn-up is obtained from the graph using an experimentally determined ratio of the activities of the above radionuclides. (B.S.)

Calculational prediction of fuel burn-up for the Dalat Nuclear Research Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nguyen Phuoc Lan; Do Quang Binh

2016-01-01

In this paper, the method of expanding operators and functions in the neutron diffusion equations as chains of time variable is used for calculation of fuel burn-up of the Dalat nuclear reactors. A computer code, named BURREF, programmed in language Fortran-77 running on IBM PC-AT, has been developed based on this method to predict the fuel burn-up of the Dalat reactor. Some results will be presented here. (author)

Challenges in the application of burn-up credit to the criticality safety of the THORP reprocessing plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mayson, R.T.H.; Gunston, K.J.

1999-01-01

Since 1991 BNFL has made a significant investment in the development of the burn-up credit method and the application to its operations. It has recently demonstrated that using this method for the THORP dissolvers, it is possible to justify operating safety with reduced neutron poison concentrations and this has now been submitted to the regulators. The continued challenges the criticality safety community is facing are to show that we are not reducing safety levels because we are using burn-up credit. The burn-up credit method that has been developed can be summarized as follows. It consists of performing reactivity calculations for irradiated fuel using compositions generated by and inventory prediction code, generally in order to determine the limiting burn-up required for that fuel in a particular environment. In addition, it has always been envisaged that a confirmatory measurement of burn-up would be required to be made prior to certain operations such as the sharing of fuel into a dissolver. The burn-up credit method therefore relies upon three key components of inventory prediction, reactivity calculation code and the quantification and verification of burn-up. (J.P.N.)

Status of feasibility study for various technical options of FBR systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kani, Yoshio

2000-01-01

JNC (Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute) has started a new research project of feasibility studies (F/S) for a wide variety option of fast breeder reactor (FBR) and related fuel cycle in order to develop an economically competitive FBR cycle system fro commercialization. JNC and the electric untilities in Japan have established a new organization in JNC to perform the F/S since July 1, 1999. The organization has undertaken feasibility studies (F/S) in order to determine promising FBR cycle concepts and define necessary RandD tasks. The long-term targets of commercialized FBR cycle system are set as ensuring safety, economic competitiveness relative to future LWRs, efficient utilization of resources, reduction in environmental burden, and enhancement of nuclear non-proliferation. This paper describes the progress of design studies for a wide variety of technical options of FBR plants in the framework of the F/S. We make efforts towards considering all key issues so as not to fail to notice the best concept in a commercialized stage. In the study of technical options, the identified coolant types are sodium, heavy metal (lead and lead-bismuth), gas (carbon dioxide and helium ) and water (boiling water, pressurized water and supercritical water). The classified types of fuel are mixed oxide, nitride and metal. Design studies of small size modular plant concepts are also performed. We study many reactor concepts in combination with a coolant type and a fuel type, understand characteristics of each reactor concept based on our experience and an extensive survey of literature, and make a draft design of each reactor concept for rough estimation of construction costs. We also check how far the concept accomplishes each index (safety, economy, resource utilization, etc.) of design requirements, and will select several promising reactor concepts. (author)

Long-term logistic analysis of FBR introduction strategy: avoiding both uranium and plutonium shortage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, T.

1995-01-01

Despite comfortable predictions on short to mid-term uranium resources, there is still a concern about long-term availability of competitive uranium resources. In order to achieve substantial uranium saving, early introduction of Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) is desirable. But it is also known that rapid introduction of FBR could result in plutonium storage. Will there be enough plutonium on a global scale to sustain fast FBR growth? is there any other way to save uranium resource? This paper concludes that multi-option strategies to achieve flexible long-term strategy to avoid both uranium and plutonium storage are desirable. (authors)

Optimalisation Of Oxide Burn-Up Enhanced For RSG-Gas Core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tukiran; Sembiring, Tagor Malem

2000-01-01

Strategy of fuel management of the RSG-Gas core has been changed from 6/1 to 5/1 pattern so the evaluation of fuel management is necessary to be done. The aim of evaluation is to look for the optimal fuel management so that the fuel can be stayed longer in the core and finally can save cost of operation. Using Batan-EQUIL-2D code did the evaluation of fuel management with 5/1 pattern. The result of evaluation is used to choose which one is more advantage without break the safety margin which is available in the Safety Analysis Report (SAR) firstly, the fuel management was calculated with core excess reactivity of 9,2% criteria. Secondly, fuel burn-up maximum of 56% criteria and the last, fuel burn-up maximum of 64% criteria. From the result of fuel management calculation of the RSG-Gas equilibrium core can be concluded that the optimal RSG-Gas equilibrium core with 5/1 pattern is if the fuel burn-up maximum 64% and the energy in a cycle of operation is 715 MWD. The fuel can be added one more step in the core without break any safety margin. It means that the RSG-Gas equilibrium core can save fuel and cost reduction

Fuel burn-up distribution and transuranic nuclide contents produced at the first cycle operation of AP1000

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jati Susilo; Jupiter Sitorus Pane

2016-01-01

AP1000 reactor core was designed with nominal power of 1154 MWe (3415 MWth), operated within life time of 60 years and cycle length of 18 months. For the first cycle, the AP1000 core uses three kinds of UO 2 enrichment, they are 2.35 w/o, 3.40 w/o and 4.45 w/o. Absorber materials such as ZrB 2 , Pyrex and Boron solution are used to compensate the excess reactivity at the beginning of cycle. In the core, U-235 fuels are burned by fission reaction and produce energy, fission products and new neutron. Because of the U-238 neutron absorption reaction, the high level radioactive waste of heavy nuclide transuranic such as Pu, Am, Cm and Np are also generated. They have a very long half life. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the result of fuel burn-up distribution and heavy nuclide transuranic contents produced by AP1000 at the end of first cycle operation (EOFC). Calculation of ¼ part of the AP1000 core in the 2 dimensional model has been done using SRAC2006 code with the module of COREBN/HIST. The input data called the table of macroscopic cross section, is calculated using module of PIJ. The result shows that the maximum fuel assembly (FA) burn-up is 27.04 GWD/MTU, that is still lower than allowed maximum burn-up of 62 GWD/MTU. Fuel loading position at the center/middle of the core will produce bigger burn-up and transuranic nuclide than one at the edges the of the core. The use of IFBA fuel just give a small effect to lessen the fuel burn-up and transuranic nuclide production. (author)

Burn-up Credit Criticality Safety Benchmark Phase III-C. Nuclide Composition and Neutron Multiplication Factor of a Boiling Water Reactor Spent Fuel Assembly for Burn-up Credit and Criticality Control of Damaged Nuclear Fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suyama, K.; Uchida, Y.; Kashima, T.; Ito, T.; Miyaji, T.

2016-01-01

Criticality control of damaged nuclear fuel is one of the key issues in the decommissioning operation of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident. The average isotopic composition of spent nuclear fuel as a function of burn-up is required in order to evaluate criticality parameters of the mixture of damaged nuclear fuel with other materials. The NEA Expert Group on Burn-up Credit Criticality (EGBUC) has organised several international benchmarks to assess the accuracy of burn-up calculation methodologies. For BWR fuel, the Phase III-B benchmark, published in 2002, was a remarkable landmark that provided general information on the burn-up properties of BWR spent fuel based on the 8x8 type fuel assembly. Since the publication of the Phase III-B benchmark, all major nuclear data libraries have been revised; in Japan from JENDL-3.2 to JENDL-4, in Europe from JEF-2.2 to JEFF-3.1 and in the US from ENDF/B-VI to ENDF/B-VII.1. Burn-up calculation methodologies have been improved by adopting continuous-energy Monte Carlo codes and modern neutronics calculation methods. Considering the importance of the criticality control of damaged fuel in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident, a new international burn-up calculation benchmark for the 9 x 9 STEP-3 BWR fuel assemblies was organised to carry out the inter-comparison of the averaged isotopic composition in the interest of the burnup credit criticality safety community. Benchmark specifications were proposed and approved at the EGBUC meeting in September 2012 and distributed in October 2012. The deadline for submitting results was set at the end of February 2013. The basic model for the benchmark problem is an infinite two-dimensional array of BWR fuel assemblies consisting of a 9 x 9 fuel rod array with a water channel in the centre. The initial uranium enrichment of fuel rods without gadolinium is 4.9, 4.4, 3.9, 3.4 and 2.1 wt% and 3.4 wt% for the rods using gadolinium. The burn-up conditions are

Toward commercialization of FBR cycle (1). Promotion of R and D on technologies maintaining sustainable society

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagaoki, Yoshihiro; Nagura, Fuminori; Sakaguchi, Tomoyoshi; Kawasaki, Hirotsugu; Kikuchi, Shin

2008-01-01

The FBR cycle is a key technology maintaining a sustainable society through efficient utilization of limited uranium resources and conformance to global environmental protection. The domestic and overseas R and D of the FBR cycle entered on a new phase aiming at its commercialization and JAEA started the Fast Reactor Cycle Technology Development (FaCT) project. The FaCT project targeted at international standardization of the FBR fuel cycle and promoting the advanced R and D on the innovative technologies to increase cost-efficiency and reliability for the commercialization under international competition and cooperation. The combination of a sodium cooled FBR and advanced fuel cycle system with advanced aqueous reprocessing and simplified pelletizing fuel fabrication was selected a major concept. (T. Tanaka)

FBR Italian position. The PEC reactor and its control rods system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Artioli, C.

1984-01-01

The greatest effort in Italy concerning Fast Breeder Reactors is concentrated on the PEC project. This project represents in fact the sole Italian work on the FBR option. Up to now the state of progress of the PEC project is as follows: - Design work on reactor components and related systems: 80% - Civil engineering work: 45% - Components construction: 18%. It has recently been stated that construction of the plant must be finished by 1987. The progressive design of the PEC control system and the supporting research and development programmes are described in this paper

Fuel supply demand balances for future FBR commercialization: impacts on plutonium pricing and reactor design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Braun, C.; Zebroski, E.L.

1985-01-01

Plutonium supply and demand balances for fast breeder reactor (FBR) commercialization post-2000 were computed to determine: (a) the maximum supportable number of FBRs that could be installed based on plutonium availability considerations and (b) the feasibility of a reasonable FBR capacity growth case assuming slow introduction post-2010 and rapid capacity growth post-2035. The purpose of the analysis was to determine the outer limitation on the maximum future FBR introduction, or the bounds of a possible plutonium-limited introduction rate, and to estimate the reasonableness of a more limited capacity growth case

Simulation of Fungal-Mediated Cell Death by Fumonisin B1 and Selection of Fumonisin B1–Resistant (fbr) Arabidopsis Mutants

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Julie M.; Heard, Jacqueline E.; Asai, Tsuneaki; Ausubel, Frederick M.

2000-01-01

Fumonisin B1 (FB1), a programmed cell death–eliciting toxin produced by the necrotrophic fungal plant pathogen Fusarium moniliforme, was used to simulate pathogen infection in Arabidopsis. Plants infiltrated with 10 μM FB1 and seedlings transferred to agar media containing 1 μM FB1 develop lesions reminiscent of the hypersensitive response, including generation of reactive oxygen intermediates, deposition of phenolic compounds and callose, accumulation of phytoalexin, and expression of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes. Arabidopsis FB1-resistant (fbr) mutants were selected directly by sowing seeds on agar containing 1 μM FB1, on which wild-type seedlings fail to develop. Two mutants chosen for further analyses, fbr1 and fbr2, had altered PR gene expression in response to FB1. fbr1 and fbr2 do not exhibit differential resistance to the avirulent bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv maculicola (ES4326) expressing the avirulence gene avrRpt2 but do display enhanced resistance to a virulent isogenic strain that lacks the avirulence gene. Our results demonstrate the utility of FB1 for high-throughput isolation of Arabidopsis defense-related mutants and suggest that pathogen-elicited programmed cell death of host cells may be an important feature of compatible plant–pathogen interactions. PMID:11041878

On the condition of UO{sub 2} nuclear fuel irradiated in a PWR to a burn-up in excess of 110 MWd/kgHM

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Restani, R.; Horvath, M. [Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232, Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Goll, W. [AREVA GmbH, P.O. Box 1109, DE-91001 Erlangen (Germany); Bertsch, J.; Gavillet, D.; Hermann, A. [Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232, Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Martin, M., E-mail: matthias.martin@psi.ch [Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232, Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Walker, C.T. [The Grange, 66 High Street, Swinderby, Lincoln LN6 9LU (United Kingdom)

2016-12-01

Post-irradiation examination results are presented for UO{sub 2} fuel from a PWR fuel rod that had been irradiated to an average burn-up of 105 MWd/kgHM and showed high fission gas release of 42%. The radial distribution of xenon and the partitioning of fission gas between bubbles and the fuel matrix was investigated using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and electron probe microanalysis. It is concluded that release from the fuel at intermediate radial positions was mainly responsible for the high fission gas release. In this region thermal release had occurred from the high burn-up structure (HBS) at some point after the sixth irradiation cycle. The LA-ICP-MS results indicate that gas release had also occurred from the HBS in the vicinity of the pellet periphery. It is shown that the gas pressure in the HBS pores is well below the pressure that the fuel can sustain. - Highlights: • Gas retention measured by laser ablation induction coupled plasma mass spectrometry. • Thermal release from the high burn structure responsible for high gas release. • At a pellet burn-up of 115 MWd/kgHM the high burn-up structure is still evolving. • The gas pressure in HBS pores is well below the pressure that the fuel can sustain.

Method of detecting coolant leakages from the pipeways in FBR type reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sonoda, Yukio; Tamaoki, Tetsuo

1986-01-01

Purpose: To detect coolant leakage in the incore pipeways of loop type FBR type reactors in the initial stage at high sensitivity. Constitution: Temperature of the coolants sealed between incore pipeways and the buffle surrounding them is measured by thermocouples and coolant leakage is detected due to fluctuating components. A well-insertion type in which electrode is sealed with argon is used as the thermo-couples. Signals from the thermocouples are once amplified, removed with DC components and then only the fluctuating components are outputted. The fluctuating components are digitalized, passed through an adaptive digital filter and the RMS value as the difference between the output signal and the thermocouple signal is calculated. The calculated value is compared with a threshold value in a comparative calculator. If it exceeds the threshold value, it is judged as abnormal to display an alarm on an alarm display. In this way, the coolant leakage for the pipeways in the FBR type reactor can be detected on real time and at high sensitivity. (Kamimura, M.)

Correlations among FBR core characteristics for various fuel compositions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maruyama, Shuhei; Ohki, Shigeo; Okubo, Tsutomu; Kawashima, Katsuyuki; Mizuno, Tomoyasu

2012-01-01

In the design of a fast breeder reactor (FBR) core for the light water reactor (LWR) to FBR transition stage, it is indispensable to grasp the effect of a wide range of fuel composition variations on the core characteristics. This study finds good correlations between burnup reactivity and safety parameters, such as the sodium void reactivity and Doppler coefficient, for various fuel compositions and determines the mechanisms behind these correlations with the aid of sensitivity analyses. It is clarified that the Doppler coefficient is actually correlated with the other core characteristics by considering the constraint imposed by the requirement of sustaining criticality on the fuel composition variations. These correlations make it easy to specify the various properties ranges for core reactivity control and core safety, which are important for core design in determining the core specifications and performance. They provide significant information for FBR core design for the transition stage. Moreover, as an application of the above-mentioned correlations, a simplified burnup reactivity index is developed for rapid and rational estimation of the core characteristic variations. With the use of this index and these correlations, the core characteristic variations can be estimated for various fuel compositions without repeating the core calculations. (author)

Outline of the seismic design guideline of an FBR - a tentative draft

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akiyama, Hiroshi; Ohtsubo, Hideomi; Nakamura, Hideharu; Matsuura, Shinichi; Hagiwara, Yutaka; Yuhara, Tetsuo; Hirayama, Hiroshi; Kokubo, Kunio; Ooka, Yuji.

1993-01-01

Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (Japan) is carrying out the Demonstration Test and Research Program of Buckling of FBR (FY 1987-FY 1993). The first half of the research program was finished after establishing a seismic buckling design guideline (a tentative draft). The purpose of this paper is to describe the dynamic buckling characteristics of FBR main vessels and the outline of the rationalized buckling design guideline for seismic loadings. (orig.)

FBR type reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kimura, Kimitaka; Fukuie, Ken; Iijima, Tooru; Shimpo, Masakazu.

1994-01-01

In an FBR type reactor for exchanging fuels by pulling up reactor core upper mechanisms, a connection mechanism is disposed for connecting the top of the reactor core and the lower end of the reactor core upper mechanisms. In addition, a cylindrical body is disposed surrounding the reactor core upper mechanisms, and a support member is disposed to the cylindrical body for supporting an intermediate portion of the reactor core upper mechanisms. Then, the lower end of the reactor core upper mechanisms is connected to the top of the reactor core. Same displacements are caused to both of them upon occurrence of earthquakes and, as a result, it is possible to eliminate mutual horizontal displacement between a control rod guide hole of the reactor core upper mechanisms and a control rod insertion hole of the reactor core. In addition, since the intermediate portion of the reactor core upper mechanisms is supported by the support member disposed to the cylindrical body surrounding the reactor core upper mechanisms, deformation caused to the lower end of the reactor core upper mechanisms is reduced, so that the mutual horizontal displacement with respect to the control rod insertion hole of the reactor core can be reduced. As a result, performance of control rod insertion upon occurrence of the earthquakes is improved, so that reactor shutdown is conducted more reliably to improve reactor safety. (N.H.)

Survey of evaluation methods for thermal striping in FBR structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miura, Naoki; Nitta, Akito; Take, Kohji

1988-01-01

In the upper core structures or the sodium mixing tee of Fast Breeder Reactors, sodium mixing streams which are at different temperatures produce rapid temperature fluctuations, namely 'thermal striping', upon component surfaces, and it is apprehended that the high-cycle thermal fatigue causes the crack initiation and propagation. The thermal striping is one of the factors which is considered in FBR component design, however, the standard evaluation method has not built up yet because of the intricacy of that mechanism, the difficulty of an actual proof, the lack of data, and so on. In this report, it is intended to survey of the datails and the present situation of the evaluation method of crack initiation and propagation due to thermal striping, and study the appropriate method which will be made use of the rationalization of design. So it is ascertained that the method which use a quantitative prediction of crack propagation is optimum to evaluate the thermal striping phenomenon. (author)

Sodium Exposure Tests on Limestone Concrete Used as Sacrificial Protection Layer in FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parida, F.C.; Das, S.K.; Sharma, A.K.; Rao, P.M.; Ramesh, S.S.; Somayajulu, P.A.; Malarvizhi, B.; Kasinathan, N.

2006-01-01

Hot sodium coming in contact with structural concrete in case of sodium leak in FBR system cause damage as a result of thermo-chemical attack by burning sodium. In addition, release of free and bound water from concrete leads to generation of hydrogen gas, which is explosive in nature. Hence limestone concrete, as sacrificial layer on the structural concrete in FBR, needs to be qualified. Four concrete blocks of dimension 600 mm x 600 mm x 300 mm with 300 mm x 300 mm x 150 mm cavity were cast and subjected to controlled sodium exposure tests. They have composition of ordinary portland cement, water, fine and coarse aggregate of limestone in the ratio of 1: 0.58: 2.547: 3.817. These blocks were subjected to preliminary inspection by ultrasonic pulse velocity technique and rebound hammer tests. Each block was exposed for 30 minutes to about 12 kg of liquid sodium (∼ 120 mm liquid column) at 550 deg. C in open air, after which sodium was sucked back from the cavity of the concrete block into a sodium tank. On-line temperature monitoring was carried out at strategic locations of sodium pool and concrete block. After removing sodium from the cavity and cleaning the surfaces, rebound hammer testing was carried out on each concrete block at the same locations where data were taken earlier at pre-exposed stage. The statistical analysis of rebound hammer data revealed that one of the concrete block alone has undergone damage to the extent of 16%. The loss of mass occurred for all the four blocks varied from 0.6 to 2.4% due to release of water during the test duration. Chemical analysis of sodium in concrete samples collected from cavity floor of each block helped in generation of depth profiles of sodium monoxide concentration for each block. From this it is concluded that a bulk penetration of sodium up to 30 mm depth has taken place. However it was also observed that at few local spots, sodium penetrated into concrete up to 50 mm. Cylindrical core samples of 50 mm x 150

Burn-Up Calculation of the Fuel Element in RSG-GAS Reactor using Program Package BATAN-FUEL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mochamad Imron; Ariyawan Sunardi

2012-01-01

Calculation of burn lip distribution of 2.96 gr U/cc Silicide fuel element at the 78 th reactor cycle using computer code program of BATAN-FUEL has been done. This calculation uses inputs such as generated power, operation time and a core assumption model of 5/1. Using this calculation model burn up for the entire fuel elements at the reactor core are able to be calculated. From the calculation it is obtained that the minimum burn up of 6.82% is RI-50 at the position of A-9, while the maximum burn up of 57.57% is RI 467 at the position of 8-7. Based on the safety criteria as specified in the Safety Analysis Report (SAR) RSG-GAS reactor, the maximum fuel burn up allowed is 59.59%. It then can be concluded that pattern that elements placement at the reactor core are properly and optimally done. (author)

Method for selecting FBR development strategies in the presence of uncertainty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fraley, D.W.; Burnham, J.B.

1981-12-01

This report describes the methods used to probabilistically analyze data related to the uranium supply the FBR's competitive dates, development strategies' time and costs, and economic benefits. It also describes the econometric methods used to calculate the economic risks of mistiming the development. Seven strategies for developing the FBR are analyzed. The various measures of a strategy's performance - timing, costs, benefits, and risks - are combined into several criteria which are used to evaluate the seven strategies. Methods are described for selecting a strategy based on a number of alternative criteria

The manual of a computer software 'FBR Plant Planning Design Prototype System'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-10-01

This is a manual of a computer software 'FBR Plant Planning Design Prototype System', which enables users to conduct case studies of deviated FBR design concepts based on 'MONJU'. The calculations simply proceed as the user clicks displayed buttons, therefore step-by-step explanation is supposed not be necessary. The following pages introduce only particular features of this software, i.e, each interactive screens, functions of buttons and consequences after clicks, and the quitting procedure. (author)

Defect analysis of BaSrFBr:Eu irradiated by X-ray

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, C. Y.; Jeong, J. M.; Kim, J. H.

2010-01-01

The mechanical property of the BaSrFBr:Eu phosphor layer of X-ray image plates was investigated by using image quality (IQ), resolution (LP/mm), and coincidence Doppler broadening (CDB) positron annihilation. The screen samples of BaSrFBr:Eu phosphors were irradiated with hospital X-rays in the course of diagnostic radiography at an average rate of 20,000 times per year and were used for various periods of time. The LP/mm values of the irradiated BaSrFBr:Eu image plates varied between 2.4 and 2.0 for three years while the IQ values varied between 35 and 11 over the same period. CDB positron annihilation spectroscopy was used to analyze the defect structures in the phosphor layer. The S parameter values increased in correlation with increased exposure time, which indicated that more defects were generated. There was a positive relationship between the IQ and S parameters. Measurements of the defects indicate that most of the defects were likely to have been generated by the X-ray radiation.

Burn-up function of fuel management code for aqueous homogeneous reactors and its validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Liangzi; Yao Dong; Wang Kan

2011-01-01

Fuel Management Code for Aqueous Homogeneous Reactors (FMCAHR) is developed based on the Monte Carlo transport method, to analyze the physics characteristics of aqueous homogeneous reactors. FMCAHR has the ability of doing resonance treatment, searching for critical rod heights, thermal hydraulic parameters calculation, radiolytic-gas bubbles' calculation and bum-up calculation. This paper introduces the theory model and scheme of its burn-up function, and then compares its calculation results with benchmarks and with DRAGON's burn-up results, which confirms its bum-up computing precision and its applicability in the bum-up calculation and analysis for aqueous solution reactors. (authors)

Heat resistant/radiation resistant cable and incore structure test device for FBR type reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanimoto, Hajime; Shiono, Takeo; Sato, Yoshimi; Ito, Kazumi; Sudo, Shigeaki; Saito, Shin-ichi; Mitsui, Hisayasu.

1995-01-01

A heat resistant/radiation resistant coaxial cable of the present invention comprises an insulation layer, an outer conductor and a protection cover in this order on an inner conductor, in which the insulation layer comprises thermoplastic polyimide. In the same manner, a heat resistant/radiation resistant power cable has an insulation layer comprising thermoplastic polyimide on a conductor, and is provided with a protection cover comprising braid of alamide fibers at the outer circumference of the insulation layer. An incore structure test device for an FBR type reactor comprises the heat resistant/radiation resistant coaxial cable and/or the power cable. The thermoplastic polyimide can be extrusion molded, and has excellent radiation resistant by the extrusion, as well as has high dielectric withstand voltage, good flexibility and electric characteristics at high temperature. The incore structure test device for the FBR type reactor of the present invention comprising such a cable has excellent reliability and durability. (T.M.)

The burn-up credit physics and the 40. Minerve anniversary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santamarina, A.; Toubon, H.; Trakas, C.

2000-01-01

The technical meeting organized by the SFEN on the burn-up credit (CBU) physics, took place the 23 november 1999 at Cadarache. the first presentation dealt with the economic interest and the neutronic problems of the CBU. Then two papers presented how taking into account the CBU in the industry in matter of transport, storage in pool, reprocessing and criticality calculation (MCNP4/Apollo2-F benchmark). An experimental method for the reactivity measurement through oscillations in the Minerve reactor, has been presented with an analysis of the possible errors. The future research program OSMOSE, taking into account the minor actinides in the CBU, was also developed. The last paper presented the national and international research programs in the CBU domain, in particular experiments realized in CEA/Valduc and the OECD Burn-up Criticality Benchmark Group activities. (A.L.B.)

Effects of applying three-dimensional seismic isolation system on the seismic design of FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirata, Kazuta; Yabana, Shuichi; Kanazawa, Kenji; Matsuda, Akihiro

1997-01-01

In this study conceptional three-dimensional seismic isolation system for fast breeder reactor (FBR) is proposed. Effects of applying three-dimensional seismic isolation system on the seismic design for the FBR equipment are evaluated quantitatively. From the evaluation, it is concluded following effects are expected by applying the three-dimensional seismic isolation system to the FBR and the effects are evaluated quantitatively. (1) Reduction of membrane thickness of the reactor vessel (2) Suppression of uplift of fuels by reducing vertical seismic response of the core (3) Reduction of the supports for the piping system (4) Three-dimensional base isolation system for the whole reactor building is advantageous to the combined isolation system of horizontal base isolation for the reactor building and vertical isolation for the equipment. (author)

Pu Denaturing by Transmutation of MA in FBR Multi-cycle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meiliza, Yoshitalia; Saito, Masaki; Sagara, Hiroshi [Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-N1-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 1528550 (Japan)

2009-06-15

Pu accumulation and its recycling is important in the term of energy resources, however one of the most sensitive issues is non-proliferation in the future fuel cycle based on fast breeder reactor (FBR). The present paper utilizes Protected Pu Production (P{sup 3}) concept for the production of {sup 238}Pu and {sup 242}Pu by Minor Actinides (MA) transmutation to enhance the proliferation resistance of Pu in the fuel. Increase in the {sup 238}Pu and {sup 242}Pu isotopic fraction creates a high rate of internal heat generation by alpha decay (DH) and/or a high neutron source of spontaneous fission (SFN) in Pu that would be encountered during manufacturing and maintaining of nuclear explosive device. The feasibility of denaturing of Pu by MA transmutation in medium size FBR has been studied from the viewpoint of even-mass number Pu accumulation during multi-cycle of Pu and MA. The proliferation resistance property of Pu is also evaluated based on the specific decay heat and spontaneous fission neutron, compared with the reference criteria. In present paper, the P{sup 3} technology based on multi-recycled Pu and MA is compared with the conventional technology based on multi-recycled Pu only. The detail of mass balance behavior is, however, beyond the scope of the present paper. (authors)

Determination of the burn-up of TRIGA fuel elements by calculation with new TRIGLAV program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zagar, T.; Ravnik, M.

1996-01-01

The results of fuel element burn-up calculations with new TRIGLAV program are presented. TRIGLAV program uses two dimensional model. Results of calculation are compared to results calculated with program, which uses one dimensional model. The results of fuel element burn-up measurements with reactivity method are presented and compared with the calculated results. (author)

Development of a numerical experimentation method for thermal hydraulics design and evaluation of high burn-up and innovative fuel pins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ninokata, Hisashi; Misawa, Takeharu; Baglietto, Emilio; Sorokin, A.P.; Maekawa, Isamu; Ohshima, Hiroyuki; Yamaguchi, Akira

2003-03-01

A method of large scale direct numerical simulation of turbulent flows in a high burn-up fuel pin bundle is proposed to evaluate wall shear stress and temperature distributions on the pin surfaces as well as detailed coolant velocity and temperature distributions inside subchannels under various thermal hydraulic conditions. This simulation is aimed at providing a tool to confirm margins to thermal hydraulics design limits of the nuclear fuels and at the same time to be used in design-by-analysis approaches. The method will facilitate thermal hydraulic design of high performance LMFR core fuels characterized by high burn-up, ultra long life, high reliable and safe performances, easiness of operation and maintenance, minimization of radio active wastes, without much relying on such empirical approach as hot spot factor and sub-factors, and above all the high cost mock up experiments. A pseudo direct numerical simulation of turbulence (DNS) code is developed, first on the Cartesian coordinates and then on the curvilinear boundary fit coordinates that enables us to reproduce thermal hydraulics phenomena in such a complicated flow channel as subchannels in a nuclear fuel pin assembly. The coordinate transformation is evaluated and demonstrated to yield correct physical quantities by carrying out computations and comparisons with experimental data with respect to the distributions of various physical quantities and turbulence statistics for fluid flow and heat transfers in various kinds of simple flow channel geometry. Then the boundary fitted pseudo DNS for flows inside an infinite pin array configuration is carried out and compared with available detailed experimental data. In parallel similar calculations are carried out using a commercial code STAR-CD to cross-check the DNS performances. As a results, the pseudo DNS showed reasonable comparisons with experiments as well as the STAR-CD results. Importance of the secondary flow influences is emphasized on the momentum

Burn-up credit applications for UO2 and MOX fuel assemblies in AREVA/COGEMA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toubon, H.; Riffard, C.; Batifol, M.; Pelletier, S.

2003-01-01

For the last seven years, AREVA/COGEMA has been implementing the second phase of its burn-up credit program (the incorporation of fission products). Since the early nineties, major actinides have been taken into account in criticality analyses first for reprocessing applications, then for transport and storage of fuel assemblies Next year (2004) COGEMA will take into account the six main fission products (Rh103, Cs133, Nd143, Sm149, Sm152 and Gd155) that make up 50% of the anti-reactivity of all fission products. The experimental program will soon be finished. The new burn-up credit methodology is in progress. After a brief overview of BUC R and D program and COGEMA's application of the BUC, this paper will focus on the new burn-up measurement for UO2 and MOX fuel assemblies. It details the measurement instrumentation and the measurement experiments on MOX fuels performed at La Hague in January 2003. (author)

Technique for sensitivity analysis of space- and energy-dependent burn-up calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, M.L.; White, J.R.

1979-01-01

A practical method is presented for sensitivity analysis of the very complex, space-energy dependent burn-up equations, in which the neutron and nuclide fields are coupled nonlinearly. The adjoint burn-up equations that are given are in a form which can be directly implemented into multi-dimensional depletion codes, such as VENTURE/BURNER. The data sensitivity coefficients can be used to determine the effect of data uncertainties on time-dependent depletion responses. Initial condition sensitivity coefficients provide a very effective method for computing the change in end of cycle parameters (such as k/sub eff/, fissile inventory, etc.) due to changes in nuclide concentrations at beginning of cycle

Comparative analysis of LWR and FBR spent fuels for nuclear forensics evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Permana, Sidik; Suzuki, Mitsutoshi; Su'ud, Zaki

2012-01-01

Some interesting issues are attributed to nuclide compositions of spent fuels from thermal reactors as well as fast reactors such as a potential to reuse as recycled fuel, and a possible capability to be manage as a fuel for destructive devices. In addition, analysis on nuclear forensics which is related to spent fuel compositions becomes one of the interesting topics to evaluate the origin and the composition of spent fuels from the spent fuel foot-prints. Spent fuel compositions of different fuel types give some typical spent fuel foot prints and can be estimated the origin of source of those spent fuel compositions. Some technics or methods have been developing based on some science and technological capability including experimental and modeling or theoretical aspects of analyses. Some foot-print of nuclear forensics will identify the typical information of spent fuel compositions such as enrichment information, burnup or irradiation time, reactor types as well as the cooling time which is related to the age of spent fuels. This paper intends to evaluate the typical spent fuel compositions of light water (LWR) and fast breeder reactors (FBR) from the view point of some foot prints of nuclear forensics. An established depletion code of ORIGEN is adopted to analyze LWR spent fuel (SF) for several burnup constants and decay times. For analyzing some spent fuel compositions of FBR, some coupling codes such as SLAROM code, JOINT and CITATION codes including JFS-3-J-3.2R as nuclear data library have been adopted. Enriched U-235 fuel composition of oxide type is used for fresh fuel of LWR and a mixed oxide fuel (MOX) for FBR fresh fuel. Those MOX fuels of FBR come from the spent fuels of LWR. Some typical spent fuels from both LWR and FBR will be compared to distinguish some typical foot-prints of SF based on nuclear forensic analysis.

Comparative analysis of LWR and FBR spent fuels for nuclear forensics evaluation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Permana, Sidik; Suzuki, Mitsutoshi; Su' ud, Zaki [Department of Science and Technology for Nuclear Material Management (STNM), Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), 2-4 Shirane, Shirakata, Tokai Mura, Naka-gun, Ibaraki 319-1195 Nuclear Physics and Bio (Indonesia); Department of Science and Technology for Nuclear Material Management (STNM), Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), 2-4 Shirane, Shirakata, Tokai Mura, Naka-gun, Ibaraki 319-1195 (Japan); Nuclear Physics and Bio Physics Research Group, Department of Physics, Bandung Institute of Technology, Gedung Fisika, Jl. Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132 (Indonesia)

2012-06-06

Some interesting issues are attributed to nuclide compositions of spent fuels from thermal reactors as well as fast reactors such as a potential to reuse as recycled fuel, and a possible capability to be manage as a fuel for destructive devices. In addition, analysis on nuclear forensics which is related to spent fuel compositions becomes one of the interesting topics to evaluate the origin and the composition of spent fuels from the spent fuel foot-prints. Spent fuel compositions of different fuel types give some typical spent fuel foot prints and can be estimated the origin of source of those spent fuel compositions. Some technics or methods have been developing based on some science and technological capability including experimental and modeling or theoretical aspects of analyses. Some foot-print of nuclear forensics will identify the typical information of spent fuel compositions such as enrichment information, burnup or irradiation time, reactor types as well as the cooling time which is related to the age of spent fuels. This paper intends to evaluate the typical spent fuel compositions of light water (LWR) and fast breeder reactors (FBR) from the view point of some foot prints of nuclear forensics. An established depletion code of ORIGEN is adopted to analyze LWR spent fuel (SF) for several burnup constants and decay times. For analyzing some spent fuel compositions of FBR, some coupling codes such as SLAROM code, JOINT and CITATION codes including JFS-3-J-3.2R as nuclear data library have been adopted. Enriched U-235 fuel composition of oxide type is used for fresh fuel of LWR and a mixed oxide fuel (MOX) for FBR fresh fuel. Those MOX fuels of FBR come from the spent fuels of LWR. Some typical spent fuels from both LWR and FBR will be compared to distinguish some typical foot-prints of SF based on nuclear forensic analysis.

Fast reactor core design studies to cope with TRU fuel composition changes in the LWR-to-FBR transition period

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawashima, Katsuyuki; Maruyama, Shuhei; Ohki, Shigeo; Mizuno, Tomoyasu

2009-01-01

As part of the Fast Reactor Cycle Technology Development Project (FaCT Project), sodium-cooled fast reactor core design efforts have been made to cope with the TRU fuel composition changes expected during LWR-to-FBR transition period, in which a various kind of TRU fuel compositions are available depending on the characteristics of the LWR spent fuels and a way of recycling them. A 750 MWe mixed-oxide fuel core is firstly defined as a FaCT medium-size reference core and its neutronics characteristics are determined. The core is a high internal conversion type and has an average burnup of 150 GWD/T. The reference TRU fuel composition is assumed to come from the FBR equilibrium state. Compared to the LWR-to-FBR transition period, the TRU fuels in the FBR equilibrium period are multi-recycled through fast reactors and have a different composition. An available TRU fuel composition is determined by fast reactor spent fuel multi-recycling scenarios. Then the FaCT core corresponding to the TRU fuel with different compositions is set according to the TRU fuel composition changes in LWR-to-FBR transition period, and the key core neutronics characteristics are assessed. It is shown that among the core neutronics characteristics, the burnup reactivity and the safety parameters such as sodium void reactivity and Doppler coefficient are significantly influenced by the TRU fuel composition changes. As a result, a general characteristic in the FaCT core design to cope with TRU fuel composition changes is grasped and the design envelopes are identified in terms of the burnup reactivity and the safety parameters. (author)

FBR type reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawashima, Katsuyuki; Azekura, Kazuo; Inoue, Kotaro.

1981-01-01

Purpose: To decrease power fluctuations due to burning of blanket fuel element clusters by partially replacing the fertile materials in the blanket fuel element clusters with fissile materials. Constitution: Fertile materials in the radial blanket fuel element clusters disposed to the outside or inside of the reactor core are partially replaced with fissile materials. Since the power density of the fissile materials is at the maximum in the initial burning stage and decreases as the burning proceeds, the power density of the materials which is smaller in the initial burning stage and becomes greater with the burning by the neutron-accumulated plutonium is offset. Accordingly, the power fluctuations in the blanket fuel element clusters due to the burning made smaller thereby enable to form a reactor core with less power fluctuations due to burning under the constant coolant flow rate depending on the power in the final burning stage where the blanket power is maximum. (Moriyama, K.)

Evaluation of Isotopic Measurements and Burn-up Value of Sample GU3 of ARIANE Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tore, C.; Rodriguez Rivada, A.

2014-07-01

Estimation of the burn-up value of irradiated fuel and its isotopic composition are important for criticality analysis, spent fuel management and source term estimation. The practical way to estimate the irradiated fuel composition and burn.up value is calculation with validated code and nuclear data. Such validation of the neutronic codes and nuclear data requires the benchmarking with measured values. (Author)

Pilot and pilot-commercial plants for reprocessing spent fuels of FBR type reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shaldaev, V.S.; Sokolova, I.D.

1988-01-01

A review of modern state of investigations on the FBR mixed oxide uranium-plutonium fuel reprocessing abroad is given. Great Britain and France occupy the leading place in this field, operating pilot plants of 5 tons a year capacity. Technology of spent fuel reprocessing and specific features of certain stages of the technological process are considered. Projects of pilot and pilot-commercial plants of Great Britain, France, Japan, USA are described. Economic problems of the FBR fuel reprocessing are touched upon

Burn-up determination of irradiated thoria samples by isotope dilution-thermal ionisation mass spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aggarwal, S.K.; Jaison, P.G.; Telmore, V.M.; Shah, R.V.; Sant, V.L.; Sasibhushan, K.; Parab, A.R.; Alamelu, D.

2010-03-01

Burn-up was determined experimentally using thermal ionization mass spectrometry for two samples from ThO 2 bundles irradiated in KAPS-2. This involved quantitative dissolution of the irradiated fuel samples followed by separation and determination of Th, U and a stable fission product burn-up monitor in the dissolved fuel solution. Stable fission product 148 Nd was used as a burn-up monitor for determining the number of fissions. Isotope Dilution-Thermal Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (ID-TIMS) using natural U, 229 Th and enriched 142 Nd as spikes was employed for the determination of U, Th and Nd, respectively. Atom % fission values of 1.25 ± 0.03 were obtained for both the samples. 232 U content in 233 U determined by alpha spectrometry was about 500 ppm and this was higher by a factor of 5 compared to the theoretically predicted value by ORIGEN-2 code. (author)

Basic nuclear data for FBR fuel cycle. Balance and forecasting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Costa, L.; Granget, G.; Josso, F.

1982-01-01

A balance is made of nuclear data needed for studying FBR fuel cycle. From the accuracy of the obtained data, sensitivity calculations have enabled the future experimental measurements to be established [fr

Joint Feasibility study on the Instruction of a commercial FBR power plant to Korea between Korea and France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Chang Kun; Cho, Mann; Juhn, Poong Eil; Nam, Jang Soo; Roh, Eun Rae; Yang, Chang Kook; Choi, Young Sang; Shin, Jae In; Chang, Young Nam; Kim, Hoa Gy; Lee, Hong Moon

1985-03-01

The objective of this joint feasibility study is to prepare for the implementation plan of the establishment of technological capability prior to the introduction of a commercial FBR power plant to Korea. The scope and contents of the second year project are as follows: Determined are the implementation activities in the two alternative FBR introduction scenarios i.e., a turnkey scenario and a gradual localization scenario with regard to the proportion of domestic participation. And FBR center is modeled as the construction of 4 units of 1,500 MWe LMFBR and related fuel cycle facilities such as reprocessing and fabrication plants at one site. In turnkey scenario, domestic implementation project is selected and the means to develop technical capability are classified into OJT/OJP, R and D, and technology transfer and the floating time schedule is made with reference to the first FBR operation year. In a gradual localization scenario Korean party's plan of means to develop technical capability is prepared. For the analysis of turnkey base introduction scenario project activities were extracted and analyzed referring to IAEA TR. 200 ''Manpower Development for Nuclear power Plant'', Guidebook (1980). And floating time schedule was prepared for the means to develop technical capability and project schedule. For the analysis of gradual localization scenario, project activities were derived under the assumption that entire facilities of FBR center should be localized. PWR's and FBR's fuel reprocessing facilities were incorporated in the reprocessing facility. (Author)

Burn-Up Determination by High Resolution Gamma Spectrometry: Axial and Diametral Scanning Experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Forsyth, R S; Blackadder, W H; Ronqvist, N

1967-02-15

In the gamma spectrometric determination of burn-up the use of a single fission product as a monitor of the specimen fission rate is subject to errors caused by activity saturation or, in certain cases, fission product migration. Results are presented of experiments in which all the resolvable gamma peaks in the fission product spectrum have been used to calculate the fission rate; these results form a pattern which reflect errors in the literature values of the gamma branching ratios, fission yields etc., and also represent a series of empirical correction factors. Axial and diametral scanning experiments on a long-irradiated low-enrichment fuel element are also described and demonstrate that it is possible to differentiate between fissions in U-235 and in Pu-239 respectively by means of the ratios of the Ru-106 activity to the activities of the other fission products.

Utilization of cross-section covariance data in FBR core nuclear design and cross-section adjustment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishikawa, Makoto

1994-01-01

In the core design of large fast breeder reactors (FBRs), it is essentially important to improve the prediction accuracy of nuclear characteristics from the viewpoint of both reducing cost and insuring reliability of the plant. The cross-section errors, that is, covariance data are one of the most dominant sources for the prediction uncertainty of the core parameters, therefore, quantitative evaluation of covariance data is indispensable for FBR core design. The first objective of the present paper is to introduce how the cross-section covariance data are utilized in the FBR core nuclear design works. The second is to delineate the cross-section adjustment study and its application to an FBR design, because this improved design method markedly enhances the needs and importance of the cross-section covariance data. (author)

Epidemiology of pediatric burns and future prevention strategies-a study of 475 patients from a high-volume burn center in North India.

Science.gov (United States)

Dhopte, Amol; Tiwari, V K; Patel, Pankaj; Bamal, Rahul

2017-01-01

Pediatric burns have a long-term social impact. This is more apparent in a developing country such as India, where their incidence and morbidity are high. The aim of this study was to provide recent prospective epidemiological data on pediatric burns in India and to suggest future preventive strategies. Children up to 18 years old admitted to the Department of Burns, Plastic & Maxillofacial Surgery, VMMC & Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, between January and December 2014 were included in the study. Data regarding age, sex, etiology, total body surface area (TBSA), circumstances of injury, and clinical assessment were collected. The Mann-Whitney test or Kruskal-Wallis test or ANOVA was used to compare involved TBSA among various cohort groups accordingly. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were used to determine the predictors of TBSA. There were a total of 475 patients involved in the study, including seven suicidal burns, all of whom were females with a mean age greater than the cohort average. Age, type of burns, mode of injury, presence or absence of inhalation injury, gender, and time of year (quarter) for admission were found to independently affect the TBSA involved. Electrical burns also formed an important number of presenting burn patients, mainly involving teenagers. Several societal issues have come forth, e.g., child marriage, child labor, and likely psychological problems among female children as suggested by a high incidence of suicidal burns. This study also highlights several issues such as overcrowding, lack of awareness, dangerous cooking practices, and improper use of kerosene oil. There is an emergent need to recognize the problems, formulate strategies, spread awareness, and ban or replace hazardous substances responsible for most burn accidents.

Study on small long-life LBE cooled fast reactor with CANDLE burn-up. Part 1. Steady state research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan, Mingyu; Sekimoto, Hiroshi

2008-01-01

Small long-life reactor is required for some local areas. CANDLE small long-life fast reactor which does not require control rods, mining, enrichment and reprocessing plants can satisfy this demand. In a CANDLE reactor, the shapes of neutron flux, nuclide number densities and power density distributions remain constant and only shift in axial direction. The core with 1.0 m radius, 2.0 m length can realize CANDLE burn-up with nitride (enriched N-15) natural uranium as fresh fuel. Lead-Bismuth is used as coolant. From steady state analysis, we obtained the burn-up velocity, output power distribution, core temperature distribution, etc. The burn-up velocity is less than 1.0 cm/year that enables a long-life design easily. The core averaged discharged fuel burn-up is about 40%. (author)

Burning nuclear wastes in fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meldner, H.W.; Howard, W.M.

1979-01-01

A study was made up of actinide burn-up in ICF reactor pellets; i.e. 14 Mev neutron fission of the very long-lived actinides that pose storage problems. A major advantage of pellet fuel region burn-up is safety: only milligrams of highly toxic and active material need to be present in the fusion chamber, whereas blanket burn-up requires the continued presence of tons of actinides in a small volume. The actinide data tables required for Monte Carlo calculations of the burn-up of /sup 241/Am and /sup 243/Am are discussed in connection with a study of the sensitivity to cross section uncertainties. More accurate and complete cross sections are required for realistic quantitative calculations. 13 refs

Approach to lithium burn-up effect in lithium ceramics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rasneur, B.

1994-01-01

The lithium burn-up in Li 2 ZrO 3 is simulated by removing lithium under Li 2 O form and trapping it in high specific surface area powder while heating during 15 days or 1 month at moderate temperature so that lithium mobility be large enough without causing any sintering neither of the specimens nor of the powder. In a first treatment at 775 deg C during 1 month. 30% of the lithium content could be removed inducing a lithium concentration gradient in the specimen and the formation of a lithium-free monoclinic ZrO 2 skin. Improvements led to similar results at 650 deg C and 600 deg C, the latter temperatures are closer to the operating temperature of the ceramic breeder blanket of a fusion reactor. (author) 4 refs.; 4 figs.; 1 tab

Calculation of triton confinement and burn-up in tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anderson, D.; Battistoni, P.

1987-01-01

An analytical investigation is made of the confinement and subsequent burn-up of fusion produced tritons in a deuterium Tokamak plasma. Explicit approximations are obtained for the triton confinement factor, clearly displaying the scaling with physical parameters. The importance of pitch angle scattering losses during the triton slowing down is also estimated. A comparison with experiments and numerical calculations on the FT Tokamak slows good qualitative agreement. (authors)

FBR pellet fabrication - density and dimensional control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rasmussen, D.E.; Schaus, P.S.

1982-01-01

The fuel pellet fabricating experience described in this paper involved pellet processing tests using mixed oxide (PuO 2 -UO 2 ) powders to produce fast breeder reactor (FBR) fuel pellets. Objectives of the pellet processing tests were to establish processing parameters for sintered-to-size fuel pellets to be used in an irradiation test in the Fast Flux Test Facility and to establish baseline fabrication control information. 26 figures, 7 tables

Studies on use of reflector material and its position within FBR core for reducing U{sup 232} content of U produced in ThO{sub 2} radial blankets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sen, Sujoy, E-mail: sujoy@igcar.gov.in [Core Design Group, IGCAR, Kalpakkam (India); Prasad, Rajeev Ranjan; Bagchi, Subhrojit [Core Design Group, IGCAR, Kalpakkam (India); Mohanakrishnan, P. [MCNS, Manipal University, Manipal (India); Arul, A. John; Puthiyavinayagam, P. [Core Design Group, IGCAR, Kalpakkam (India)

2015-11-15

Highlights: • Nuclear data processing for multigroup neutron transport calculation. • Discrete ordinate and Monte Carlo neutron transport. • Breeding of Thorium in Fast Reactor. • Minimization of U{sup 232} in U{sup 233}. • Fuel burn up using Neutron Diffusion. - Abstract: Presence of U{sup 232} in U{sup 233} bred in thorium blanket of fast reactor is a major concern in fuel reprocessing. The former's daughter products being hard gamma emitter and the isotope itself having substantial half life, its presence beyond 10 ppm makes fuel recycle complicated and expensive. In this study possibility of decreasing U{sup 232} production in a typical FBR blanket by means of spectrum modification is examined. SS, depleted B{sub 4}C, SiC, Mo and W regions were introduced between core and radial blanket and evolution of isotopes were studied to arrive at an optimal configuration that satisfies requirements of breeding U{sup 233} and lowering U{sup 232}concentration. SS, B{sub 4}C, SiC, Mo and W are known to be high temperature material with appropriate stability in harsh fast reactor environment. Study has shown that introducing two SS reflector rows can achieve the required low value of U{sup 232}concentration without greatly compromising the U{sup 233}production.

General purpose nonlinear analysis program FINAS for elevated temperature design of FBR components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iwata, K.; Atsumo, H.; Kano, T.; Takeda, H.

1982-01-01

This paper presents currently available capabilities of a general purpose finite element nonlinear analysis program FINAS (FBR Inelastic Structural Analysis System) which has been developed at Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC) since 1976 to support structural design of fast breeder reactor (FBR) components in Japan. This program is capable of treating inelastic responses of arbitrary complex structures subjected to static and dynamic load histories. Various types of finite element covering rods, beams, pipes, axisymmetric, two and three dimensional solids, plates and shells, are implemented in the program. The thermal elastic-plastic creep analysis is possible for each element type, with primary emphasis on the application to FBR components subjected to sustained or cyclic loads at elevated temperature. The program permits large deformation, buckling, fracture mechanics, and dynamic analyses for some of the element types and provides a number of options for automatic mesh generation and computer graphics. Some examples including elevated temperature effects are shown to demonstrate the accuracy and the efficiency of the program

Study of photo-stimulated luminescence in Ba0.95M0.05FBr:Eu2+ (M = Sr, Ca) powder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Yingxue; Wang Dongsheng; Zhang Xinyi

2001-01-01

The luminescence centered at about 390 nm due to 4f 6 5d→4f 7 transition of Eu 2+ can be observed without X-ray or UV-light pre-irradiation for BaFBr:Eu 2+ , Ba 0.95 Sr 0.05 FBr:Eu 2+ and Ba 0.95 Ca 0.05 FBr:Eu 2+ powder samples which can be excited by light with wave length longer than 400 nm. It could be attributed to F centers which are formed in the preparation of samples. There are two broad bands in the photo-stimulated spectra. One peaked at 535 nm results from the excitation of electrons at F(F - ) center, and the other at 708 nm might be originated from the electron excitation of F(Br - ) center or F(Br - ) accumulators. If the Ba 2+ (ion's radius equals to 0.135 nm) in the samples were replaced by about 50% mol. of Sr 2+ (ion's radius equals to 0.113 nm) or Ca 2+ (ion's radius equals to 0.099 nm), the intensities of 535 nm and 708 nm bands decrease with the decreasing of ion radius. On the other hand, the shoulders at 580 nm and 650 nm or 575 nm and 645 nm can appear. In absorption spectra of 50-400 nm range, one can observe the red-shift of 79 nm, 83 nm peaks and new absorption peaks. It means that the new color centers: F(F - , Sr 2+ ), F(br - , Sr 2+ ) or F(F - , Ca 2+ ), F(br - , Ca 2+ ) are formed, when Ba 2+ were replaced with Sr 2+ or Ca 2+ in samples. It corresponds to the shoulders in photo-stimulated spectra

Burn-up calculation of different thorium-based fuel matrixes in a thermal research reactor using MCNPX 2.6 code

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gholamzadeh Zohreh

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Decrease of the economically accessible uranium resources and the inherent proliferation resistance of thorium fuel motivate its application in nuclear power systems. Estimation of the nuclear reactor’s neutronic parameters during different operational situations is of key importance for the safe operation of nuclear reactors. In the present research, thorium oxide fuel burn-up calculations for a demonstrative model of a heavy water- -cooled reactor have been performed using MCNPX 2.6 code. Neutronic parameters for three different thorium fuel matrices loaded separately in the modelled thermal core have been investigated. 233U, 235U and 239Pu isotopes have been used as fissile element in the thorium oxide fuel, separately. Burn-up of three different fuels has been calculated at 1 MW constant power. 135X and 149Sm concentration variations have been studied in the modelled core during 165 days burn-up. Burn-up of thorium oxide enriched with 233U resulted in the least 149Sm and 135Xe productions and net fissile production of 233U after 165 days. The negative fuel, coolant and void reactivity of the used fuel assures safe operation of the modelled thermal core containing (233U-Th O2 matrix. Furthermore, utilisation of thorium breeder fuel demonstrates several advantages, such as good neutronic economy, 233U production and less production of long-lived α emitter high radiotoxic wastes in biological internal exposure point of view

Proposal of a nuclear cycle research and development plan in Tokai works. The roadmap from LWR cycle to FBR cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, Hirofumi; Abe, Tomoyuki; Kashimura, Takuo; Nagai, Toshihisa; Maeda, Seichiro; Yamaguchi, Toshiya; Kuroki, Ryoichiro

2003-07-01

The Generation-II Project Task Force Team has investigated a research and development plan of a future nuclear fuel cycle in Tokai works for about three months from December 19, 2002. First we have discussed about the present condition of Japanese nuclear fuel cycle and have recognized it as the following. The relation of the technology between the LWR-cycle and the FBR-cycle is not clear. MOX Fuel Use in Light Water Reactors is important to establish technology of the FBR fuel cycle. Radioactive waste disposal issue is urgent. Next we have proposed the three basic policies on R and D plan of nuclear fuel cycle in consideration of the F.S. on FBR-cycle. Establishment and advancement of 'the tough nuclear fuel cycle'. Early establishment of the FBR cycle technology to be able to supply energy stably for long-term. Establishment of the radioactive waste treatment and disposal technology, and optimization of nuclear fuel cycle technology from the viewpoint of radioactive waste. And we have proposed the Japanese technical holder system to integrate all LWR and FBR cycle technology. (author)

Sensitivity change of rhodium self -powered detectors with burn-up

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Girgis, R.; Akimov, I.S.; Hamouda, I.

1976-01-01

The scope of the present paper is to obtain the calculation formulae to evaluate the rate of sensitivity change of the neutron self-powered detectors with burn-up. A code written in FORTRAN 4 was developed to be operational on the IBM-1130 computer. It has been established in the case of rhodium detectors that neglecting the β-particle absorption in the calculations leads to the underestimation of the detector sensitivity decrease up to 40%. The derived formulae can be used for other self-powered detectors. (author)

Microstructure Changes in a high burn up Spent Fuel (57,900 MWd/tU)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Yang Soon; Kwon, Hyoung Mun; Seo, Hang Seok; Ha, Yeong Keong; Song, Kyuseok

2009-01-01

In the nuclear industry, an increase in the burn up and the residence time of fuels is being considered because of the advantages in the fuel cycle cost and the spent fuel management. But, it leads to structural changes in an outer zone (rim) of a UO 2 pellet within a few hundreds of micrometers in thickness. Despite its thin layer, this rim would determine the thermal behavior of a fuel. Therefore, to identify a rim zone effect, the microstructures such as the pores, the grains and the UO 2 lattice size have been investigated by many researchers. In this study, the microstructure changes in the rim of a UO 2 spent fuel, the corrosion layer of a Zry-4 cladding and the interface between a fuel and a cladding were investigated by a micro-XRD and a SEM

Experimental methods for burn-up determination in nuclear fuels, 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taddei, J.F. de A.C.; Rodrigues, C.

1977-01-01

A method is presented that allows the calculation of the total percentage of atoms having undergone fission ('burn up') in nuclear fuels, from the measurement of absolute amounts of fission product neodymium-148 and of uranium and plutoniun present in the spent fuel, the fission yield of neodymium-148 being known. These measurements are performed through the mass spectrometry- isotope dilution technique [pt

Risks for skin and other cancers up to 25 years after burn injuries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mellemkjaer, Lene; Hölmich, Lisbet R; Gridley, Gloria

2006-01-01

BACKGROUND: Malignant degeneration of chronic ulcers such as nonhealed burn wounds has been described in the literature, but this phenomenon has never been quantified in an epidemiologic study. We investigated the risks for skin and other cancers among patients with a prior burn. METHODS: We...... with that in the general population of Denmark. RESULTS: Patients with burn had 139 skin cancers, with 189 expected, yielding a standardized incidence ratio of 0.7 (95% confidence interval = 0.6-0.9). This reduced risk was due mainly to deficits of basal cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma, whereas the number...... of squamous cell carcinomas observed was close to expected. We saw no consistent increases in risk for skin cancer in the subgroups of patients with the most severe injuries or with the longest periods of follow up. CONCLUSIONS: The tendency to malignant degeneration of burn scars, described in previous...

Burn up determination of IEAR-1 fuel elements by non destructive gamma ray spectrometry method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soares, A.J.

1977-01-01

Measurement of nuclear fuel burn up by non destructive gamma ray spectrometry is discussed, and results of such measurements, made at the Instituto de Energia Atomica (IEA), are given. Specifically, the burn up of an MTR (Material Testing Reactor) fuel element removed from the IEAR-1 swimming pool reactor in 1958 is evaluated from the measured Cs-137 activity, which gives a single 661,6 keV gamma ray. Due to the long decay time of the test element, no other fission decay product activity could be detected. Analysis of measurements, made with a 3'' x 3'' NaI(Tl) detector at 330 distinct points of the element, showed the total burn up to 3.3 +- -+ 0.8 mg. This is in agreement with a calculated value. As the maximum temperature of IEAR-1 fuel elements is of the order of 40 0 C, migration effects of Cs-137 was not considered, this being significant only at fuel temperature in excess of 1000 0 C [pt

Method of operating FBR type reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arie, Kazuo.

1984-01-01

Purpose: To secure the controlling performance and the safety of FBR type reactors by decreasing the amount of deformation due to the difference in the heat expansion of a control rod guide tube. Method: The reactor is operated while disposing reactor core fuel assemblies of a same power at point-to-point symmetrical positions relative to the axial center for the control rod assembly. This can eliminate the temperature difference between opposing surfaces of the control rod guide tube and eliminate the difference in the thermal expansion. (Yoshino, Y.)

Fast-ion diffusion measurements from radial triton burn up studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCauley, J.S.; Budny, R.; McCune, D.; Strachan, J.D.

1993-08-01

A fast-ion diffusion coefficient of 0.1 ± 0.1 m 2 s -1 has been deduced from the triton burnup neutron emission profile measured by a collimated array of helium-4 spectrometers. The experiment was performed with high-power deuterium discharges produced by Princeton University's Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR). The fast ions monitored were the 1.0 MeV tritons produced from the d(d,t)p. These tritons ''burn up'' with deuterons and emit a 14 MeV neutron by the d(t,α)n reaction. The ratio of the measured to calculated DT yield is typically 70%. The measured DT profile width is comparable to that predicted by the TRANSP transport code during neutral beam heating and narrower after the beam heating ended

Development of weld plugging for steam generator tubes of FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimoyama, T.; Matsuyama, T.; Matsumoto, O.; Nagura, Y.; Nakamura, H.; Tohguchi, Y.; Kurokawa, M.; Fukada, T.

2002-01-01

This study was undertaken to develop a method of weld plugging of the heat-exchanger tubes of steam generator of Prototype FBR 'MONJU' in case these tubes are damaged for some reason. We studied mainly the shape of plug, welding procedure and effect of postweld heat treatment (PWHT). Evaporator tube sheet, tube and plug are made of 2-1/4Cr-1Mo steel and usually preheating and PWHT will be required for welding of this steel. The results of this study is as follows. 1) Plug was designed to make butt joint welding with grooved tube sheet around the tube hole to satisfy the requirements of plug designing, stress analysis, and good weldability. 2) TIG welding process was selected and certified its good weldability and good performance. 3) PWHT can be done by using high frequency induction heating method locally and also designing the plug to weld joint with tube sheet which was grooved around the tube hole. 4) Mock up test was done and it was certified that this plugging procedure has good weldability and good performance ability for Non Destructive Inspection. (author)

FUEL BURN-UP CALCULATION FOR WORKING CORE OF THE RSG-GAS RESEARCH REACTOR AT BATAN SERPONG

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tukiran Surbakti

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The neutronic parameters are required in the safety analysis of the RSG-GAS research reactor. The RSG-GAS research reactor, MTR (Material Testing Reactor type is used for research and also in radioisotope production. RSG-GAS has been operating for 30 years without experiencing significant obstacles. It is managed under strict requirements, especially fuel management and fuel burn-up calculations. The reactor is operated under the supervision of the Regulatory Body (BAPETEN and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency. In this paper, the experience of managing RSG-GAS core fuels will be discussed, there are hundred possibilities of fuel placements on the reactor core and the strategy used to operate the reactor will be crucial. However, based on strict calculation and supervision, there is no incorrect placement of the fuels in the core. The calculations were performed on working core by using the WIMSD-5B computer code with ENDFVII.0 data file to generate the macroscopic cross-section of fuel and BATAN-FUEL code were used to obtain the neutronic parameter value such as fuel burn-up fractions. The calculation of the neutronic core parameters of the RSG-GAS research reactor was carried out for U3Si2-Al fuel, 250 grams of mass, with an equilibrium core strategy. The calculations show that on the last three operating cores (T90, T91, T92, all fuels meet the safety criteria and the fuel burn-up does not exceed the maximum discharge burn-up of 59%. Maximum fuel burn-up always exists in the fuel which is close to the position of control rod.

Present condition of survey research on actualization strategy of fast breeding reactor (FBR) cycling. General outlines on the research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hara, Hideaki

2001-01-01

The Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) started the survey research on actualization strategy of FBR cycling under cooperation of related organizations such as electric business company and so on, on July, 1999. The research aims at preparation of technical system to establish the FBR cycling for a future main energy supply source by extracting an actualization picture maximum activated advantages originally haven by the FBR cycling and by proposing a developmental strategy flexibly responsible to diverse needs in future society. Here was reported on effort state of its phase 1 (two years between 1999 and 2000 fiscal years). In the phase 1, it was planned to perform research and development shown as follows: 1) Extraction of actualization candidate concept on the FBR cycling under a premise of safety security and a viewpoint of evaluation on economics, resource effective usage, environmental loading reduction, and nuclear dispersion resistance by conducting investigation and evaluation of wide technical choices adopting innovative techniques, and 2) Embodiment of a research and development program of phase 2 (from 2001 to 2005 fiscal years) by investigating some technical subjects important for selection of research and development program aiming at actualization and its candidate concept on the FBR cycling. (G.K.)

Effect of burn-up on the radioactivation behavior of cladding hull materials studied using the ORIGEN-S code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Min Ku Jeon; Chang Hwa Lee; Jung Hoon Choi; In Hak Cho; Kweon Ho Kang; Hwan-Seo Park; Geun Il Park; Chang Je Park

2013-01-01

The effect of fuel burn-up on the radioactivation behavior of cladding hull materials was investigated using the ORIGEN-S code for various materials of Zircaloy-4, Zirlo, HANA-4, and HANA-6 and for various fuel burn-ups of 30, 45, 60, and 75 GWD/MTU. The Zircaloy-4 material is the only one that does not contain Nb as an alloy constituent, and it was revealed that 125 Sb, 125m Te, and 55 Fe are the major sources of radioactivity. On the other hand, 93m Nb was identified as the most radioactive nuclide for the other materials although minor radioactive nuclides varied owing to their different initial constituents. The radioactivity of 94 Nb was of particular focus owing to its acceptance limit against a Korean intermediate-/low-level waste repository. The radioactivation calculation results revealed that only Zircaloy-4 is acceptable for the Korean repository, while the other materials required at least 4,900 of Nb decontamination factor owing to the high radioactivity of 94 Nb regardless of the fuel burn-up. A discussion was also made on the feasibility of Zr recovery methods (chlorination and electrorefining) for selective recovery of Zr so that it can be disposed of in the Korean repository. (author)

Burn-up measurements of spent fuel using gamma spectrometry technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pereda, C.; Henriquez, C.; Klein, J.; Medel, J.

2005-01-01

Burn-up results obtained for HEU (45% of 235 U) fuel assemblies of the RECH-1 Research Reactor using gamma spectrometry technique are presented. The spectra were got from an in-pool facility built in the reactor to be mainly used to measure the burnup of irradiated fuel assemblies with short cooling time, where 95 Zr is being evaluated as possible fission monitor. A program to measure all spent fuel assemblies of the RECH-1 reactor was initiated in the frame of the Regional Project RLA/4/018: 'Management of Spent Fuel from Research Reactors'. The results presented here were obtained from HEU spent fuel assemblies with cooling time greater than 100 days and 137 Cs was used as fission monitor. The efficiency of the in-pool system was determined using a slightly burnt experimental fuel assembly, which has one fuel plate (one of the outer plates) and the rest are dummy plates. An average burn-up of 2.8% of 235 U was previously measured for the experimental fuel assembly utilizing a facility installed in a hot cell and 137 Cs was used as monitor. (author)

Development of knowledge-based operator support system for steam generator water leak events in FBR plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arikawa, Hiroshi; Ida, Toshio; Matsumoto, Hiroyuki; Kishida, Masako

1991-01-01

A knowledge engineering approach to operation support system would be useful in maintaining safe and steady operation in nuclear plants. This paper describes a knowledge-based operation support system which assists the operators during steam generator water leak events in FBR plants. We have developed a real-time expert system. The expert system adopts hierarchical knowledge representation corresponding to the 'plant abnormality model'. A technique of signal validation which uses knowledge of symptom propagation are applied to diagnosis. In order to verify the knowledge base concerning steam generator water leak events in FBR plants, a simulator is linked to the expert system. It is revealed that diagnosis based on 'plant abnormality model' and signal validation using knowledge of symptom propagation could work successfully. Also, it is suggested that the expert system could be useful in supporting FBR plants operations. (author)

Two-year follow-up of outcomes related to scarring and distress in children with severe burns.

Science.gov (United States)

Wurzer, Paul; Forbes, Abigail A; Hundeshagen, Gabriel; Andersen, Clark R; Epperson, Kathryn M; Meyer, Walter J; Kamolz, Lars P; Branski, Ludwik K; Suman, Oscar E; Herndon, David N; Finnerty, Celeste C

2017-08-01

We assessed the perception of scarring and distress by pediatric burn survivors with burns covering more than one-third of total body surface area (TBSA) for up to 2 years post-burn. Children with severe burns were admitted to our hospital between 2004 and 2012, and consented to this IRB-approved-study. Subjects completed at least one Scars Problems and/or Distress questionnaire between discharge and 24 months post burn. Outcomes were modeled with generalized estimating equations or using mixed linear models. Significance was accepted at p body areas over time (p self-conscious with respect to their body image even 2 years after burn injury. Implications for Rehabilitation According to self-assessment questionnaires, severely burned children perceive significant improvements in scarring and distress during the first 2 years post burn. Significant improvements were seen in reduction of pain, itching, sleeping disturbances, tightness, range of motion, and strength (p body areas. The rehabilitation team should provide access to wigs or other aids to pediatric burn survivors to address these needs.

High-resolution mapping of biomass burning emissions in tropical regions across three continents

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Yusheng; Matsunaga, Tsuneo; Saito, Makoto

2015-04-01

vegetation burning is the largest contributor to the total amount of emissions, followed by biofuel and human waste burnings. Spatial distribution of open vegetation burning showed extensive emissions in Southern and Central Africa, Amazon of South America, and Southeast Asia with high probability of fire occurrences. Human waste burning presented high emissions in India, Central Africa, and Mexico. Biofuel burning emissions also recorded that large amounts were released from India, Central Africa and Mexico. Our estimates for all trace gases and aerosols emissions from open biomass burning combined with estimates of those from biofuel burning are in the range of the estimates constrained by chemical transport models andand other bottom-up methods. Our high resolution CO2 emission estimates will contribute to regional top-down CO2 flux estimates using data from current satellites such as GOSAT and OCO-2 and future satellites such as TanSat, GOSAT-2, and Carbonsat.

Fuel assembly for FBR type reactor and reactor core thereof

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Kaoru.

1998-01-01

The present invention provides a fuel assembly to be loaded to a reactor core of a large sized FBR type reactor, in which a coolant density coefficient can be reduced without causing power peaking in the peripheral region of neutron moderators loaded in the reactor core. Namely, the fuel assembly for the FBR type reactor comprises a plurality of fission product-loaded fuel rods and a plurality of fertile material-loaded fuel rods and one or more rods loading neutron moderators. In this case, the plurality of fertile material-loaded fuel rods are disposed to the peripheral region of the neutron moderator-loaded rods. The plurality of fission product-loaded fuel rods are disposed surrounding the peripheral region of the plurality of fertile material-loaded fuel rods. The neutron moderator comprises zirconium hydride, yttrium hydride and calcium hydride. The fission products are mixed oxide fuels. The fertile material comprises depleted uranium or natural uranium. (I.S.)

Development of destructive methods of burn-up determination and their application on WWER type nuclear fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hermann, A.; Stephan, H.; Nebel, D.

1984-03-01

Results are described of a cooperation between the Central Institute of Nuclear Research Rossendorf and the Radium Institute 'V.G. Chlopin' Leningrad in the field of destructive burn-up determination. Laboratory methods of burn-up determination using the classical monitors 137 Cs, 106 Ru, 148 Nd and isotopes of heavy metals (U, Pu) as well as the usefulness of 90 Sr, stable isotopes of Ru and Mo as monitors are dealt with. The analysis of the fuel components uranium (spectrophotometry, potentiometric titration, mass-spectrometric isotope dilution) and plutonium (spectrophotometry, coulometric titration, mass- and alpha-spectrometric isotope dilution) is fully described. Possibilities of increasing the reproducibility (automatic adjusting of measurement conditions) and the sensibility (ion impuls counting) of mass-spectrometric measurements are proposed and applied to a precise determination of Am and Cm isotopic composition. The methods have been used for burn-up analysis of spent WWER (especially WWER-440) fuel. (author)

Study on material attractiveness aspect of spent nuclear fuel of LWR and FBR cycles based on isotopic plutonium production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Permana, Sidik; Suzuki, Mitsutoshi; Saito, Masaki; Novitrian,; Waris, Abdul; Suud, Zaki

2013-01-01

Highlights: • The paper analyzes the plutonium production of recycling nuclear fuel option. • To evaluate material attractiveness based on intrinsic feature of material barrier. • Evaluation based on isotopic plutonium composition of spent fuel LWR and FBR. • Even mass number of plutonium gives a significant contribution to material barrier, in particular Pu-238 and Pu-240. • Doping MA in FBR blanket is effective to increase material barrier from weapon grade plutonium to more than MOX fuel grade. - Abstract: Recycling minor actinide (MA) as well as used uranium and plutonium can be considered to reduce nuclear waste production as well as to increase the intrinsic aspect of nuclear nonproliferation as doping material. Plutonium production as a significant aspect of recycling nuclear fuel option, gives some advantages and challenges, such as fissile material utilization of plutonium as well as production of some even mass number plutonium. The study intends to evaluate the material attractiveness based on the intrinsic feature of material barrier such as plutonium composition, decay heat and spontaneous fission neutron components from spent fuel (SF) light water reactor (LWR) and fast breeder reactor (FBR) cycles. A significant contribution has been shown by decay heat (DH) and spontaneous fission neutron (SFN) of even mass number of plutonium isotopes to the total DH and SFN of plutonium element, in particular from isotopic plutonium Pu-238 and Pu-240 contributions. Longer decay cooling time and higher burnup are effective to increase the material barrier (DH and SFN) level from reactor grade plutonium level to MOX grade plutonium level. Material barrier of plutonium element from spent fuel (SF) FBR in the core regions has similarity to the material barrier profile of SF LWR which can be categorized as MOX fuel grade plutonium. Plutonium compositions, DH and SFN components are categorized as weapon grade plutonium level for FBR blanket regions with no

Burn-up calculation of fusion-fission hybrid reactor using thorium cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shido, S.; Matsunaka, M.; Kondo, K.; Murata, I.; Yamamoto, Y.

2006-01-01

A burn-up calculation system has been developed to estimate performance of blanket in a fusion-fission hybrid reactor which is a fusion reactor with a blanket region containing nuclear fuel. In this system, neutron flux is calculated by MCNP4B and then burn-up calculation is performed by ORIGEN2. The cross-section library for ORIGEN2 is made from the calculated neutron flux and evaluated nuclear data. The 3-dimensional ITER model was used as a base fusion reactor. The nuclear fuel (reprocessed plutonium as the fission materials mixed with thorium as the fertile materials), transmutation materials (minor actinides and long-lived fission products) and tritium breeder were loaded into the blanket. Performances of gas-cooled and water-cooled blankets were compared with each other. As a result, the proposed reactor can meet the requirement for TBP and power density. As far as nuclear waste incineration is concerned, the gas-cooled blanket has advantages. On the other hand, the water cooled-blanket is suited to energy production. (author)

Lining facility for FBR type reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimano, Kunio.

1991-01-01

In a lining facility for protecting structural material concretes for concrete buildings in an FBR type power plant, sodium-resistant and heat-resistant first and second coating layers are lined at the surface of concretes, and steam releasing materials are disposed between the first and the second coating layers for releasing water contents evaporated from the concretes to the outside. With such a constitution, since there is no structures for welding steel plates to each other as in the prior art, the fabrication is made easy. Further, since cracks of coating materials can be suppressed, reactor safety is improved. (T.M.)

CRISTAL V1: Criticality package for burn up credit calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomit, Jean-Michel; Cousinou, Patrick; Gantenbein, Francoise; Diop, Cheikh; Fernandez de Grado, Guy; Mijuin, Dominique; Grouiller, Jean-Paul; Marc, Andre; Toubon, Herve

2003-01-01

The first version of the CRISTAL package, created and validated as part of a joint project between IRSN, COGEMA and CEA, was delivered to users in November 1999. This fruitful cooperation between IRSN, COGEMA and CEA has been pursued until 2003 with the development and the validation of the package CRISTAL V1, whose main objectives are to improve the criticality safety studies including the Burn up Credit effect. (author)

Development of a standard data base for FBR core nuclear design. 9. Analysis of FCA XVII-1 experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yokoyama, Kenji; Ishikawa, Makoto; Oigawa, Hiroyuki; Iijima, Susumu

1998-10-01

Pnc had developed the adjusted nuclear cross-section library in which the results of the Jupiter experiments were reflected. Using this adjusted library, the distinct improvement of the accuracy in nuclear design of Fbr cores had been achieved. As a recent research, JNC develops a database of other integral data in addition to the JUPITER experiments, aiming at further improvement for accuracy and reliability. In this report, the authors describe the evaluation of the C/E values and the sensitivity analysis for FCA XVII-1 assembly. FCA XVII-1 is a representative mock-up of a MOX fuel sodium cooling FBR core. The criticality, reaction rate ratio, sodium void reactivity worth and 238 U Doppler reactivity worth of FCA XVII-1 were analyzed. The results of C/E values calculated by the standard analytical method for JUPITER experiments are similar to those calculated by the method of JAERI, except for the sodium void reactivity. So, further investigation for sodium void reactivity is necessary. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis shows the characteristics of FCA XVII-1 in comparison with ZPPR-9. (author)

Application of the PSA method to decay heat removal systems in a large scale FBR design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kotake, S.; Satoh, K.; Matsumoto, H.; Sugawara, M.; Sakata, K.; Okabe, A.

1993-01-01

The Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) method is applied to a large scale loop-type FBR in its conceptual design stage in order to establish a well-balanced safety. Both the reactor shut down and decay heat removal systems are designed to be highly reliable, e.g. 10 -7 /d. In this paper the results of several reliability analyses concerning the DHRS have been discussed, where the effects of the analytical assumptions, design options, accident managements on the reliability are examined. The reliability is evaluated small enough, since DRACSs consists of four independent loops with sufficient heat removal capacity and both forced and natural circulation capabilities are designed. It is found that the common mode failures for the active components in the DRACS dominate the reliability. The design diversity concerning these components can be effective for the improvements and the accident managements on BOP are also possible by making use of the long grace period in FBR. (author)

Application of the PSA method to decay heat removal systems in a large scale FBR design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kotake, S; Satoh, K [Japan Atomic Power Company, Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo (Japan); Matsumoto, H; Sugawara, M [Toshiba Corporation (Japan); Sakata, K [Mitsubishi Atomic Power Industries Inc. (Japan); Okabe, A [Hitachi Engineering Co., Ltd. (Japan)

1993-02-01

The Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) method is applied to a large scale loop-type FBR in its conceptual design stage in order to establish a well-balanced safety. Both the reactor shut down and decay heat removal systems are designed to be highly reliable, e.g. 10{sup -7}/d. In this paper the results of several reliability analyses concerning the DHRS have been discussed, where the effects of the analytical assumptions, design options, accident managements on the reliability are examined. The reliability is evaluated small enough, since DRACSs consists of four independent loops with sufficient heat removal capacity and both forced and natural circulation capabilities are designed. It is found that the common mode failures for the active components in the DRACS dominate the reliability. The design diversity concerning these components can be effective for the improvements and the accident managements on BOP are also possible by making use of the long grace period in FBR. (author)

Numerical analysis and simulation of behavior of high burn-up PWR fuel pulse-irradiated in reactivity-initiated accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, M.; Sugiyama, T.; Udagawa, Y.; Nagase, F.; Fuketa, T.

2010-01-01

The four cases of the NSRR experiments, consisting of two room temperature tests and two high temperature tests, using high burn-up PWR fuel rods are analyzed by using the RANNS code to discuss the fuel behavior in hypothetical pulse-irradiation conditions, and the results are compared with metallography observations of ruptured claddings. The cladding rupture occurred by a shear sliding which starts from the tip of incipient crack generated in the hydride dense layer. The analyses reveal that the onset of shear sliding leading to cladding rupture can be closely associated with the stress intensity factor KI at the crack tip and local plastic strain evolution around the tip as well, and that these two factors depend also on the temperature of cladding. Simulation calculations on the basis of experimental conditions reveals that the cladding stress is dependent on the height and half-width of pulse power, and for the same integral enthalpy of pulse a larger half-width mitigates the severity of transient and decreases KI to allow plastic strain by temperature rise, thus failure possibility would be markedly decreased

3D pin-by-pin power density profiles with high spatial resolution in the vicinity of a BWR control blade tip simulated with coupled neutronics/burn-up calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, J.; Nünighoff, K.; Allelein, H.-J.

2011-01-01

Highlights: ► High spatial resolution neutronic and burn-up calculations of quarter BWR fuel element section. ► Coupled MCNP(X)–ORIGEN2.2 simulation using VESTA. ► Control blade history effect was taken into account. ► Determining local power excursion after instantaneous control rod movement. ► Correlation between control blade geometry and occurrence of local power excursions. - Abstract: Pellet cladding interaction (PCI) as well as pellet cladding mechanical interaction (PCMI) are well-known fuel failures in light water reactors, especially in boiling water reactors (BWR). Whereas the thermo-mechanical processes of PCI effects have been intensively investigated in the last decades, only rare information is available on the role of neutron physics. However, each power transient is primary due to neutron physics effects and thus knowledge of the neutron physical background is mandatory to better understand the occurrence of PCI effects in BWRs. This paper will focus on a study of local power excursions in a typical BWR fuel assembly during control rod movements. Burn-up and energy deposition were simulated with high spatial granularity, especially in the vicinity of the control blade tip. It could be shown, that the design of the control blade plays a dominant role for the occurrence of local power peaks while instantaneously moving down the control rod. The main result is, that the largest power peak occurs at the interface between steel handle and absorber rods. A full width half maximum (FWHM) of ±2.5 cm was observed. This means, the local power excursion due to neutron physics phenomena involve approximately five pellets. With the VESTA code coupled MCNP(X)/ORIGEN2.2 calculations were performed with more than 3400 burn-up zones in order to take history effects into account.

The Swiss contribution to the FBR development

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hudina, M [Institut Federal de Recherches en Matiere de Reacteurs, Wuerenlingen (Switzerland); and others

1981-05-01

The program of fast breeder reactors development in Switzerland is considered from two points of view: energy self-sufficiency and optimization of fuel cycle. Research and development program covers: safety features of LMFBRs, development of mixed carbide fuel elements, study of steam generators transient behaviour, influence of various cooling concepts on thermal efficiency, techniques for detecting cover gas bubbles in the primary sodium circuit. This paper includes cost od the research and development activities as well as description of the future aims of the FBR projects.

The Swiss contribution to the FBR development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hudina, M.

1981-01-01

The program of fast breeder reactors development in Switzerland is considered from two points of view: energy self-sufficiency and optimization of fuel cycle. Research and development program covers: safety features of LMFBRs, development of mixed carbide fuel elements, study of steam generators transient behaviour, influence of various cooling concepts on thermal efficiency, techniques for detecting cover gas bubbles in the primary sodium circuit. This paper includes cost od the research and development activities as well as description of the future aims of the FBR projects

Irradiation performance of PFBR MOX fuel after 112 GWd/t burn-up

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Venkiteswaran, C.N., E-mail: cnv@igcar.gov.in; Jayaraj, V.V.; Ojha, B.K.; Anandaraj, V.; Padalakshmi, M.; Vinodkumar, S.; Karthik, V.; Vijaykumar, Ran; Vijayaraghavan, A.; Divakar, R.; Johny, T.; Joseph, Jojo; Thirunavakkarasu, S.; Saravanan, T.; Philip, John; Rao, B.P.C.; Kasiviswanathan, K.V.; Jayakumar, T.

2014-06-01

The 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) which is in advanced stage of construction at Kalpakkam, India, will use mixed oxide (MOX) fuel with a target burnup of 100 GWd/t. The fuel pellet is of annular design to enable operation at a peak linear power of 450 W/cm with the requirement of minimum duration of pre-conditioning. The performance of the MOX fuel and the D9 clad and wrapper material was assessed through Post Irradiation Examinations (PIE) after test irradiation of 37 fuel pin subassembly in Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) to a burn-up of 112 GWd/t. Fission product distribution, swelling and fuel–clad gap evolution, central hole diameter variation, restructuring, fission gas release and clad wastage due to fuel–clad chemical interaction were evaluated through non-destructive and destructive examinations. The examinations have indicated that the MOX fuel can safely attain the desired target burn-up in PFBR.

A comparison study of the 1MeV triton burn-up in JET using the HECTOR and SOCRATE codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorini, G.; Kovanen, M.A.

1988-01-01

The burn-up of the 1MeV tritons in deuterium plasmas has been measured in JET for various plasma conditions. To interpret these measurements the containment, slowing down and burn-up of fast tritons needs to be modelled with a reasonable accuracy. The numerical code SOCRATE has been written for this specific purpose and a second code, HECTOR, has been adapted to study the triton burn-up problem. In this paper we compare the results from the two codes in order to exclude possible errors in the numerical models, to assess their accuracy and to study the sensitivity of the calculation to various physical effects. (author)

Principles of MONJU maintenance. Characteristic of MONJU maintenance and reflection of LWR maintenance experience to FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakai, Satoru; Nishio, Ryuichi; Uchihashi, Masaya; Kaneko, Yoshihisa; Yamashita, Hironobu; Yamaguchi, Atsunori; Aoki, Takayuki

2014-01-01

A sodium cooled fast breeder reactor (FBR) has unique systems and components and different degradation mechanism from light water reactor (LWR) so that need to establish maintenance technology in accordance with its features. The examination of the FBR maintenance technology is carried out in the special committee for considering the maintenance for Monju established in the Japan Society of Maintenology (JSM). As a result of the study such as extraction of Monju maintenance feature, maintenance technology benchmark between Monju and LWR components and survey of LWR maintenance experience, it is clear that principles of maintenance are same as LWR, necessity of LWR maintenance experience reflection and points to be considered in Monju maintenance. The road map to establish a FBR maintenance technology in the technical aspect became clear and it is vital to acquire operation and maintenance experience of the plant to implement this road map, and to establish a fast reactor maintenance. (author)

Calculation of burn-up data for spent LWR-fuels with respect to the design of spent fuel reprocessing plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gasteiger, R.

1976-11-01

The design of spent fuel reprocessing plants makes necessary a detailed knowledge of the composition of the incoming fuels as a function of burn-up. This report gives a broad review on the composition of radionuclides in fuels (fission products, actinides) and structural materials for different burn-up data. (orig.) [de

Making of a burn unit: SOA burn center

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jayant Kumar Dash

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Each year in India, burn injuries account for more than 6 million hospital emergency department visits; of which many require hospitalization and are referred to specialized burn centers. There are few burn surgeons and very few burn centers in India. In our state, Odisha, there are only two burn centers to cater to more than 5000 burn victims per year. This article is an attempt to share the knowledge that I acquired while setting up a new burn unit in a private medical college of Odisha.

FBR type reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hayase, Tamotsu.

1991-01-01

The present invention concerns an FBR type reactor in which transuranium elements are eliminated by nuclear conversion. There are loaded reactor core fuels being charged with mixed oxides of plutonium and uranium, and blanket fuels mainly comprising depleted uranium. Further, liquid sodium is used as coolants. As transuranium elements, isotope elements of neptunium, americium and curium contained in wastes taken out from light water reactors or the composition thereof are used. The reactor core comprises a region with a greater mixing ratio and a region with a less mixing ratio of the transuranium elements. The mixing ratio of the transuranium elements is made greater for the fuels in the reactor core region at the boundary with the blanket of great neutron leakage. With such a constitution, since the positive reactivity value at the reactor core central portion is small in the Na void reactivity distribution in the reactor core, the positive reactivity is small upon Na boiling in the reactor core central region upon occurrence of imaginable accident, to attain reactor safety. (I.N.)

Burn-up dependent steady-state thermal hydraulic analysis of Pakistan research reactor-1

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Atta

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The burn-up dependent steady-state thermal hydraulic analysis of Pakistan research reactor-1, reference operating core, has been carried out utilizing standard computer codes WIMS/D4, CITATION, and RELAP5/MOD3.4. Reactor codes WIMS/D4 and CITATION have been used for the calculations of neutronic parameters including peaking factors and power profiles at different burn-up considering a xenon free core and also the equilibrium xenon values. RELAP5/MOD3.4 code was utilized for the determination of peak fuel centerline, clad and coolant temperatures to ensure the safety of the reactor throughout the cycle. The calculations reveal that the reactor is safe and no nucleate boiling will commence at any part of the core throughout the cycle and that the safety margin increases with burnup as peaking factors decrease.

Development of simulation code for FBR spent fuel dissolution with rotary drum type continuous dissolver

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sano, Yuichi; Katsurai, Kiyomichi; Washiya, Tadahiro; Koizumi, Tsutomu; Matsumoto, Satoshi

2011-01-01

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been studying rotary drum type continuous dissolver for FBR spent fuel dissolution. For estimating the fuel dissolution behavior under several operational conditions in this dissolver, we have been developing the simulation code, PLUM, which mainly consists of 3 modules for calculating chemical reaction, mass transfer and thermal balance in the rotary drum type continuous dissolver. Under the various conditions where dissolution experiments were carried out with the batch-wise dissolver for FBR spent fuel and with the rotary drum type continuous dissolver for UO 2 fuel, it was confirmed that the fuel dissolution behaviors calculated by the PLUM code showed good agreement with the experimental ones. Based on this result, the condition for obtaining the dissolver solution with high HM (heavy metal : U and Pu) concentration (∼500g/L), which is required for the next step, i.e. crystallization process, was also analyzed by this code and appropriate operational conditions with the rotary drum type continuous dissolver, such as feedrate, concentration and temperature of nitric acid, could be clarified. (author)

Direct measurement of burn up monitor by Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) followed by Isotopic Dilution Mass Spectrometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sajimol, R.; Manoravi, P.; NaIini, S.; Balasubramanian, R.; Joseph, M.

2012-01-01

Burn-up measurement is an important aspect in the assessment of fuel performance especially for experimental nuclear fuels. Conventional mass spectrometric technique offer the best accuracy for determination of burn-up but they suffer from the labour intensive and time consuming chemical separation procedures followed by mass spectrometric analysis. Our laboratory has reported a potential laser mass spectrometric technique with advantages of (i) direct and fast measurement of ion intensities of selected rare earth element and residual heavy element atoms to deduce burn up and (ii) adaptability to remote handling of radioactive samples. Direct quantification of burn up monitor element in fuel in the form of pellet as well as liquid was probed by pulsed laser deposition followed by Isotopic Dilution Mass Spectrometric technique (IDMS). The procedure involving laser ablation of heavy element (namely U and Pu) and fission product (Nd, La etc) from a simulated spent fuel matrix followed by isotopic dilution mass spectrometry using thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) has been presently attempted to arrive at the rare earth element to heavy element ratio to deduce burn up using the methodology described in our earlier work. The details of IDMS technique has been reviewed by Heumann et al. Accurately weighed amounts of major rare earth fission products such as Nd, La, Ce and Sm in solution form were mixed with known quantity of uranium solution (all the weights are corresponding to their fission yields and the residual heavy element atoms after a given burn up) and mixed together to attain uniformity. The solution is then dried and resulting powder was pelletized and sintered. Subsequently, the pellet was ablated with pulsed laser (8 ns, 532 nm, Nd-YAG) and the plume was deposited on a glass plate. This deposit was dissolved in minimum amount of nitric acid. A known volume of the solution was mixed with spike (for e.g., 150 Nd/ 142 Nd, 233 U/ 238 U in this study

Non destructive burn up determination of IEA-R1 reactor fuel elements by gamma-ray spectrometry using a Ge(Li) detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Madi Filho, T.

1982-01-01

A non destructive determination of burn up of low (IEA-14) and high (IEA-80) activity fuel elements used in the IEA-R1 pool reactor was made from the measured distribution of the Cs-137 gamma-ray activity in these elements. For both series of measurements a 73,7 c.c. Ge(Li) detector was used in 'well collimated' geometry. Where as IEA-14, removed from the reactor some 20 years, showed a gamma-ray spectrum essentially due to Cs-137, IEA-80, with a cooling time of 5 years, showed a more complex spectrum due to the greater number of fission products remaining. The S.I out-of-pool assembly was calibrated using Cs-137 and Co-60 point and Ag-110m plane sources. These measurements provided the necessary constants used to calculate fuel burn-up from measured relative activity distributions of fuel elements. Detailed fuel plate transmission measurements made with the Cs-137 source showed the plates to be highly homogeneous. High activity fuel elements were measured in the S.II in-pool assembly in which the detector was locate on the moveable pool bridge and the test element was positioned immediately below the detector 2.17m below the pool surface. Measurements made in the S.II assembly were normalised with respect to the measured activity of the IEA-14 element. The measured burn up of the IEA-14 and IEA-80 elements obtained in this work is 3.22.10 - 3 gms and 24.44gms. These values may be compared with respective values of 2.63.10 - 3 gms and 61.11gms given by 'total reactor energy/flux distribution' calculations. Calculated errors for the U-235 burn up are 7.4% (IEA-14) and 10.1% (IEA-80). A detailed evaluation of the errors associated with both sets of measurements is given. (Author) [pt

Follow-up care of children suffered from burns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Konstantin Aleksandrovich Afonichev

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Outcomes of III-VI AB degree burns in children,regardless of the nature of treatment in the acute andrecovery period, are the development of scar contractures and deformities of the joints. However, thecorrect organization of follow-up care and rehabilitation treatment can significantly reduce the severity and facilitates the full recovery of the affected segment. Based on the analysis of their own material, the author defines the early stage of rehabilitation in these patients before full maturation of scar tissue or before the formation of functionally significant joint contractures, and later period, when there are indications for surgical rehabilitation. In the early period, follow-up care is recommended in 1 month after discharge and then on a quarterly basis, and with the appearance of deformities - at least once in 2 months. At the2nd stage of rehabilitation, older children and children of secondary school age are subject to follow-up care at least 1 time per year of primary school age - atleast once in 6 months, preschool children - every3 months. The proposed assessment of scar tissuehelps to determine the terms of follow-up care. Usingthis scheme of follow-up care and appropriate treatment allowed the author to obtain excellent and goodresults in 87-90 % of cases at the stages of rehabilitaion.

Burn-up determinations and dimensional measurements of TRIGA-HEU fuel elements from the 14 MW steady-state core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toma, C.; Alexa, Al.; Craciunescu, T.; Pirvan, M.; Dobrin, R.

2008-01-01

In this paper there are presented the results of nondestructive examination in Post Irradiation Examination Laboratory for twenty five fuel rods selected from 14 MW steady state core. Gamma scanning and dimensional measurements were carried out in order to determine burn-up and diametric deflection of the fuel rods. Also, some comparisons with SSR Safety Report estimations for the maximum burn-up pin were made. (authors)

PAPIRUS - a computer code for FBR fuel performance analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Y.; Tsuboi, Y.; Sogame, M.

1991-01-01

The FBR fuel performance analysis code PAPIRUS has been developed to design fuels for demonstration and future commercial reactors. A pellet structural model was developed to describe the generation, depletion and transport of vacancies and atomic elements in unified fashion. PAPIRUS results in comparison with the power - to - melt test data from HEDL showed validity of the code at the initial reactor startup. (author)

LWR FA burn up: A challenge to optimize the entire fuel cycle to assure the envisaged benefit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peehs, M [Siemens AG Unternehmensbereich KWU, Erlangen (Germany)

1997-12-01

Commercial LWR fuel will be limited to a maximum of U-235 content of 5% since the front end of the fuel cycle is licensed and prepared for that maximal enrichment. BWR- and PWR-reloads can be designed achieving batch average burn up over 60 GWd/tHM. In Germany the batch average burn up will presumably increase to this level, since the reload market is requesting further reductions in the fuel cycle inventories. However, it must be noted that the envisaged benefit can only be assured if the entire fuel cycle is optimized. Not all steps in the fuel cycle will bring a positive contribution bu the balance of all individual contributions must realize the envisaged integral benefit. In order to increase the burn up of the nuclear fuel beneficially further R and D both in the front end as well as in the back end of the fuel cycle is needed. An underestimation of the front end/back end interfaces may consume all benefits gained from isolated front optimizations. Back end R and D must be at once concentrated to avoid conservative enveloping licensing for the subsequent steps in the back end of the fuel cycle. Increasing burn up in the front end means making more and more use of the structural materials reserves.

LWR FA burn up: A challenge to optimize the entire fuel cycle to assure the envisaged benefit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peehs, M.

1997-01-01

Commercial LWR fuel will be limited to a maximum of U-235 content of 5% since the front end of the fuel cycle is licensed and prepared for that maximal enrichment. BWR- and PWR-reloads can be designed achieving batch average burn up over 60 GWd/tHM. In Germany the batch average burn up will presumably increase to this level, since the reload market is requesting further reductions in the fuel cycle inventories. However, it must be noted that the envisaged benefit can only be assured if the entire fuel cycle is optimized. Not all steps in the fuel cycle will bring a positive contribution bu the balance of all individual contributions must realize the envisaged integral benefit. In order to increase the burn up of the nuclear fuel beneficially further R and D both in the front end as well as in the back end of the fuel cycle is needed. An underestimation of the front end/back end interfaces may consume all benefits gained from isolated front optimizations. Back end R and D must be at once concentrated to avoid conservative enveloping licensing for the subsequent steps in the back end of the fuel cycle. Increasing burn up in the front end means making more and more use of the structural materials reserves

Steam generator of FBR type reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hashiguchi, Ko.

1992-01-01

Liquid metal (for example, mercury) which is scarcely reactive with metal sodium is contained and cover gases which are scarcely reactive with the liquid metal are filled in a steam generator of an FBR type reactor and it is closed. The heat of primary sodium is transferred to the liquid metal, which is not reactive with sodium, in a primary thermal conduction portion. Since the temperature of the primary thermal conduction portion is high, the density is extremely low. On the other hand, since a second thermal conduction portion is kept at a single phase and the temperature is lower compared with that of the first thermal conduction portion, the density is kept high. since the density difference and gas jetting speed generate a great circulating force to liquid metal passing the opening of a partition plate, heat can be conducted on the side of water without disposing pumps. The steam concentration in the liquid metal is low being in a single phase of steams, corrosion caused from the outside of pipes of the primary thermal conduction pipe is scarcely promoted. Even if sodium leaks should be caused, since the sodium concentration in the liquid metal is extremely low and the reactivity is low, the temperature of the liquid metal is not elevated. (N.H.)

On the rate determining step in fission gas release from high burn-up water reactor fuel during power transients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walker, C.T.; Mogensen, M.

1987-01-01

The radial distribution of grain boundary gas in a PWR and a BWR fuel is reported. The measurements were made using a new approach involving X-ray fluorescence analysis and electron probe microanalysis. In both fuels the concentration of grain boundary gas was much higher than hitherto suspected. The gas was mainly contained in the bubble/pore structure. The factors that determined the fraction of gas released from the grains and the level of gas retention on the grain boundaries are identified and discussed. The variables involved are the local fuel stoichiometry, the amount of open porosity, the magnitude of the local compressive hydrostatic stress and the interaction of metallic precipitates with gas bubbles on the grain faces. It is concluded that under transient conditions the interlinkage of gas bubbles on the grain faces and the subsequent formation of grain edge tunnels is the rate determining step for gas release; at least when high burn-up fuel is involved. (orig.)

Estimation of Emissions from Sugarcane Field Burning in Thailand Using Bottom-Up Country-Specific Activity Data

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Wilaiwan Sornpoon

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Open burning in sugarcane fields is recognized as a major source of air pollution. However, the assessment of its emission intensity in many regions of the world still lacks information, especially regarding country-specific activity data including biomass fuel load and combustion factor. A site survey was conducted covering 13 sugarcane plantations subject to different farm management practices and climatic conditions. The results showed that pre-harvest and post-harvest burnings are the two main practices followed in Thailand. In 2012, the total production of sugarcane biomass fuel, i.e., dead, dry and fresh leaves, amounted to 10.15 million tonnes, which is equivalent to a fuel density of 0.79 kg∙m−2. The average combustion factor for the pre-harvest and post-harvest burning systems was determined to be 0.64 and 0.83, respectively. Emissions from sugarcane field burning were estimated using the bottom-up country-specific values from the site survey of this study and the results compared with those obtained using default values from the 2006 IPCC Guidelines. The comparison showed that the use of default values lead to underestimating the overall emissions by up to 30% as emissions from post-harvest burning are not accounted for, but it is the second most common practice followed in Thailand.

Copper wire theft and high voltage electrical burns

OpenAIRE

Francis, Eamon C; Shelley, Odhran P

2014-01-01

High voltage electrical burns are uncommon. However in the midst of our economic recession we are noticing an increasing number of these injuries. Copper wire is a valuable commodity with physical properties as an excellent conductor of electricity making it both ubiquitous in society and prized on the black market. We present two consecutive cases referred to the National Burns Unit who sustained life threatening injuries from the alleged theft of high voltage copper wire and its omnipresenc...

A validated methodology for evaluating burn-up credit in spent fuel casks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brady, M.C.; Sanders, T.L.

1992-01-01

The concept of allowing reactivity credit for the transmuted state of spent fuel offers both economic and risk incentives. This paper presents a general overview of the technical work being performed in support of the US Department of Energy (USDOE) programme to resolve issues related to the implementation of burn-up credit in spent fuel cask design. An analysis methodology is presented along with information representing the validation of the method against available experimental data. The experimental data that are applicable to burn-up credit include chemical assay data for the validation of the isotopic prediction models, fresh fuel critical experiments for the validation of criticality calculations for various cask geometries, and reactor re-start critical data to validate criticality calculations with spent fuel. The methodology has been specifically developed to be simple and generally applicable, therefore giving rise to uncertainties or sensitivities which are identified and quantified in terms of a percent bias effective multiplication (k eff ). Implementation issues affecting licensing requirements and operational procedures are discussed briefly. (Author)

Economic burden of burn injuries in the Netherlands: A 3 months follow-up study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hop, M Jenda; Wijnen, Ben F M; Nieuwenhuis, Marianne K; Dokter, Jan; Middelkoop, Esther; Polinder, Suzanne; van Baar, Margriet E

2016-01-01

Burn care has rapidly improved in the past decades. However, healthcare innovations can be expensive, demanding careful choices on their implementation. Obtaining knowledge on the extent of the costs of burn injuries is an essential first step for economic evaluations within burn care. The objective of this study was to determine the economic burden of patients with burns admitted to a burn centre and to identify important cost categories until 3 months post-burn. A prospective cohort study was conducted in the burn centre of Maasstad Hospital Rotterdam, the Netherlands, including all patients with acute burn related injuries from August 2011 until July 2012. Total costs were calculated from a societal perspective, until 3 months post injury. Subgroup analyses were performed to examine whether the mean total costs per patient differed by age, aetiology or percentage total body surface area (TBSA) burned. In our population, with a mean burn size of 8%, mean total costs were €26,540 per patient varying from €742 to €235,557. Most important cost categories were burn centre days (62%), surgical interventions (5%) and work absence (20%). Flame burns were significantly more costly than other types of burns, adult patients were significantly more costly than children and adolescents and a higher percentage TBSA burned also corresponded to significantly higher costs. Mean total costs of burn care in the first 3 months post injury were estimated at €26,540 and depended on age, aetiology and TBSA. Mean total costs in our population probably apply to other high-income countries as well, although we should realise that patients with burn injuries are diverse and represent a broad range of total costs. To reduce costs of burn care, future intervention studies should focus on a timely wound healing, reducing length of stay and enabling an early return to work. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reactor structure for FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamazaki, Tsukasa.

1986-01-01

Purpose: To prevent deformation of equipment for FBR structure by inhibiting free convection generated at the roof slab through device. Constitution: The labyrinth is placed between the lower part of the roof slab and the lower one of the positioning flange, and then, convection-preventive wrinkle is provided for the side wall for the positioning flange against the roof slab side wall. The upper part of the positioning flange is fixed to the upper surface of the roof slab, the through-device flange is connected to the lower flange, and prevent generation of thermal stress. Thus, free convection at the through-device is prevented, and it has become possible to miniaturize the seal section of the intermediate heat exchanger and prevent galling of the circulating pump. The joint position of the positioning flange with the through-device flange can be shifted to the same height level of the roof slab, and the length under the hook of the overhead crance can be reduced. (Horiuchi, T.)

High-voltage electrical burns due to copper theft - Case series.

Science.gov (United States)

Braga, M J; Oliveira, I; Egipto, P; Silva, A

2016-03-31

Electrical burns are among the most devastating trauma inflicted on the human body. These burns have a higher morbidity, length of stay and a much higher risk of amputation than any other type of burn. Electrical burns affect mostly young, working males because they are more frequently the result of a work accident. However, possibly due to the worldwide economic crisis, we are experiencing a new phenomenon: the theft of high-voltage copper wiring.

The effect of dissolved hydrogen on the dissolution of 233U doped UO2(s) high burn-up spent fuel and MOX fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carbol, P.; Spahiu, K.

2005-03-01

In this report the results of the experimental work carried out in a large EU-research project (SFS, 2001-2004) on spent fuel stability in the presence of various amounts of near field hydrogen are presented. Studies of the dissolution of 233 U doped UO 2 (s) simulating 'old' spent fuel were carried out as static leaching tests, autoclave tests with various hydrogen concentrations and electrochemical tests. The results of the leaching behaviour of a high burn-up spent fuel pellet in 5 M NaCl solutions in the presence of 3.2 bar H 2 pressure and of MOX fuel in dilute synthetic groundwater under 53 bar H 2 pressure are also presented. In all the experimental studies carried out in this project, a considerable effect of hydrogen in the dissolution rates of radioactive materials was observed. The experimental results obtained in this project with a-doped UO 2 , high burn-up spent fuel and MOX fuel together with literature data give a reliable background to use fractional alteration/dissolution rates for spent fuel of the order of 10 -6 /yr - 10 -8 /yr with a recommended value of 4x10 -7 /yr for dissolved hydrogen concentrations above 10 -3 M and Fe(II) concentrations typical for European repository concepts. Finally, based on a review of the experimental data and available literature data, potential mechanisms of the hydrogen effect are also discussed. The work reported in this document was performed as part of the Project SFS of the European Commission 5th Framework Programme under contract no FIKW-CT-2001-20192 SFS. It represents the deliverable D10 of the experimental work package 'Key experiments using a-doped UO 2 and real spent fuel', coordinated by SKB with the participation of ITU, FZK-INE, ENRESA, CIEMAT, ARMINES-SUBATECH and SKB

Simulation of triton burn-up in JET plasmas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Loughlin, M J; Balet, B; Jarvis, O N; Stubberfield, P M [Commission of the European Communities, Abingdon (United Kingdom). JET Joint Undertaking

1994-07-01

This paper presents the first triton burn-up calculations for JET plasmas using the transport code TRANSP. Four hot ion H-mode deuterium plasmas are studied. For these discharges, the 2.5 MeV emission rises rapidly and then collapses abruptly. This phenomenon is not fully understood but in each case the collapse phase is associated with a large impurity influx known as the ``carbon bloom``. The peak 14 MeV emission occurs at this time, somewhat later than that of the 2.5 MeV neutron peak. The present results give a clear indication that there are no significant departures from classical slowing down and spatial diffusion for tritons in JET plasmas. (authors). 7 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.

Burning minor actinides in a HTR energy spectrum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pohl, Christoph; Rütten, H. Jochem

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Burn-up analysis for varying plutonium/minor actinide fuel compositions. ► The influence of varying heavy metal fuel element loads is investigated. ► Significant burn-up via radiative capture and subsequently fission is observed. ► Difference observed between fuel element burn-up and total actinide burning rate. - Abstract: The generation of nuclear energy by means of the existing nuclear reactor systems is based mainly on the fission of U-235. But this comes along with the capture of neutrons by the U-238 faction and results in a build-up of plutonium isotopes and minor actinides as neptunium, americium and curium. These actinides are dominant for the long time assessment of the radiological risk of a final disposal therefore a minimization of the long living isotopes is aspired. Burning the actinides in a high temperature helium cooled graphite moderated reactor (HTR) is one of these options. The use of plutonium isotopes to sustain the criticality of the system is intended to avoid on the one hand highly enriched uranium because of international regulations and on the other hand low enriched uranium because of the build up of new actinides from neutron capture in the U-238 fraction. Because initial minor actinide isotopes are typically not fissionable by thermal neutrons the idea is to fission instead the intermediate isotopes generated by the first neutron capture. This paper comprises calculations for plutonium/minor actinides/thorium fuel compositions and their correlated final burn-up for a generic pebble bed HTR based on the reference design of the 400 MW PBMR. In particular the cross sections and the neutron balance of the different minor actinide isotopes in the higher thermal energy spectrum of a HTR will be discussed. For a fuel mixture of plutonium and minor actinides a significant burn-up of these actinides up to 20% can be achieved but at the expense of a higher residual fraction of plutonium in the burned fuel. Combining

Interrelationship betwen material strength and component design under elevated temperature for FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakagawa, Y.

Structural design under elevated temperature for fast breeder reactor plant is very troublesome compared to that of for lower temperature. This difficulty can be mainly discussed from two different stand points. One is design and design code, another is material strength. Components in FBR are operated under creep regime and time dependent creep behaviour should be elevated properly. This means the number and combinations of design code and material strength are significantly large and makes these systems very complicated. Material selection is, in no words, not an easy job. This should be done by not only material development but also component design stand point. With valuable experience of construction and research on FBR, a lot of information on component design and material behaviour is available. And it is a time to choose the ''best material'' from the entire stand points of component construction. (author)

Simulation for Supporting Scale-Up of a Fluidized Bed Reactor for Advanced Water Oxidation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farhana Tisa

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Simulation of fluidized bed reactor (FBR was accomplished for treating wastewater using Fenton reaction, which is an advanced oxidation process (AOP. The simulation was performed to determine characteristics of FBR performance, concentration profile of the contaminants, and various prominent hydrodynamic properties (e.g., Reynolds number, velocity, and pressure in the reactor. Simulation was implemented for 2.8 L working volume using hydrodynamic correlations, continuous equation, and simplified kinetic information for phenols degradation as a model. The simulation shows that, by using Fe3+ and Fe2+ mixtures as catalyst, TOC degradation up to 45% was achieved for contaminant range of 40–90 mg/L within 60 min. The concentration profiles and hydrodynamic characteristics were also generated. A subsequent scale-up study was also conducted using similitude method. The analysis shows that up to 10 L working volume, the models developed are applicable. The study proves that, using appropriate modeling and simulation, data can be predicted for designing and operating FBR for wastewater treatment.

FBR metallic materials test manual (English version)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Odaka, Susumu; Kato, Shoichi; Yoshida, Eiichi

2003-06-01

For the development of the fast breeder reactor, this manual describes the method of in-air and in-sodium material tests and the method of organization the data. This previous manual has revised in accordance with the revision of Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) and the conversion to the international unit. The test methods of domestic committees such as the VAMAS (Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards) workshop were also refereed. The material test technologies accumulated in this group until now were also incorporated. This English version was prepared in order to provide more engineers with the FBR metallic materials test manual. (author)

Copper wire theft and high voltage electrical burns.

Science.gov (United States)

Francis, Eamon C; Shelley, Odhran P

2014-01-01

High voltage electrical burns are uncommon. However in the midst of our economic recession we are noticing an increasing number of these injuries. Copper wire is a valuable commodity with physical properties as an excellent conductor of electricity making it both ubiquitous in society and prized on the black market. We present two consecutive cases referred to the National Burns Unit who sustained life threatening injuries from the alleged theft of high voltage copper wire and its omnipresence on an international scale.

FBR type reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, Tsugio.

1986-01-01

Purpose: To ensure the thermal integrity of a reactor vessel in FBR type reactors by preventing sodium vapors or the likes from intruding into a shielding chamber and avoiding spontaneous convection thereof. Constitution: There are provided a shielding plug for shielding the upper opening of a reactor container, an annular thermal member disposed to the circumferential side in the container, a shielding member for shielding upper end of the shielding chamber and a plurality of convection preventive plates suspended from the thermal member into the shielding chamber, and the shielding chamber is communicated by way of the relatively low temperature portion of the container with a gas communication pipe. That is, by closing the upper end of the shielding chamber with the shielding member, coolant vapors, etc. can be prevented from intruding into the shielding chamber. Further, the convection preventive plates prevent the occurrence of spontaneous convection in the shielding chamber. Further, the gas communication pipe absorbs the expansion and contraction of gases in the shielding chamber to effectively prevent the deformation or the like for each of the structural materials. In this way, the thermal integrity of the reactor container can surely be maintained. (Horiuchi, T.)

Current applications of actinide-only burn-up credit within the Cogema group and R and D programme to take fission products into account

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toubon, H.; Guillou, E.; Cousinou, P.; Barbry, F.; Grouiller, J.P.; Bignan, G.

2001-01-01

Burn-up credit can be defined as making allowance for absorbent radioactive isotopes in criticality studies, in order to optimise safety margins and avoid over-engineering of nuclear facilities. As far as the COGEMA Group is concerned, the three fields in which burn-up credit proves to be an advantage are the transport of spent fuel assemblies, their interim storage in spent fuel pools and reprocessing. In the case of transport, burn-up credit means that cask size do not need to be altered, despite an increase in the initial enrichment of the fuel assemblies. Burn-up credit also makes it possible to offer new cask designs with higher capacity. Burn-up credit means that fuel assemblies with a higher initial enrichment can be put into interim storage in existing facilities and opens the way to the possibility of more compact ones. As far as reprocessing is concerned, burn-up credit makes it possible to keep up current production rates, despite an increase in the initial enrichment of the fuel assemblies being reprocessed. In collaboration with the French Atomic Energy Commission and the Institute for Nuclear Safety and Protection, the COGEMA Group is participating in an extensive experimental programme and working to qualify criticality and fuel depletion computer codes. The research programme currently underway should mean that by 2003, allowance will be made for fission products in criticality safety analysis

Current applications of actinide-only burn-up credit within the Cogema group and R and D programme to take fission products into account

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Toubon, H. [Cogema, 78 - Saint Quentin en Yvelines (France); Guillou, E. [Cogema Etablissement de la Hague, D/SQ/SMT, 50 - Beaumont Hague (France); Cousinou, P. [CEA Fontenay aux Roses, Inst. de Protection et de Surete Nucleaire, 92 (France); Barbry, F. [CEA Valduc, Inst. de Protection et de Surete Nucleaire, 21 - Is sur Tille (France); Grouiller, J.P.; Bignan, G. [CEA Cadarache, 13 - Saint Paul lez Durance (France)

2001-07-01

Burn-up credit can be defined as making allowance for absorbent radioactive isotopes in criticality studies, in order to optimise safety margins and avoid over-engineering of nuclear facilities. As far as the COGEMA Group is concerned, the three fields in which burn-up credit proves to be an advantage are the transport of spent fuel assemblies, their interim storage in spent fuel pools and reprocessing. In the case of transport, burn-up credit means that cask size do not need to be altered, despite an increase in the initial enrichment of the fuel assemblies. Burn-up credit also makes it possible to offer new cask designs with higher capacity. Burn-up credit means that fuel assemblies with a higher initial enrichment can be put into interim storage in existing facilities and opens the way to the possibility of more compact ones. As far as reprocessing is concerned, burn-up credit makes it possible to keep up current production rates, despite an increase in the initial enrichment of the fuel assemblies being reprocessed. In collaboration with the French Atomic Energy Commission and the Institute for Nuclear Safety and Protection, the COGEMA Group is participating in an extensive experimental programme and working to qualify criticality and fuel depletion computer codes. The research programme currently underway should mean that by 2003, allowance will be made for fission products in criticality safety analysis.

Copper wire theft and high voltage electrical burns

Science.gov (United States)

Francis, Eamon C; Shelley, Odhran P

2014-01-01

High voltage electrical burns are uncommon. However in the midst of our economic recession we are noticing an increasing number of these injuries. Copper wire is a valuable commodity with physical properties as an excellent conductor of electricity making it both ubiquitous in society and prized on the black market. We present two consecutive cases referred to the National Burns Unit who sustained life threatening injuries from the alleged theft of high voltage copper wire and its omnipresence on an international scale. PMID:25356371

A contribution to the understanding of the high burn-up structure formation in nuclear fuels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jonnet, J.

2007-01-01

An increase of the discharge burn-up of UO 2 nuclear fuels in the light water reactors results in the appearance of a change of microscopic structure, called HBS. Although well characterised experimentally, important points on the mechanisms of its formation remain to be cleared up. In order to answer these questions, a study of the contribution of the dislocation-type defects was conducted. In a first part, a calculation method of the stress field associated with periodic configurations of dislocations was developed. The method was applied to the cases of edge dislocation pile-up and wall, for which an explicit expression of the internal stress potential was obtained. Through the study of other examples of dislocation configurations, it was highlighted that this method also allows the calculation of any periodic dislocation configuration. In a second part, the evolution of interstitial-type dislocation loops was studied in UO 2 fuel samples doped with 10% in mass of alpha emitters. The experimental loop size distributions were obtained for these samples stored during 4 and 7 years at room temperature. Kinetic equations are proposed in order to study the influence of the resolution process of interstitials from a loop back to the matrix due to an impact with the recoil atom 234 U, as well as the coalescence of two interstitial loops that can diffuse by a volume mechanism. The application of the model shows that the two processes must be considered in the study of the evolution of radiation damage. (author)

Development of computer code SIMPSEX for simulation of FBR fuel reprocessing flowsheets: II. additional benchmarking results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shekhar Kumar; Koganti, S.B.

2003-07-01

Benchmarking and application of a computer code SIMPSEX for high plutonium FBR flowsheets was reported recently in an earlier report (IGC-234). Improvements and recompilation of the code (Version 4.01, March 2003) required re-validation with the existing benchmarks as well as additional benchmark flowsheets. Improvements in the high Pu region (Pu Aq >30 g/L) resulted in better results in the 75% Pu flowsheet benchmark. Below 30 g/L Pu Aq concentration, results were identical to those from the earlier version (SIMPSEX Version 3, code compiled in 1999). In addition, 13 published flowsheets were taken as additional benchmarks. Eleven of these flowsheets have a wide range of feed concentrations and few of them are β-γ active runs with FBR fuels having a wide distribution of burnup and Pu ratios. A published total partitioning flowsheet using externally generated U(IV) was also simulated using SIMPSEX. SIMPSEX predictions were compared with listed predictions from conventional SEPHIS, PUMA, PUNE and PUBG. SIMPSEX results were found to be comparable and better than the result from above listed codes. In addition, recently reported UREX demo results along with AMUSE simulations are also compared with SIMPSEX predictions. Results of the benchmarking SIMPSEX with these 14 benchmark flowsheets are discussed in this report. (author)

Application of Integral Ex-Core and Differential In-Core Neutron Measurements for Adjustment of Fuel Burn-Up Distributions in VVER-1000

Science.gov (United States)

Borodkin, Pavel G.; Borodkin, Gennady I.; Khrennikov, Nikolay N.

2010-10-01

The paper deals with calculational and semi-analytical evaluations of VVER-1000 reactor core neutron source distributions and their influence on measurements and calculations of the integral through-vessel neutron leakage. Time-integrated neutron source distributions used for DORT calculations were prepared by two different approaches based on a) calculated fuel burn-up (standard routine procedure) and b) in-core measurements by means of SPD & TC (new approach). Taking into account that fuel burn-up distributions in operating VVER may be evaluated now by analytical methods (calculations) only it is needed to develop new approaches for testing and correction of calculational evaluations. Results presented in this paper allow to consider a reverse task of alternative estimation of fuel burn-up distributions. The approach proposed is based on adjustment (fitting) of time-integrated neutron source distributions, and hence fuel burn-up patterns in some part of reactor core, on the base of ex-core neutron leakage measurement, neutron-physical calculation and in-core SPD & TC measurement data.

Electronic manual of the nuclear characteristics analysis code-set for FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Makino, Tohru

2001-03-01

Reactor Physics Gr., System Engineering Technology Division, O-arai Engineering Center has consolidated the nuclear design database to improve analytical methods and prediction accuracy for large fast breeder cores such as demonstration or commercial FBRs from the previous research. The up-to-date information about usage of the nuclear characteristics analysis code-set was compiled as a part of the improvement of basic design data base for FBR core. The outlines of the electronic manual are as follows; (1) The electronic manual includes explanations of following codes: JOINT : Code Interface Program. SLAROM, CASUP : Effective Cross Section Calculation Code. CITATION-FBR : Diffusion Analysis Code. PERKY : Perturbative Diffusion Analysis Code. SNPERT, SNPERT-3D : Perturbative Transport Analysis Code. SAGEP, SAGEP-3D : Sensitivity Coefficient Calculation Code. NSHEX : Transport Analysis Code using Nodal Method. ABLE : Cross Section Adjustment Calculation Code. ACCEPT : Predicting Accuracy Evaluation Code. (2) The electronic manual is described using HTML file format and PDF file for easy maintenance, updating and for easy referring through JNC Intranet. User can refer manual pages by usual Web browser software without any special setup. (3) Many of manual pages include link-tags to jump to related pages. String search is available in both HTML and PDF documents. (4) User can download source code, sample input data and shell script files to carry out each analysis from download page of each code (JNC inside only). (5) Usage of the electronic manual and maintenance/updating process are described in this report and it makes possible to enroll new code or new information in the electronic manual. Since the information has been taken into account about modifications and error fixings, added to each code after the last consolidation in 1994, the electronic manual would cover most recent status of the nuclear characteristics analysis code-set. One of other advantages of use

A study on the design method of the laminated rubber bearing for FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mazda, T.; Ishida, K.; Ikeuchi, K.; Yashiro, T.

1994-01-01

The Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (Japan) has been carrying out the Demonstration Test and Research Program of the Seismic Isolation System for the Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) under contract with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (FY1987--FY1993). In this research program, development of the seismic isolation element, reliability evaluation of the seismic isolation system, and examination of a design-based earthquake have been conducted in order to develop and propose design guidelines of seismic isolation system for FBR plant. The purpose of this paper is to describe the test results concerned with structural design of the laminated rubber bearing, and to explain the construction of the design method for the laminated rubber bearing, which is one of the most important factors in the design guidelines of the seismic isolation system

Peculiarities of highly burned-up NPP SNF reprocessing and new approach to simulation of solvent extraction processes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fedorov, Y.S.; Zilberman, B.Y.; Goletskiy, N.D.; Puzikov, E.A.; Ryabkov, D.V.; Rodionov, S.A.; Beznosyuk, V.I.; Petrov, Y.Y.; Saprykin, V.F.; Murzin, A.A.; Bibichev, B.A.; Aloy, A.S.; Kudinov, A.S.; Blazheva, I.V. [RPA ' V.G.Khlopin Radium Institute' , 28, 2 Murinsky av., St-Petersburg, 194 021 (Russian Federation); Kurenkov, N.V. [Institute of Industrial Nuclear Technology NRNU MEPHI, 31, Kashirskoye shosse, Moscow, 115409 (Russian Federation)

2013-07-01

Substantiation, general description and performance characteristics of a reprocessing flowsheet for WWER-1000 spent fuel with burn-up >60 GW*day/t U is given. Pu and U losses were <0.1%, separation factor > 10{sup 4}; their decontamination factor from γ-emitting fission products was 4*10{sup 4} and 3*10{sup 7}, respectively. Zr, Tc, Np removal was >98% at U and Pu losses <0.05%. A new approach to simulation of extraction equilibrium has been developed. It is based on a set of simultaneous chemical reactions characterized by apparent concentration constants. A software package was created for simulation of spent fuel component distribution in multistage countercurrent extraction processes in the presence of salting out agents. (authors)

MODRIB - a zero dimensional code for criticality and burn-up of LWR's

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaafar, M.A.; El-Cherif, A.I.

1980-01-01

The computer program MODRIB is a zero-dimensional code for calculating criticality and burn-up of light water reactors (LWR's). It is a version of an Italian code RIBOT-2 with an updated cross-section data library. The nuclear constants of MODRIB-code are calculated with a two group scheme (fast and thermal), where the fast group is an average of three fast groups. The code requires as input data essential extensive reactor parameters such as fuel rod radius, clad thickness, fuel enrichment, lattice pitch, water density and temperature etc. A summary of the physical model description and the input-output procedures are given in this report. Selected results of two sample problems are also given for the purpose of checking the validity and reliability of the code. The first is BWR and the second is PWR. The calculation time for a criticality problem with burn-up is about 8 seconds for the first time step and about 3 seconds for each subsequent time step on the ICL-1906 computer facility. The requirements on the memory size is less than 32 K-word. (author)

Sensitivity analysis of fuel pin failure performance under slow-ramp type transient overpower condition by using a fuel performance analysis code FEMAXI-FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuboi, Yasushi; Ninokata, Hisashi; Endo, Hiroshi; Ishizu, Tomoko; Tatewaki, Isao; Saito, Hiroaki

2012-01-01

The FEMAXI-FBR is a fuel performance analysis code and has been developed as one module of core disruptive evaluation system, the ASTERIA-FBR. The FEMAXI-FBR has reproduced the failure pin behavior during slow transient overpower. The axial location of pin failure affects the power and reactivity behavior during core disruptive accident, and failure model of which pin failure occurs at upper part of pin is used by reflecting the results of the CABRI-2 test. By using the FEMAXI-FBR, sensitivity analysis of uncertainty of design parameters such as irradiation conditions and fuel fabrication tolerances was performed to clarify the effect on axial location of pin failure during slow transient overpower. The sensitivity analysis showed that the uncertainty of design parameters does not affect the failure location. It suggests that the failure model with which locations of failure occur at upper part of pin can be adopted for core disruptive calculation by taking into consideration of design uncertainties. (author)

FBR type reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamaoka, Mitsuaki

1988-01-01

Purpose: To enable to increase the burning period by enabling to decrease the reduction of burning reactivity and unifying the irradiation amount of fast neutrons. Constitution: A cylindrical reactor core made of fissile material-enriched fuel is constituted so as to form a plurality of layer-like enriched regions in which the enrichment degree of the fissile material is increased from the center to the radial and axial directions. Then, the ratio between the average enrichment degree for all of the enrichment regions other than the region at the reactor core center with the lowest enrichment degree and the enrichment degree of the enriched region formed at the center of the reactor core is made greater by 5 % or 20 % than the ratio at the initial burning stage where the power distribution of the reactor core is most flattened. (Kawakami, Y.)

JOYO MK-III performance test. Criticality test, excess reactivity measurement and burn-up coefficient measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maeda, Shigetaka; Sekine, Takashi; Kitano, Akihiro; Nagasaki, Hideaki

2005-03-01

The MK-III performance test began in June 2003 to fully characterize the upgraded core and heat transfer system of the experimental fast reactor JOYO. This paper describes the results of the approach to criticality, the excess reactivity evaluation and the burn-up coefficient measurement. In the approach to criticality test, the MK-III core achieved initial criticality at the control rod bank position of 412.8 mm on 14:03 July 2nd, 2003. Because the replacement of the outer two rows of reflector subassemblies with shielding subassemblies reduced the source range monitor signals by a factor of 3 at the same reactor power compared with those in the MK-II core, we measured the change of the monitor's response and determined the count rate 2x10 4 cps.' as an appropriate value judging the zero power criticality. In the excess reactivity evaluation, the zero power excess reactivity at 250degC was 2.99±0.10%Δk/kk' based on the measured critical rod bank position and the measured control rod worths. The predicted value by the JOYO core management code system HESTIA was 3.13±0.16%Δk/kk', showing good agreement with the measured value. The measured excess reactivity was within the safety requirement limit. In the burn-up coefficient measurement, the excess reactivity change versus the reactor burn-up was evaluated. The measurement method adopted was to measure the control rod positions during the rated power operation. A value of -2.12x10 -4 Δk/kk'/MWd was obtained as a measured burn-up coefficient. The value calculated by HESTIA was -2.12x10 -4 Δk/kk'/MWd, and it agreed well with the measured value. All technical safety requirements for MK-III core were satisfied and the calculation accuracy of the core management code system HESTIA was confirmed. (author)

Evaluation and Parameter Analysis of Burn up Calculations for the Assessment of Radioactive Waste - 13187

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fast, Ivan; Aksyutina, Yuliya; Tietze-Jaensch, Holger [Product Quality Control Office for Radioactive Waste (PKS) at the Institute of Energy and Climate Research, Nuclear Waste Management and Reactor Safety Research, IEK-6, Forschungszentrum Juelich (Germany)

2013-07-01

Burn up calculations facilitate a determination of the composition and nuclear inventory of spent nuclear fuel, if operational history is known. In case this information is not available, the total nuclear inventory can be determined by means of destructive or, even on industrial scale, nondestructive measurement methods. For non-destructive measurements however only a few easy-to-measure, so-called key nuclides, are determined due to their characteristic gamma lines or neutron emission. From these measured activities the fuel burn up and cooling time are derived to facilitate the numerical inventory determination of spent fuel elements. Most regulatory bodies require an independent assessment of nuclear waste properties and their documentation. Prominent part of this assessment is a consistency check of inventory declaration. The waste packages often contain wastes from different types of spent fuels of different history and information about the secondary reactor parameters may not be available. In this case the so-called characteristic fuel burn up and cooling time are determined. These values are obtained from a correlations involving key-nuclides with a certain bandwidth, thus with upper and lower limits. The bandwidth is strongly dependent on secondary reactor parameter such as initial enrichment, temperature and density of the fuel and moderator, hence the reactor type, fuel element geometry and plant operation history. The purpose of our investigation is to look into the scaling and correlation limitations, to define and verify the range of validity and to scrutinize the dependencies and propagation of uncertainties that affect the waste inventory declarations and their independent verification. This is accomplished by numerical assessment and simulation of waste production using well accepted codes SCALE 6.0 and 6.1 to simulate the cooling time and burn up of a spent fuel element. The simulations are benchmarked against spent fuel from the real reactor

The relevance of axial burn-up profiles for the criticality safety analysis of spent nuclear fuel in a final repository

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kilger, R.; Gmal, B.; Moser, E.F.

2008-01-01

Due to inhomogeneous neutron flux and moderator density distributions in the reactor core, the burn-up of a nuclear fuel assembly is not homogeneous but shows an axial distribution, typically with lower partial burn-up and thus higher remaining reactivity at the fuel ends in particular at the assembly top end. Beyond a burn-up of about 15 to 20 GWd/tHM, the multiplication factor K of the whole assembly is dominated by this lower-burnt end regions, and is usually higher than for assuming a homogeneous uniform distribution of the averaged burn-up. This behaviour commonly referred to as positive ''end effect'' is well known in burn-up credit considerations for transportation and storage casks and is being investigated also in the context of criticality analyses for final disposition of spent nuclear fuel. Sign and value of the end effect depend on several parameters. Based on a generic model one may not conclude that criticality in a final repository is a likely or expected event, but nevertheless it draws the attention to the fact that criticality is not excluded per se but has to be considered in the analysis and probably has to be encountered by certain appropriate measures, maybe e.g. by limitation of the amount of fissile material inside one single cask, or a rigorous prove for prevention of water ingress. The authors also conclude that the higher partial reactivity of the fuel ends has to be accounted for carefully in more realistic analyses of post-closure scenarios with respect to criticality safety.

Structural dynamics in FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhoje, S.B.

2003-01-01

In view of thin walled large diameter shell structures with associated fluid effects, structural dynamics problems are very critical in a fast breeder reactor. Structural characteristics and consequent structural dynamics problems in typical pool type Fast Breeder Reactor are highlighted. A few important structural dynamics problems are pump induced as well as flow induced vibrations, seismic excitations, pressure transients in the intermediate heat exchangers and pipings due to a large sodium water reaction in the steam generator, and core disruptive accident loadings. The vibration problems which call for identification of excitation forces, formulation of special governing equations and detailed analysis with fluid structure interaction and sloshing effects, particularly for the components such as PSP, inner vessel, CP, CSRDM and TB are elaborated. Seismic design issues are presented in a comprehensive way. Other transient loadings which are specific to FBR, resulting from sodium-water reaction and core disruptive accident are highlighted. A few important results of theoretical as well as experimental works carried out for 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), in the domain of structural dynamics are presented. (author)

Cell formation effects on the burning speeds and flame front area of synthetic gas at high pressures and temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Askari, Omid; Elia, Mimmo; Ferrari, Matthew; Metghalchi, Hameed

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Effect of cell formation on burning speed and flame surface area is investigated. • A new developed non-dimensional number called cellularity factor is introduced. • Cellular burning speed and mass burning rate are calculated using differential based multi-shell model. • Flame instability is studied using thermo-diffusive and hydrodynamics effects. • Power law correlations are developed for cellular burning speeds and mass burning rates. - Abstract: Cellular burning speeds and mass burning rates of premixed syngas/oxidizer/diluent (H_2/CO/O_2/He) have been determined at high pressures and temperatures over a wide range of equivalence ratios which are at engine-relevant conditions. Working on high pressure combustion helps to reduce the pollution and increase the energy efficiency in combustion devices. The experimental facilities consisted of two spherical and cylindrical chambers. The spherical chamber, which can withstand high pressures up to 400 atm, was used to collect pressure rise data due to combustion, to calculate cellular burning speed and mass burning rate. For flame structure and instability analysis the cylindrical chamber was used to take pictures of propagating flame using a high speed CMOS camera and a schlieren photography system. A new differential based multi-shell model based on pressure rise data was used to determine the cellular burning speed and mass burning rate. In this paper, cellular burning speed and mass burning rate of H_2/CO/O_2/He mixture have been measured for a wide range of equivalence ratios from 0.6 to 2, temperatures from 400 to 750 K and pressures from 2 to 50 atm for three hydrogen concentrations of 5, 10 and 25% in the syngas. The power law correlations for cellular burning speed and mass burning rate were developed as a function of equivalence ratio, temperature and pressure. In this study a new developed parameter, called cellularity factor, which indicates the cell formation effect on flame

Some difference of concepts between design guideline for FBR base isolation system and aseismic design guideline of LWR in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shibata, Heki

1992-01-01

This paper deals with the concept and the relation of 'the Base Isolation System and FBR' to the Safety Criteria and the Guideline of the Aseismic Design of LWR in Japan. The Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industries have been working for FBR last several years. The author has been contribute to their works, and this is one of the subjects. He described his own idea obtained through the cooperative work with CRIEPI. (author)

The cluster burn up programme CCC and a comparison of its results with NPD experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoejerup, C.F.

1976-10-01

A brief description is given of the computer programme CCC, which can be used for rod/rod cluster burn up calculations. A comparison of CCC results with some Canadian measurements on NPD fuel is also included. (author)

The estimation of the control rods absorber burn-up during the VVER-1000 operation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bolshagin, Sergey N.; Gorodkov, Sergey S.; Sukhino-Khomenko, Evgeniya A. [National Research Centre ' Kurchatov Institute' , Moscow (Russian Federation)

2013-09-15

The isotopic composition of the control rods absorber changes under the neutron flux influence, so the control rods efficiency can decrease. In the VVER-1000 control rods boron carbide and dysprosium titanate are used as absorbing materials. In boric part the efficiency decreases due to the {sup 10}B isotope burn-up. Dysprosium isotopes turn into other absorbing isotopes, so the absorbing properties of dysprosium part decrease to a lesser degree. Also the control rod's shells may be deformed as a consequence of boron carbide radiation swelling. This fact should be considered in substantiation of control rods durability. For the estimation of the control rods absorber burn-up two models are developed: VVER-1000 3-D fuel assembly with control rods partially immersed (imitation of the control rods operation in the working group) and VVER-1000 3-D fuel assembly with control rods, located at the upper limit switch (imitation of the control rods operation in groups of the emergency shutdown system). (orig.)

Influence of biomass burning from South Asia at a high-altitude mountain receptor site in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Zheng

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Highly time-resolved in situ measurements of airborne particles were conducted at Mt. Yulong (3410 m above sea level on the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in China from 22 March to 14 April 2015. The detailed chemical composition was measured by a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer together with other online instruments. The average mass concentration of the submicron particles (PM1 was 5.7 ± 5.4 µg m−3 during the field campaign, ranging from 0.1 up to 33.3 µg m−3. Organic aerosol (OA was the dominant component in PM1, with a fraction of 68 %. Three OA factors, i.e., biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA, biomass-burning-influenced oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA-BB and oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA, were resolved using positive matrix factorization analysis. The two oxygenated OA factors accounted for 87 % of the total OA mass. Three biomass burning events were identified by examining the enhancement of black carbon concentrations and the f60 (the ratio of the signal at m∕z 60 from the mass spectrum to the total signal of OA. Back trajectories of air masses and satellite fire map data were integrated to identify the biomass burning locations and pollutant transport. The western air masses from South Asia with active biomass burning activities transported large amounts of air pollutants, resulting in elevated organic concentrations up to 4-fold higher than those of the background conditions. This study at Mt. Yulong characterizes the tropospheric background aerosols of the Tibetan Plateau during pre-monsoon season and provides clear evidence that the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau was affected by the transport of anthropogenic aerosols from South Asia.

Influence of biomass burning from South Asia at a high-altitude mountain receptor site in China

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Jing; Hu, Min; Du, Zhuofei; Shang, Dongjie; Gong, Zhaoheng; Qin, Yanhong; Fang, Jingyao; Gu, Fangting; Li, Mengren; Peng, Jianfei; Li, Jie; Zhang, Yuqia; Huang, Xiaofeng; He, Lingyan; Wu, Yusheng; Guo, Song

2017-06-01

Highly time-resolved in situ measurements of airborne particles were conducted at Mt. Yulong (3410 m above sea level) on the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in China from 22 March to 14 April 2015. The detailed chemical composition was measured by a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer together with other online instruments. The average mass concentration of the submicron particles (PM1) was 5.7 ± 5.4 µg m-3 during the field campaign, ranging from 0.1 up to 33.3 µg m-3. Organic aerosol (OA) was the dominant component in PM1, with a fraction of 68 %. Three OA factors, i.e., biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA), biomass-burning-influenced oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA-BB) and oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA), were resolved using positive matrix factorization analysis. The two oxygenated OA factors accounted for 87 % of the total OA mass. Three biomass burning events were identified by examining the enhancement of black carbon concentrations and the f60 (the ratio of the signal at m/z 60 from the mass spectrum to the total signal of OA). Back trajectories of air masses and satellite fire map data were integrated to identify the biomass burning locations and pollutant transport. The western air masses from South Asia with active biomass burning activities transported large amounts of air pollutants, resulting in elevated organic concentrations up to 4-fold higher than those of the background conditions. This study at Mt. Yulong characterizes the tropospheric background aerosols of the Tibetan Plateau during pre-monsoon season and provides clear evidence that the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau was affected by the transport of anthropogenic aerosols from South Asia.

High-voltage electrical burns due to copper theft – Case series

Science.gov (United States)

Braga, M.J.; Oliveira, I.; Egipto, P.; Silva, A.

2016-01-01

Summary Electrical burns are among the most devastating trauma inflicted on the human body. These burns have a higher morbidity, length of stay and a much higher risk of amputation than any other type of burn. Electrical burns affect mostly young, working males because they are more frequently the result of a work accident. However, possibly due to the worldwide economic crisis, we are experiencing a new phenomenon: the theft of high-voltage copper wiring. PMID:27857650

Evaluation of core distortion in FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ikarimoto, I.; Tanaka, M.; Okubo, Y.

1984-01-01

The analyses of FBR's core distortion are mainly performed in order to evaluate the following items: 1) Change of reactivity; 2) Force at pads on core assemblies; 3) Withdrawal force at refueling; 4) Loading, refueling and residual deviations of wrapper tubes (core assemblies) at the top; 5) Bowing modes of guide tubes for control rods. The analysis of core distortion are performed by using computer program for two-dimensional row deformation analysis or three-dimensional core deformation if necessary, considering these evaluated items which become design conditions. This report shows the relationship between core deformation analysis and component design, a point of view of choosing an analysis program for design considering core characteristics, and computing examples of core deformation of prototype class reactor by the above code. (author)

Study on reprocessing plant during transition period from LWR to FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimada, Takashi; Matsui, Minefumi; Nishimura, Masashi; Ishida, Yasuhiro; Mori, Yukihide; Kuroda, Kazuhiko

2011-01-01

We have proposed a concept of a reprocessing plant suitable for the transition period from the light water reactors (LWRs) to the fast breeder reactors (FBRs) by making comparison of two plant concepts: (1) Independent Plant which processes LWR fuel and FBR fuel in separately constructed lines and (2) Modularized Plant which processes LWR fuel and FBR fuel in a same line. We made construction plans based on the reference power generation plan, and evaluated the Pu supply capability using the power generation plan as an indicator of plant operation flexibility. In general, a margin of processing capacity increases the Pu supply capability. The margin of the Modularized Plant necessary to obtain equivalent Pu supply capability is smaller than that of the Independent Plant. Also the margin of the Independent Plant results in decrease in the plant utilization factor. But the margin of the Modularized Plant results in little decrease in the plant utilization factor, because the Modularized Plant can address the types of reprocessing fuel to adjust to Pu demand and processing capacity. Therefore, the Modularized Plant has a greater potential for the reprocessing plants during transition period. (author)

Investigation on spent fuel characteristics of reduced-moderation water reactor (RMWR)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukaya, Y.; Okubo, T.; Uchikawa, S.

2008-01-01

The spent fuel characteristics of the reduced-moderation water reactor (RMWR) have been investigated using the SWAT and ORIGEN codes. RMWR is an advanced LWR concept for plutonium recycling by using the MOX fuel. In the code calculation, the ORIGEN libraries such as one-group cross-section data prepared for RMWR were necessary. Since there were no open libraries for RMWR, they were produced in this study by using the SWAT code. New libraries based on the heterogeneous core modeling in the axial direction and with the variable actinide cross-section (VXSEC) option were produced and selected as the representative ORIGEN libraries for RMWR. In order to investigate the characteristics of the RMWR spent fuel, the decay heat, the radioactivity and the content of each nuclide were evaluated with ORIGEN using these libraries. In this study, the spent fuel characteristics of other types of reactors, such as PWR, BWR, high burn-up PWR, full-MOX-PWR, full-MOX-BWR and FBR, were also evaluated with ORIGEN. It has been found that about a half of the decay heat of the RMWR spent fuel comes from the actinides nuclides. It is the same with the radioactivity. The decay heat and the radioactivity of the RMWR spent fuel are lower than those of full-MOX-LWRs and FBR, and are the same level as those of the high burn-up PWR. The decay heat and the radioactivity from the fission products (FPs) in the spent fuel mainly depend on the burn-up and the burn-up time rather than the reactor type. Therefore, the decay heat and the radioactivity from FPs in the RMWR spent fuel are smaller, reflecting its relatively long burn-up time resulted from its core characteristics with the high conversion ratio. The radioactivity from the actinides in the spent fuel mainly depends on the 241 Pu content in the initial fuel, and the decay heat mainly depends on 238 Pu and 244 Cm. The contribution of 244 Cm is much smaller in RMWR than in MOX-LWRs because of the difference in the spectrum. In addition, from

Investigation on spent fuel characteristics of reduced-moderation water reactor (RMWR)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fukaya, Y. [Advanced Nuclear System Research and Development Directorate, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), Oarai-machi, Ibaraki-ken 311-1393 (Japan)], E-mail: fukaya.yuji@jaea.go.jp; Okubo, T.; Uchikawa, S. [Advanced Nuclear System Research and Development Directorate, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), Oarai-machi, Ibaraki-ken 311-1393 (Japan)

2008-07-15

The spent fuel characteristics of the reduced-moderation water reactor (RMWR) have been investigated using the SWAT and ORIGEN codes. RMWR is an advanced LWR concept for plutonium recycling by using the MOX fuel. In the code calculation, the ORIGEN libraries such as one-group cross-section data prepared for RMWR were necessary. Since there were no open libraries for RMWR, they were produced in this study by using the SWAT code. New libraries based on the heterogeneous core modeling in the axial direction and with the variable actinide cross-section (VXSEC) option were produced and selected as the representative ORIGEN libraries for RMWR. In order to investigate the characteristics of the RMWR spent fuel, the decay heat, the radioactivity and the content of each nuclide were evaluated with ORIGEN using these libraries. In this study, the spent fuel characteristics of other types of reactors, such as PWR, BWR, high burn-up PWR, full-MOX-PWR, full-MOX-BWR and FBR, were also evaluated with ORIGEN. It has been found that about a half of the decay heat of the RMWR spent fuel comes from the actinides nuclides. It is the same with the radioactivity. The decay heat and the radioactivity of the RMWR spent fuel are lower than those of full-MOX-LWRs and FBR, and are the same level as those of the high burn-up PWR. The decay heat and the radioactivity from the fission products (FPs) in the spent fuel mainly depend on the burn-up and the burn-up time rather than the reactor type. Therefore, the decay heat and the radioactivity from FPs in the RMWR spent fuel are smaller, reflecting its relatively long burn-up time resulted from its core characteristics with the high conversion ratio. The radioactivity from the actinides in the spent fuel mainly depends on the {sup 241}Pu content in the initial fuel, and the decay heat mainly depends on {sup 238}Pu and {sup 244}Cm. The contribution of {sup 244}Cm is much smaller in RMWR than in MOX-LWRs because of the difference in the spectrum

Study on commercial FBR concepts by combining innovative technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miura, M.; Inagaki, T.; Kuroha, M.; Hida, T.

1992-01-01

A study was conducted on future prospects of FBR commercialization. Targets of further improving safety and economy were set to make commercial power plants that would be superior to future LWRs. Promising innovative technologies studied domestically and overseas were extracted by evaluating prospects for commercialization, effect, and plant applicability. Several commercial plants were conceptualized by introducing such technology to large-scale and oxide-fuel reactors. Estimates of construction cost, etc., proved that the targets could be achieved. A concept of long-term technological development was synthesized. (author)

Study on coated layer material performance of coated particle fuel FBR (2). High temperature property and capability of coating to thick layer of TiN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naganuma, Masayuki; Mizuno, Tomoyasu

2002-08-01

'Helium Gas Cooled Coated Particle Fuel FBR' is one of attractive core concepts in the Feasibility Study on Commercialized Fast Reactor Cycle System in Japan, and the design study is presently proceeded. As one of key technologies of this concept, the coated layer material is important, and ceramics is considered to be a candidate material because of the superior refractory. Based on existing knowledge, TiN is regarded to be a possible candidate material, to which some property tests and evaluations have been conducted. In this study, preliminary tests about the high temperature property and the capability of thick layer coating of TiN have been conducted. Results of these tests come to the following conclusions. Heating tests of two kinds of TiN layer specimens coated by PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) and CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) were conducted. As a result, as for CVD coating specimens, remarkable charge was not observed on the layer up to 2,000degC, therefore we concluded that the layer by CVD had applicability up to high temperature of actual operation level. On the other hand, as for PVD coating specimens, an unstable behavior that the layer changed to a mesh like texture was observed on a 2,000degC heated specimen, therefore the applied PVD method is not considered to be promising as the coating technique. The surface conditions of some parts inside CVD device were investigated in order to evaluate possibility of TiN thick coating (∼100 μm). As a result, around 500 μm of TiN coating layer was observed on the condition of multilayer. Therefore, we conclude that CVD has capability of coating up to thick layer in actual coated particle fuel fabrication. (author)

Dynamic buckling and nonlinear response of FBR main vessels under earthquake loading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hagiwara, Yutaka; Kawamoto, Yoji; Nakagawa, Masaki; Akiyama, Hiroshi.

1991-01-01

Pseudo-dynamic tests of cylindrical shells under high temperature were performed in order to study elasto-plastic shear-bending buckling and the nonlinear response of FBR main vessels under earthquake loading. The test results showed a response reduction effect due to pre-buckling plasticity, and a large seismic margin due to post-buckling energy absorption of the cylinders. A simple expression of the response reduction effect was proposed, as a contribution to the safe and effective seismic design of FBRs. Two methods for seismic margin evaluation were also proposed, and it was shown that appropriate seismic margins can be ensured, when the response reduction effect is incorporated into the seismic design. (author)

Long-Term Dry Storage of High Burn-Up Spent Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Fuel in TAD (Transportation, Aging, and Disposal) Containers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, Yong Soo

2008-12-01

A TAD canister, in conjunction with specially-designed over-packs can accomplish the functions of transportation, aging, and disposal (TAD) in the management of spent nuclear fuel (SNF). Industrial dry cask systems currently available for SNF are licensed for storage-only or for dual-purpose (i.e., storage and transportation). By extending the function to include the indefinite storage and perhaps, eventual geologic disposal, the TAD canister would have to be designed to enhance, among others, corrosion resistance, thermal stability, and criticality-safety control. This investigative paper introduces the use of these advanced iron-based, corrosion-resistant materials for SNF transportation, aging, and disposal.The objective of this investigative project is to explore the interest that KAERI would research and develop its specific SAM coating materials for the TAD canisters to satisfy the requirements of corrosion-resistance, thermal stability, and criticality-controls for long-term dry storage of high burn-up spent PWR fuel

Oxide fuel fabrication technology development of the FaCT project (5). Current status on 9Cr-ODS steel cladding development for high burn-up fast reactor fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohtsuka, Satoshi; Kaito, Takeji; Yano, Yasuhide; Yamashita, Shinichiro; Ogawa, Ryuichiro; Uwaba, Tomoyuki; Koyama, Shinichi; Tanaka, Kenya

2011-01-01

This paper describes evaluation results of in-reactor integrity of 9Cr and 12Cr-ODS steel cladding tubes and the plan for reliability improvement in homogeneous tube production, both of which are key points for the commercialized use of ODS steels as long-life fuel cladding tubes. A fuel assembly in the BOR-60 irradiation test including 9Cr and 12Cr-ODS fuel pins has achieved the highest burn-up, i.e. peak burn-up of 11.9at% and peak neutron dose of 51dpa, without any fuel pin rupture and microstructure instability. In another fuel assembly containing 9Cr and 12Cr-ODS steel fuel pins whose peak burn-up was 10.5at%, one 9Cr-ODS steel fuel pin failed near the upper end of the fuel column. A peculiar microstructure change occurred in the vicinity of the ruptured area. The primary cause of this fuel pin rupture and microstructure change was shown to be the presence of metallic Cr inclusions in the 9Cr-ODS steel tube, which had passed an ultrasonic inspection test for defects. In the next stage from 2011 to 2013, the fabrication technology of full pre-alloy 9Cr-ODS steel cladding tube will be developed, where the handling of elemental powder is prohibited in the process. (author)

Verification to the RSG-GAS fuel discharge burn-up using SRAC2006 module of COREBN/HIST

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

J-Susilo; T-M-Sembiring; G-R-Sunaryo; M-Imron

2018-01-01

For 30 years operation, some of the modifications to the RSG GAS core has been done, that are changes included the type of fuel from U 3 O 8 -Al to U 3 Si 2 -Al with the same density 2.96 gU/cc, the loading pattern of standard fuel elements/fuel control elements from 6/1 & 6/2 to 5/1 pattern, and in core fuel management calculation tool has been change from IAFUEL to BATAN-FUEL. To obtain an extension of the operating license for the next 10 years, the RSG-GAS Periodic Safety Assessment Document is need to prepared. According to the Regulatory Body Chairman Regulation No. 2 2015, RSG-GAS safety assessment should be done independently. As part of this assessment the fuel discharge burn-up must be estimated. In this research, to ensure that the misposition of fuel element in the core has not occurred, the investigation to the document operating report related the fuel placement has been done. Therefore, by using 78 th to 93 rd operation data, verify of the fuel discharge burn-up of the RSG-GAS has been performed by using SRAC2006 module of COREBN/HIST. In addition, the results of these calculations are also made comparative with the operating report data that is calculated by using BATAN-FUEL. Maximum fuel discharge burn-up (57.73 % of U-235) was verified still under permissible value determined by the regulatory body (<60 % of U-235). Maximum differences value between two computer codes was about 2.12 % of U-235 (3.80 %) that is fuel at the B-7 position. Fuel discharge burn-up of RSG-GAS showed almost the same value for each the operation cycle, range of 1.52 % of U-235. So it can be concluded that the RSG-GAS core operation over the last ten years was in good fuel management performance, in accordance with the design. BATAN-FUEL has been conformed well enough with COREBN/HIST. (author)

Modelling of thermal mechanical behaviour of high burn-Up VVER fuel at power transients with special emphasis on the impact of fission gas induced swelling of fuel pellets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Novikov, V.; Medvedev, A.; Khvostov, G.; Bogatyr, S.; Kuzetsov, V.; Korystin, L.

2005-01-01

This paper is devoted to the modelling of unsteady state mechanical and thermo-physical behaviour of high burn-up VVER fuel at a power ramp. The contribution of the processes related to the kinetics of fission gas to the consequences of pellet-clad mechanical interaction is analysed by the example of integral VVER-440 rod 9 from the R7 experimental series, with a pellet burn-up in the active part at around 60 MWd/kgU. This fuel rod incurred ramp testing with a ramp value ΔW 1 ∼ 250 W/cm in the MIR research reactor. The experimentally revealed residual deformation of the clad by 30-40 microns in the 'hottest' portion of the rod, reaching a maximum linear power of up to 430 W/cm, is numerically justified on the basis of accounting for the unsteady state swelling and additional degradation of fuel thermal conductivity due to temperature-induced formation and development of gaseous porosity within the grains and on the grain boundaries. The good prediction capability of the START-3 code, coupled with the advanced model of fission gas related processes, with regard to the important mechanical (residual deformation of clad, pellet-clad gap size, central hole filling), thermal physical (fission gas release) and micro-structural (profiles of intra-granular concentration of the retained fission gas and fuel porosity across a pellet) consequences of the R7 test is shown. (authors)

Is proportion burned severely related to daily area burned?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Birch, Donovan S; Morgan, Penelope; Smith, Alistair M S; Kolden, Crystal A; Hudak, Andrew T

2014-01-01

The ecological effects of forest fires burning with high severity are long-lived and have the greatest impact on vegetation successional trajectories, as compared to low-to-moderate severity fires. The primary drivers of high severity fire are unclear, but it has been hypothesized that wind-driven, large fire-growth days play a significant role, particularly on large fires in forested ecosystems. Here, we examined the relative proportion of classified burn severity for individual daily areas burned that occurred during 42 large forest fires in central Idaho and western Montana from 2005 to 2007 and 2011. Using infrared perimeter data for wildfires with five or more consecutive days of mapped perimeters, we delineated 2697 individual daily areas burned from which we calculated the proportions of each of three burn severity classes (high, moderate, and low) using the differenced normalized burn ratio as mapped for large fires by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity project. We found that the proportion of high burn severity was weakly correlated (Kendall τ = 0.299) with size of daily area burned (DAB). Burn severity was highly variable, even for the largest (95th percentile) in DAB, suggesting that other variables than fire extent influence the ecological effects of fires. We suggest that these results do not support the prioritization of large runs during fire rehabilitation efforts, since the underlying assumption in this prioritization is a positive relationship between severity and area burned in a day. (letters)

Advanced tokamak burning plasma experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Porkolab, M.; Bonoli, P.T.; Ramos, J.; Schultz, J.; Nevins, W.N.

2001-01-01

A new reduced size ITER-RC superconducting tokamak concept is proposed with the goals of studying burn physics either in an inductively driven standard tokamak (ST) mode of operation, or in a quasi-steady state advanced tokamak (AT) mode sustained by non-inductive means. This is achieved by reducing the radiation shield thickness protecting the superconducting magnet by 0.34 m relative to ITER and limiting the burn mode of operation to pulse lengths as allowed by the TF coil warming up to the current sharing temperature. High gain (Q≅10) burn physics studies in a reversed shear equilibrium, sustained by RF and NB current drive techniques, may be obtained. (author)

Burn-up determination of irradiated uranium oxide by means of direct gama spectrometry and by radiochemical method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cunha, I.I.L.; Nastasi, M.J.C.; Lima, F.W.

1981-09-01

The burn-up of thermal neutrons irradiated U 3 O 8 (natural uranium) samples has been determined by using both direct gamma spectrometry and radiochemical methods and the results obtained were compared. The fission products 144 Ce, 103 Ru, 106 Ru, 137 Cs and 95 Zr were chosen as burn-up monitors. In order to isolate the radioisotopes chosen as monitors, a radiochemical separation procedure has been established, in which the solvent extraction technique was used to separate cerium, cesium and ruthenium one from the other and all of them from uranium. The separation between zirconium and niobium and of both elements from the other radioisotopes and uranium was accomplished by means of adsorption on a silica-gel column, followed by selective elution of zirconium and of niobium. When use was made of the direct gamma-ray spectrometry method, the radioactivity of each nuclide of interest was measured in presence of all others. For this purpose use was made of gamma-ray spectrometry and of a Ge-Li detector. Comparison of burn-up values obtained by both methods was made by means of Student's 't' test, and this showed that results obtained in each case are statistically equal. (Author) [pt

Dissolution of mixed oxide spent fuel from FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanyoshi, H.; Nishina, H.; Toyota, O.; Yamamoto, R.; Nemoto, S.; Okamoto, F.; Togashi, A.; Kawata, T.; Hayashi, S.

1991-01-01

At the Tokai Works of the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC), the Chemical Processing Facility (CPF) has been continuing operation since 1982 for laboratory scale hot experiments on reprocessing of FBR mixed oxide fuel. As a part of these experiments, dissolution experiments have been performed to define the key parameters affecting dissolution rates such as concentration of nitric acid, temperature and burnup and also to confirm the amount of insoluble residue. The dissolution rate of the irradiated fuel was determined to be in proportion to the 1.7 power of the nitric acid concentration. The activation energy determined from the experiments varied from 6 to 11 kcal/mol depending on the method of dissolution. The dissolution rate decreased as the fuel burnup increased in low nitric acid media below 5 mol/l. However, it was found that the effect of the burnup became negligible in a high concentration of nitric acid media. The amount of insoluble residue and its constituents were evaluated by changing the dissolution condition. (author)

[Epidemiological changes in burned children. A 10-year follow-up].

Science.gov (United States)

Rojas Goldsack, María de Los Ángeles; Saavedra Opazo, Rolando; Vicencio Pezo, Paulina; Solís Flores, Fresia

2016-01-01

The aim of the study was to compare the incidence and epidemiological characteristics of burns suffered by children in a district of Santiago of Chile over a period of ten years. An analytical study was conducted by checking through the medical files of children under 15 years of age from Pudahuel district who were admitted with burns to the Santiago Aid to Burned Children Corporation (COANIQUEM) during 2011. A comparison was made with the results obtained in a similar study performed in the same district in 2001. In 2011, 440 children were admitted, with an incidence rate of 700/100,000 <15 years old (95% CI: 635-765), a decrease of 25% compared to 2001(Incidence rate of 933/100,000; 95% CI: 856-1010). There were 52% males, 64.5% under 5 years old of age, 88% burned at home, or at other houses where they are been taking care of. There was a significant change in the causative agent, and included, increasing by their relative importance; hot objects (27.1%). The mechanism that mostly increased in occurrence were contact with stoves or heaters, and also emerge that caused by hair iron, and motorcycle exhaust. The most common location was the hand, increasing by 30.8%, and 66.4% showed an extension of the burn of <1% total body surface area (2001, 61%). A significant decline of 54% of deep burns was observed, and 23.2% were admitted to rehabilitation, a similar proportion to 2001. The rate of hospitalization and/or skin graft decreased from 104/100,000 to 62/100,000<15 years old (95% CI: 43-82). Burns incidence has decreased. Hot objects are now the main causal agent. The decrease in the rate of hospitalization and/or graft indicates a lower severity of burns. Copyright © 2015 Sociedad Chilena de Pediatría. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

High temperature structure design for FBRs and analysis technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iwata, Koji

1986-01-01

In the case of FBRs, the operation temperature exceeds 500 deg C, therefore, the design taking the inelastic characteristics of structural materials, such as plasticity and creep, into account is required, and the high grade and detailed evaluation of design is demanded. This new high temperature structure design technology has been advanced in respective countries taking up experimental, prototype and demonstration reactors as the targets. The development of FBRs in Japan was begun with the experimental reactor 'Joyo' which has been operated since 1977, and now, the prototype FBR 'Monju' of 280 MWe is under construction, which is expected to attain the criticality in 1992. In order to realize FBRs which can compete with LWRs through the construction of a demonstration FBR, the construction of large scale plants and the heightening of the economy and reliability are necessary. The features and the role of FBR structural design, the method of high temperature structure design and the trend of its standardization, the trend of the structural analysis technology for FBRs such as inelastic analysis, buckling analysis and fluid and structure coupled vibration analysis, the present status of structural analysis programs, and the subjects for the future of high temperature structure design are explained. (Kako, I.)

Establishment of THERPRO Database and Estimation of the Effect of Fuel Burn-up on the Thermal Conductivity of Uranium Dioxide

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Hyun Seon

2005-02-01

Materials property data are an essential part of major disciplines in many engineering fields. To nuclear engineering, fundamental understanding of thermo-physical chemical mechanical properties of nuclear materials is very important. THERPRO data base that is re-designed and re-constructed through this study is a web-based on-line nuclear materials properties data base. For the future upgrade of the data base contemporary information technologies have been incorporated during the construction. Basically THERPRO data base has a hierarchical structure consisting of several levels: home page, element, compound, property, author, report, and bibliography level. All of data sets in each level are interconnected using network structure and thus every data can be easily retrieved including the bibliographical information by an appropriate query action. As a part of THERPRO DB utilization, the effect of fuel burn-up on the thermal conductivity of irradiated uranium dioxide is analyzed with the data contained in the data base as well as recent data published in the relevant journals. Their data are comparatively studied and the effect is estimated using FRAPCON-3 code with two in-pile data sets, BR-3 111i5 and Oconee rod 15309. The results show that the fuel center line temperature can differ 200 .deg. C∼400 .deg. C from thermal conductivity models depending on burn-up, which can significantly influence high burn-up fuel performance. In conclusion, it is demonstrated through this study that THERPRO data base can be a great utility for nuclear engineers and researchers, if appropriately utilized

Feasibility study of application of ductless fuel assembly to FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itoh, K.; Shibahara, I.

1996-01-01

Feasibility studies on an application of the ductless fuel concept to an FBR core have been carried out in order to evaluate the basic features of the ductless core, especially in the fields of the thermal-hydraulic aspects and the mechanical behaviors. Regarding thermal-hydraulic aspects, analyses were performed by using a whole core thermal-hydraulic analysis code by making some modification for this study on the PWR code THINC. A small scaled ductless core model was prepared and a hydraulic experiment was carried out to study basic hydraulic characteristics of a ductless core. Core mechanical behaviors were analyzed focusing on the core irradiation bowing aspects and the seismic behaviors. Following features are revealed on the core structural behaviors: (1) the bowing stiffness of the ductless assembly is around 1/5 to 1/10 of that of the duct type assembly; (2) the contact loads between assemblies by the bowing effects are small through core cycles; (3) the damping of the ductless assemblies are so large that the seismic responses are small and the loads between assemblies are small due to occurring many contact points. Through this study it is expected that the concept of the ductless fuel can be applicable to FBR cores from the design view points of thermal-hydraulic and core mechanical behaviors

Determination of the burn-up in fuels of the MTR type by means of gamma spectroscopy with crystal of INa(Tl)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kestelman, A.J.

1988-01-01

One of the responsibilities of the Laboratory of Analysis by Neutronic Activation of the RA-6 reactor is to determine the burn-up in fuels of the MTR type. In order to gain experience, up to the arrival of the hyperpure Germanium detector (HPGe) to be used in normal operation, preliminary measurements with a crystal of INa(Tl) were made. The fuel elements used are originated in the RA-3 reactor, with a decay superior to the thirteen years. For this reason, the unique visible photoelectric peak is the one of Cs-137, owing to the low resolution of the INa(Tl). After preliminary measurements, the profiles of burn-up, rectified by attenuation, were measured. Once the efficiency of the detector was determined, the calculation of the burn-up was made; for the element No. 144, a value of 21.6 ± 2.9 g was obtained to be compared with the value 21.9 g which was the evaluation made by the operators. (Author) [es

A new concept of hydrogen production system for sodium cooled FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakagiri, Toshio; Aoto, Kazumi; Hoshiya, Taiji

2004-01-01

A new thermo-chemical and electrolytic hybrid hydrogen production process (thermo-chemical and electrolytic Hybrid Hydrogen process in Lower Temperature range: HHLT) is newly proposed by the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) to realize the hydrogen production from water by using the heat generation of sodium cooled Fast Breeding Reactor (FBR). The HHLT process is based on the sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ) synthesis and decomposition processes developed earlier (Westinghouse process), and sulfur trioxide (SO 3 ) decomposition process of HHLT is facilitated by electrolysis with ionic oxygen conductive solid electrolyte to reduce operating temperature 200degC-300degC lower than Westinghouse process. Decomposition processes of SO 3 were confirmed with the cell voltage lower than 0.5 V at 500degC-600degC using 8mol yttria stabilized zirconia (8molYSZ) solid electrolyte and platinum electrode. Therefore, total voltage required for HHLT is expected to be lower than 1.0 V, because the voltage required for sulfuric acid synthesis is about 0.5V. Thermal efficiency of HHLT based on chemical reactions was roughly estimated to be within the range of 35% to 55% under the influence of H 2 SO 4 concentration and heat recovery. These results show the possibility of development of a new hydrogen production process which needs low splitting voltage and has high efficiency at around 500degC, utilizing the heat generation of sodium cooled FBR. SO 3 splitting with the voltage lower than 0.5V was confirmed at about 500degC experimentally, and ideal thermal efficiency of the cycle based on chemical reactions was evaluated. Furthermore, test apparatus to substantiate whole process of HHLT was manufactured. (author)

LBB assessment on ferrite piping structure of large-scale FBR

OpenAIRE

兪 淵植

2002-01-01

These days, this interest on LBB(Leak before Break) design becomes to be rising in the viewpoint of the cost reduction and structural inter-grity for the commercialization of FBR plants, LBB design enables pla-nts to be shut down safely before occuring unstable fracture by dete- cting the leak rates even if a crack initiates and penetrates a wall thickness. It is necessary to assess crack growth and penetration be- havior considering in-service conditions under operation temperature, leak re...

Analysis of fuel pin behavior under slow-ramp type transient overpower condition by using the fuel performance evaluation code 'FEMAXI-FBR'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuboi, Yasushi; Ninokata, Hisashi; Endo, Hiroshi; Ishizu, Tomoko; Tatewaki, Isao; Saito, Hiroaki

2012-01-01

FEMAXI-FBR has been developed as the one module of the core disruptive accident analysis code 'ASTERIA-FBR' in order to evaluate the mixed oxide (MOX) fuel performance under steady, transient and accident conditions of fast reactors consistently. On the basis of light water reactor (LWR) fuel performance evaluation code 'FEMAXI-6', FEMAXI-FBR develops specific models for the fast reactor fuel performance, such as restructuring, material migration during steady state and transient, melting cavity formation and pressure during accident, so that it can evaluate the fuel failure during accident. The analysis of test pin with slow transient over power test of CABRI-2 program was conducted from steady to transient. The test pin was pre-irradiated and tested under transient overpower with several % P 0 /s (P 0 : steady state power) of the power rate. Analysis results of the gas release ratio, pin failure time, and fuel melt radius were compared to measured values. The analysis results of the steady and transient performances were also compared with the measured values. The compared performances are gas release ratio, fuel restructuring for steady state and linear power and melt radius at failure during transient. This analysis result reproduces the measured value. It was concluded that FEMAXI-FBR is effective to evaluate fast reactor fuel performances from steady state to accident conditions. (author)

Evaluation of creep-fatigue crack growth for large-scale FBR reactor vessel and NDE assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joo, Young Sang; Kim, Jong Bum; Kim, Seok Hun; Yoo, Bong

2001-03-01

Creep fatigue crack growth contributes to the failure of FRB reactor vessels in high temperature condition. In the design stage of reactor vessel, crack growth evaluation is very important to ensure the structural safety and setup the in-service inspection strategy. In this study, creep-fatigue crack growth evaluation has been performed for the semi-elliptical surface cracks subjected to thermal loading. The thermal stress analysis of a large-scale FBR reactor vessel has been carried out for the load conditions. The distributions of axial, radial, hoop, and Von Mises stresses were obtained for the loading conditions. At the maximum point of the axial and hoop stress, the longitudinal and circumferential surface cracks (i.e. PTS crack, NDE short crack and shallow long crack) were postulated. Using the maximum and minimum values of stresses, the creep-fatigue crack growth of the proposed cracks was simulated. The crack growth rate of circumferential cracks becomes greater than that of longitudinal cracks. The total crack growth of the largest PTS crack is very small after 427 cycles. The structural integrity of a large-scale reactor can be maintained for the plant life. The crack depth growth of the shallow long crack is faster than that of the NDE short crack. In the ISI of the large-scale FBR reactor vessel, the ultrasonic inspection is beneficial to detect the shallow circumferential cracks.

Pharmacokinetics of Imipenem/Cilastatin Burn Intensive Care Unit Patients Undergoing High-Dose Continuous Venovenous Hemofiltration.

Science.gov (United States)

Boucher, Bradley A; Hudson, Joanna Q; Hill, David M; Swanson, Joseph M; Wood, G Christopher; Laizure, S Casey; Arnold-Ross, Angela; Hu, Zhe-Yi; Hickerson, William L

2016-12-01

High-dose continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH) is a continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) used frequently in patients with burns. However, antibiotic dosing is based on inference from studies assessing substantially different methods of CRRT. To address this knowledge gap for imipenem/cilastatin (I/C), we evaluated the systemic and extracorporeal clearances (CLs) of I/C in patients with burns undergoing high-dose CVVH. Prospective clinical pharmacokinetic study. Ten adult patients with burns receiving I/C for a documented infection and requiring high-dose CVVH were studied. Blood and effluent samples for analysis of I/C concentrations were collected for up to 6 hours after the I/C infusion for calculation of I/C total CL (CL T otal ), CL by CVVH (CL HF ), half-life during CVVH, volume of distribution at steady state (Vd ss ), and the percentage of drug eliminated by CVVH. In this patient sample, the mean age was 50 ± 17 years, total body surface area burns was 23 ± 27%, and 80% were male. Nine patients were treated with high-dose CVVH for acute kidney injury and one patient for sepsis. The mean delivered CVVH dose was 52 ± 14 ml/kg/hour (range 32-74 ml/kg/hr). The imipenem CL HF was 3.27 ± 0.48 L/hour, which accounted for 23 ± 4% of the CL T otal (14.74 ± 4.75 L/hr). Cilastatin CL HF was 1.98 ± 0.56 L/hour, which accounted for 45 ± 19% of the CL T otal (5.16 + 2.44 L/hr). The imipenem and cilastatin half-lives were 1.77 ± 0.38 hours and 4.21 ± 2.31 hours, respectively. Imipenem and cilastatin Vd ss were 35.1 ± 10.3 and 32.8 ± 13.8 L, respectively. Efficient removal of I/C by high-dose CVVH, a high overall clearance, and a high volume of distribution in burn intensive care unit patients undergoing this CRRT method warrant aggressive dosing to treat serious infections effectively depending on the infection site and/or pathogen. © 2016 Pharmacotherapy Publications, Inc.

Technical description of the burn-up software system MOP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schutte, C.K.

1991-05-01

The burn-up software system MOP is a research tool primary intended to study the behaviour of fission products in any reactor composition. Input data are multi-group cross-sections and data concerning the nuclide chains. An option is available to calculate a fundamental mode neutron spectrum for the specified reactor composition. A separate program can test the consistency of the specified nuclide chains. Options are available to calculate time-dependent cross-sections of lumped fission products and to take account of the leakage of gaseous fission products from the reactor core. The system is written in FORTRAN77 for a CYBER computer, using the operating system NOS/BE. The report gives a detailed technical description of the applied algorithms and the flow and storage of data. Information is provided for adapting the system to other computer configurations. (author). 5 refs.; 11 figs

Design study on metal fuel FBR cores

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yokoo, T.; Tanaka, Y.; Ogata, T.

1991-01-01

A design approach for metal fuel FBR core to maintain fuel integrity during transient events by limiting eutectic/liquid phase formation is proposed based on the current status of metallic fuel development. Its impact as the limitation on the core outlet temperature is assessed through its application to two of CRIEPI's core concepts, high linear power 1000 MWe homogeneous design and medium linear power 300 MWe radially heterogeneous design. SESAME/SALT code is used in this study to analyze steady state and transient fuel behavior. SE2-FA code is developed based on SUPERENERGY-2 and used to analyze core thermal-hydraulics with uncertainties. As the result, the core outlet temperatures of both designs are found to be limited to ≤500degC if it is required to prevent eutectic/liquid phase formation during operational transients in order to guarantee the fuel integrity. Additional assessment is made assuming an advanced limiting condition that allows small liquid phase formation based on the liquid phase penetration rate derived from existing experimental results. The result indicates possibility of raising core outlet temperature to ∼ 530degC. Also, it is found that core design technology improvements such as hot spot factors reduction can contribute to the core outlet temperature extension by 10 ∼ 20degC. (author)

Forty-Year Follow-up of Full-Thickness Skin Graft After Thermal Burn Injury to the Volar Hand.

Science.gov (United States)

Weeks, Dexter; Kasdan, Morton L; Wilhelmi, Bradon J

2016-01-01

The hands are commonly affected in severe thermal burn injuries. Resulting contractures lead to significant loss of function. Burn contracture release and skin grafting are necessary to restore hand function. We report a case in which surgical reconstruction of a volar hand burn was performed with full-thickness skin grafting. The patient had a 40-year follow-up to assess the function and cosmesis of the repaired hand. We report a case in which a 15-month-old boy presented after receiving third-degree burns to the left volar hand, including the flexural aspects of the index, long, and ring fingers by placing it on a hot kitchen stove burner. The patient subsequently underwent scar contracture release and full-thickness skin grafting. Eleven years after reconstruction, further contractures developed associated with the patient's growth, which were reconstructed with repeat full-thickness skin graft from the inguinal region. No recurrence was witnessed afterward and 40 years after initial injury, the patient maintains full activities of daily living and use of his hand in his occupation. There is debate regarding the superiority of split-thickness versus full-thickness grafts during reconstruction. Our case strengthens the argument for durability of a full-thickness skin graft following thermal burn injury.

High-tension electrical-arc-induced thermal burns caused by railway overhead cables.

Science.gov (United States)

Koller, J

1991-10-01

Eleven patients with high-tension electrical-arc-induced thermal burns due to railway overhead cables were treated at the Bratislava Burn Department during a relatively short period of 18 months. All the injuries occurred by the same mechanism, that is persons climbing on top of railway carriages and approaching the 25,000 V a.c. overhead cables. All the burns were the result of an electrical arc passing externally to the body, with subsequent ignition of the victim's clothes. The cutaneous burns, ranging from 24 to 79 per cent of the BSA, were mostly deep partial to full skin thickness injuries. One patient died on day 5 postburn, the other survived. In spite of high-tension aetiology, no true electrical injuries appear to have occurred and no amputations were necessary. The pathophysiology and possible preventive measures are discussed. It must be stressed that arcing can be induced by an earthed object approaching, but not touching, a cable carrying a high voltage.

The effect of dissolved hydrogen on the dissolution of {sup 233}U doped UO{sub 2}(s) high burn-up spent fuel and MOX fuel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carbol, P. [Inst. for Transuranium Elements, Karlsruhe (Germany); Spahiu, K. (ed.) [and others

2005-03-01

In this report the results of the experimental work carried out in a large EU-research project (SFS, 2001-2004) on spent fuel stability in the presence of various amounts of near field hydrogen are presented. Studies of the dissolution of {sup 233}U doped UO{sub 2}(s) simulating 'old' spent fuel were carried out as static leaching tests, autoclave tests with various hydrogen concentrations and electrochemical tests. The results of the leaching behaviour of a high burn-up spent fuel pellet in 5 M NaCl solutions in the presence of 3.2 bar H{sub 2} pressure and of MOX fuel in dilute synthetic groundwater under 53 bar H{sub 2} pressure are also presented. In all the experimental studies carried out in this project, a considerable effect of hydrogen in the dissolution rates of radioactive materials was observed. The experimental results obtained in this project with a-doped UO{sub 2}, high burn-up spent fuel and MOX fuel together with literature data give a reliable background to use fractional alteration/dissolution rates for spent fuel of the order of 10{sup -6}/yr - 10{sup -8}/yr with a recommended value of 4x10{sup -7}/yr for dissolved hydrogen concentrations above 10{sup -3} M and Fe(II) concentrations typical for European repository concepts. Finally, based on a review of the experimental data and available literature data, potential mechanisms of the hydrogen effect are also discussed. The work reported in this document was performed as part of the Project SFS of the European Commission 5th Framework Programme under contract no FIKW-CT-2001-20192 SFS. It represents the deliverable D10 of the experimental work package 'Key experiments using a-doped UO{sub 2} and real spent fuel', coordinated by SKB with the participation of ITU, FZK-INE, ENRESA, CIEMAT, ARMINES-SUBATECH and SKB.

The effect of dissolved hydrogen on the dissolution of {sup 233}U doped UO{sub 2}(s) high burn-up spent fuel and MOX fuel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carbol, P [Inst. for Transuranium Elements, Karlsruhe (Germany); Spahiu, K [and others

2005-03-01

In this report the results of the experimental work carried out in a large EU-research project (SFS, 2001-2004) on spent fuel stability in the presence of various amounts of near field hydrogen are presented. Studies of the dissolution of {sup 233}U doped UO{sub 2}(s) simulating 'old' spent fuel were carried out as static leaching tests, autoclave tests with various hydrogen concentrations and electrochemical tests. The results of the leaching behaviour of a high burn-up spent fuel pellet in 5 M NaCl solutions in the presence of 3.2 bar H{sub 2} pressure and of MOX fuel in dilute synthetic groundwater under 53 bar H{sub 2} pressure are also presented. In all the experimental studies carried out in this project, a considerable effect of hydrogen in the dissolution rates of radioactive materials was observed. The experimental results obtained in this project with a-doped UO{sub 2}, high burn-up spent fuel and MOX fuel together with literature data give a reliable background to use fractional alteration/dissolution rates for spent fuel of the order of 10{sup -6}/yr - 10{sup -8}/yr with a recommended value of 4x10{sup -7}/yr for dissolved hydrogen concentrations above 10{sup -3} M and Fe(II) concentrations typical for European repository concepts. Finally, based on a review of the experimental data and available literature data, potential mechanisms of the hydrogen effect are also discussed. The work reported in this document was performed as part of the Project SFS of the European Commission 5th Framework Programme under contract no FIKW-CT-2001-20192 SFS. It represents the deliverable D10 of the experimental work package 'Key experiments using a-doped UO{sub 2} and real spent fuel', coordinated by SKB with the participation of ITU, FZK-INE, ENRESA, CIEMAT, ARMINES-SUBATECH and SKB.

Reactor core in FBR type reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Masumi, Ryoji; Kawashima, Katsuyuki; Kurihara, Kunitoshi.

1989-01-01

In a reactor core in FBR type reactors, a portion of homogenous fuels constituting the homogenous reactor core is replaced with multi-region fuels in which the enrichment degree of fissile materials is lower nearer to the axial center. This enables to condition the composition such that a reactor core having neutron flux distribution either of a homogenous reactor core or a heterogenous reactor core has substantially identical reactivity. Accordingly, in the transfer from the homogenous reactor core to the axially heterogenous reactor core, the average reactivity in the reactor core is substantially equal in each of the cycles. Further, by replacing a portion of the homogenous fuels with a multi-region fuels, thereby increasing the heat generation near the axial center, it is possiable to reduce the linear power output in the regions above and below thereof and, in addition, to improve the thermal margin in the reactor core. (T.M.)

Method for controlling FBR type reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tamano, Toyomi; Iwashita, Tsuyoshi; Sakuragi, Masanori

1991-01-01

The present invention provides a controlling method for moderating thermal transient upon trip in an FBR type reactor. A flow channel for bypassing an intermediate heat exchanger is disposed in a secondary Na system. Then, bypassing flow rate is controlled so as to suppress fluctuations of temperature at a primary exit of the intermediate heat exchanger. Bypassing operation by using the bypassing flow channel is started at the same time with plant trip, to reduce the flow rate of secondary Na flown to the intermediate heat exchanger, so that the imbalance between the primary and the secondary Na flowrates is reduced. Accordingly, fluctuations of the temperature at the primary exit of the intermediate heat exchanger upon trip is suppressed. In view of the above, thermal transient applied to the reactor container upon plant trip can be moderated. As a result, the working life of the reactor can be extended, to improve plant integrity and safety. (I.S.)

D-T plasma of self-sustained burning under high performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gong Xueyu

2003-01-01

By adopting a Bohm-type thermal diffusion coefficient related to the energy confinement enhancement factor H within the conventional magnetic shear regime, and a mixed Bohm-gyro-Bohm thermal diffusion coefficient related to the shear within the negative central magnetic shear regime, considering the effect of the α particle anomalous diffusion and the dynamic feedback heating, and starting from energy transport of electrons and ions, we have studied the high performance self-sustaining burning deuterium-tritium plasma under a given plasma density profile for the two different kinds of magnetic shear regimes. Some conclusions are obtained: under the conventional shear, only when H≥3, the D-T burning can produce a large power output, and when H is larger than a certain value (H≅4), D-T plasma self-sustained burning can be maintained without the dynamic feedback heating; under the negative central shear, the plasmas have a higher plasma performance and a larger power output than that under conventional shear, and D-T plasma self-sustained burning can be maintained without the dynamic feedback heating power, the suitable alpha particle diffusion is advantage ous to D-T plasma burning under the conventional shear, and D-T self-sustained burning cannot be maintained under a large α particle anomalous diffusion for the negative central shear. The dynamic feedback heating power is important for sustaining D-T plasma burning under the conventional shear

Parameters' influence estimation on Puf supply and demand in transitional period from LWR to FBR in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Hiroaki; Ohta, Hirokazu; Inoue, Tadashi

2009-01-01

Plutonium fissile (Puf) amounts to balance supply and demand during transition period were evaluated with different parameters. Estimated total Puf demand in transitional period was sensitive to deployment speed of FBR. Because FBRs will be deployed as replacements of old LWRs for keeping total capacity, deployment history of existing LWRs should be taken into consideration. According to the estimation, LWR fuel burnup and utilized capacity are not big issue. Because certain amount of LWR spent fuel will remain in early phase of transitional period, there is enough time for preparing Puf supply. On the other hand, FBR fuel cycle time (SF cooling time + fuel fabrication time) have large impact on Puf supply. Fuel cycle technologies including transportation for applying to short cooling spent fuels should be developed. (author)

A simulation study on burning profile tailoring of steady state, high bootstrap current tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, Y.; Takei, N.; Tobita, K.; Sakamoto, Y.; Fujita, T.; Fukuyama, A.; Jardin, S.C.

2007-01-01

From the aspect of fusion burn control in steady state DEMO plant, the significant challenges are to maintain its high power burning state of ∝3-5 GW without burning instability, hitherto well-known as ''thermal stability'', and also to keep its desired burning profile relevant with internal transport barrier (ITB) that generates high bootstrap current. The paper presents a simulation modeling of the burning stability coupled with the self-ignited fusion burn and the structure-formation of the ITB. A self-consistent simulation, including a model for improved core energy confinement, has pointed out that in the high power fusion DEMO plant there is a close, nonlinear interplay between the fusion burnup and the current source of non-inductive, ITB-generated bootstrap current. Consequently, as much distinct from usual plasma controls under simulated burning conditions with lower power (<<1 GW), the selfignited fusion burn at a high power burning state of ∝3-5 GW becomes so strongly selforganized that any of external means except fuelling can not provide the effective control of the stable fusion burn.It is also demonstrated that externally applied, inductive current perturbations can be used to control both the location and strength of ITB in a fully noninductive tokamak discharge. We find that ITB structures formed with broad noninductive current sources such as LHCD are more readily controlled than those formed by localized sources such as ECCD. The physics of the inductive current is well known. Consequently, we believe that the controllability of the ITB is generic, and does not depend on the details of the transport model (as long as they can form an ITB for sufficiently reversed magnetic shear q-profile). Through this external control of the magnetic shear profile, we can maintain the ITB strength that is otherwise prone to deteriorate when the bootstrap current increases. These distinguishing capabilities of inductive current perturbation provide steady

Towards more efficient burn care: Identifying factors associated with good quality of life post-burn.

Science.gov (United States)

Finlay, V; Phillips, M; Allison, G T; Wood, F M; Ching, D; Wicaksono, D; Plowman, S; Hendrie, D; Edgar, D W

2015-11-01

As minor burn patients constitute the vast majority of a developed nation case-mix, streamlining care for this group can promote efficiency from a service-wide perspective. This study tested the hypothesis that a predictive nomogram model that estimates likelihood of good long-term quality of life (QoL) post-burn is a valid way to optimise patient selection and risk management when applying a streamlined model of care. A sample of 224 burn patients managed by the Burn Service of Western Australia who provided both short and long-term outcomes was used to estimate the probability of achieving a good QoL defined as 150 out of a possible 160 points on the Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief (BSHS-B) at least six months from injury. A multivariate logistic regression analysis produced a predictive model provisioned as a nomogram for clinical application. A second, independent cohort of consecutive patients (n=106) was used to validate the predictive merit of the nomogram. Male gender (p=0.02), conservative management (p=0.03), upper limb burn (p=0.04) and high BSHS-B score within one month of burn (pburns were excluded due to loss to follow up. For clinicians managing comparable burn populations, the BSWA burns nomogram is an effective tool to assist the selection of patients to a streamlined care pathway with the aim of improving efficiency of service delivery. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

Investigation of 144Pr measurements for determination of residual Pu in FBR leached hulls

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yates, A.; Bremner, W.B.

1983-12-01

The measurement of plutonium in leached hulls arising from FBR fuel reprocessing is required for plant control, accountancy and safeguards. At DNPDE these measurements are carried out on the batch of hulls prior to bulking into 200 l drums for retrievable storage and ultimately further treatment for plutonium recovery. The experience to date has related to the use of neutron interrogation using sealed tube neutron generators as the irradiation source. The supply of replacement sealed tubes has become difficult. It was therefore decided to consider, amongst other techniques, the measurement of 144 Pr gamma emission as a possible alternative. The technique has been extensively used for thermal reactor fuels on a routine basis. There has also been a limited amount of work reported from Cap La Hague on applying the technique to FBR fuels as part of an experimental programme. This paper therefore describes the work done at DNPDE which evaluated the technique for use on a batch of hulls arising from a PFR fuel reprocessing campaign. (author)

Manufacturing Data Uncertainties Propagation Method in Burn-Up Problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Frosio

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A nuclear data-based uncertainty propagation methodology is extended to enable propagation of manufacturing/technological data (TD uncertainties in a burn-up calculation problem, taking into account correlation terms between Boltzmann and Bateman terms. The methodology is applied to reactivity and power distributions in a Material Testing Reactor benchmark. Due to the inherent statistical behavior of manufacturing tolerances, Monte Carlo sampling method is used for determining output perturbations on integral quantities. A global sensitivity analysis (GSA is performed for each manufacturing parameter and allows identifying and ranking the influential parameters whose tolerances need to be better controlled. We show that the overall impact of some TD uncertainties, such as uranium enrichment, or fuel plate thickness, on the reactivity is negligible because the different core areas induce compensating effects on the global quantity. However, local quantities, such as power distributions, are strongly impacted by TD uncertainty propagations. For isotopic concentrations, no clear trends appear on the results.

Vibration-proof FBR type reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawamura, Yutaka.

1992-01-01

In a reactor container in an FBR type reactor, an outer building and upper and lower portions of a reactor container are connected by a load transmission device made of a laminated material of rubber and steel plates. Each of the reactor container and the outer building is disposed on a lower raft disposed on a rock by way of a vibration-proof device made of a laminated material of rubber and steel plates. Vibration-proof elements for providing vertical eigen frequency of the vibration-proof system comprising the reactor building and the vibration-proof device within a range of 3Hz to 5Hz are used. That is, the peak of designed acceleration for response spectrum in the horizontal direction of the reactor structural portions is shifted to side of shorter period from the main frequency region of the reactor structure. Alternatively, rigidity of the vibration-proof elements is decreased to shift the peak to the side of long period from the main frequency region. Designed seismic force can be greatly reduced both horizontally and vertically, to reduce the wall thickness of the structural members, improve the plant economy and to ensure the safety against earthquakes. (N.H.)

A high-resolution open biomass burning emission inventory based on statistical data and MODIS observations in mainland China

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Y.; Fan, M.; Huang, Z.; Zheng, J.; Chen, L.

2017-12-01

Open biomass burning which has adverse effects on air quality and human health is an important source of gas and particulate matter (PM) in China. Current emission estimations of open biomass burning are generally based on single source (alternative to statistical data and satellite-derived data) and thus contain large uncertainty due to the limitation of data. In this study, to quantify the 2015-based amount of open biomass burning, we established a new estimation method for open biomass burning activity levels by combining the bottom-up statistical data and top-down MODIS observations. And three sub-category sources which used different activity data were considered. For open crop residue burning, the "best estimate" of activity data was obtained by averaging the statistical data from China statistical yearbooks and satellite observations from MODIS burned area product MCD64A1 weighted by their uncertainties. For the forest and grassland fires, their activity levels were represented by the combination of statistical data and MODIS active fire product MCD14ML. Using the fire radiative power (FRP) which is considered as a better indicator of active fire level as the spatial allocation surrogate, coarse gridded emissions were reallocated into 3km ×3km grids to get a high-resolution emission inventory. Our results showed that emissions of CO, NOx, SO2, NH3, VOCs, PM2.5, PM10, BC and OC in mainland China were 6607, 427, 84, 79, 1262, 1198, 1222, 159 and 686 Gg/yr, respectively. Among all provinces of China, Henan, Shandong and Heilongjiang were the top three contributors to the total emissions. In this study, the developed open biomass burning emission inventory with a high-resolution could support air quality modeling and policy-making for pollution control.

Simulation of the neutron-physical properties of the classical UO2 fuel and of MOX fuel during the burn-up by Transuranus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Breza, J. jr.; Necas, V.; Daoeilek, P.

2005-01-01

The classical nuclear fuel UO 2 is well known for VVER reactors. Nevertheless, in the near future it will be possible to replace this fuel by novel, advanced kinds of fuel, for instance MOX, inert matrices fuel, etc., that will allow to increase the level of burn-up and minimize the amount of hazardous waste. The code Transuranus [2], designed at ITU Karlsruhe, is intended for thermal and mechanical analyses of fuel elements in nuclear reactors. We have utilized the code Transuranus to simulate the neutron-physical properties of the classical UO 2 fuel and of MOX fuel during the burn-up to a level of 40 MWd/kgHM. We compare obtained results of uranium and plutonium nuclides concentrations, their changes during burn-up, with results obtained by code HELIOS [3], which is well-validated code for this kind of applications. We performed calculations of fission gasses concentrations, namely xenon and krypton. (author)

FBR core mock-up RAPSODIE I - experimental analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brochard, D.; Buland, P.; Gantenbein, F.

1990-01-01

The main phenomena which influence the LMFBR core response to a seismic excitation are the fluid structure interaction and the impacts between subassemblies. To study the core behaviour, seismic tests have been performed on the core mock-up RAPSODIE with and without fluid and restraint ring and for different levels of excitation. This paper summarizes the results of these tests. (author)

Experimental study associated to irradiation of FBR structural material, (4)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1976-01-01

The study presents one of the bases to evaluate the results of the post-irradiation tests to conduct the thermal control tests related to the second JMTR irradiation (70M-61P) of the demestic austenitic stainless steels for the structural material of the FBR performed by Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation. The thermal control specimens were given the temperature history which simulated that of the irradiation temperature in vacuum by the electrical furnance, and then the tensile, fatigue and Charpy impact tests were performed. The changes of the material properties caused by the thermal history were investigated. (auth.)

Seismic design for Monju FBR power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-01-01

This technical report introduces the basic concept on the aseismatic design of the FBR ''Monju'' power station, of which the construction in Tsuruga is planned by the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp. The safety design of Monju has been performed according to ''The concept of evaluating the safety of fast breeder reactors'', and the thought concerning the aseismatic design also is written in it. According to it, ''The guide for the examination of aseismatic design regarding power reactor facilities'' should be referred to, and the classification according to the importance in aseismatic design must be made, taking the features in the design of liquid metal-cooled FBRs fully in consideration. In the aseismatic design of Monju performed according to these basic concept, the following two points were examined. In the aseismatic design of the equipment and piping, the difference of construction from LWRs such as low pressure, thin walled and high temperature construction is taken in consideration. The classification according to the aseismatic importance of the system and equipment is made on the basis of the features in the design of Monju. The classification according to aseismatic importance, the method of calculating earthquake power, the combination of loads and the allowable limit, and the aseismatic construction of the main facilities are reported. (Kako, I.)

Burn-up Credit Criticality Safety Benchmark-Phase II-E. Impact of Isotopic Inventory Changes due to Control Rod Insertions on Reactivity and the End Effect in PWR UO2 Fuel Assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neuber, Jens Christian; Tippl, Wolfgang; Hemptinne, Gwendoline de; Maes, Philippe; Ranta-aho, Anssu; Peneliau, Yannick; Jutier, Ludyvine; Tardy, Marcel; Reiche, Ingo; Kroeger, Helge; Nakata, Tetsuo; Armishaw, Malcom; Miller, Thomas M.

2015-01-01

The report describes the final results of the Phase II-E Burn-up Credit Criticality Benchmark conducted by the Expert Group on Burn-up Credit Criticality Safety. The objective of Phase II of the Burn-up Credit Criticality Safety programme is to study the impact of axial burn-up profiles of PWR UO 2 spent fuel assemblies on the reactivity of PWR UO 2 spent fuel assembly configurations. The objective of the Phase II-E benchmark was to study the impact of changes on the spent nuclear fuel isotopic composition due to control rod insertion during depletion on the reactivity and the end effect of spent fuel assemblies with realistic axial burn-up profiles for different control rod insertion depths ranging from 0 cm (no insertion) to full insertion (i.e. to the case that the fuel assemblies were exposed to control rod insertion over their full active length). For this purpose two axial burn-up profiles have been extracted from an AREVA-NP-GmbH-owned 17x17-(24+1) PWR UO 2 spent fuel assembly burn-up profile database. One profile has an average burn-up of 30 MWd/kg U, the other profile is related to an average burn-up of 50 MWd/kg U. Two profiles with different average burn-up values were selected because the shape of the burn-up profile is affected by the average burn-up and the end effect depends on the average burn-up of the fuel. The Phase II-E benchmark exercise complements the Phase II-C and Phase II-D benchmark exercises. In Phase II-D different irradiation histories were analysed using different control rod insertion histories during depletion as well as irradiation histories without control rod insertion. But in all the histories analysed a uniform distribution of the burn-up and hence a uniform distribution of the isotopic composition were assumed; and in all the histories including any usage of control rods full insertion of the control rods was assumed. In Phase II-C the impact of the asymmetry of axial burn-up profiles on the reactivity and the end effect of

Developing maintenance technologies for FBR's heat exchanger units by advanced laser processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishimura, Akihiko; Shimada, Yukihiro

2011-01-01

Laser processing technologies were developed for the purpose of maintenance of FBR's heat exchanger units. Ultrashort laser processing fabricated fiber Bragg grating sensor for seismic monitoring. Fiber laser welding with a newly developed robot system repair cracks on inner wall of heat exchanger tubes. Safety operation of the heat exchanger units will be improved by the advanced laser processing technologies. These technologies are expected to be applied to the maintenance for the next generation FBRs. (author)

Training report of the FBR cycle training facility in 2004FY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watanabe, Toshio; Sasaki, Kazuichi; Sawada, Makoto; Ohtsuka, Jirou

2004-07-01

The FBR cycle training facility consists of sodium handling training facility and maintenance training facility, and is being contributed to train for the operators and maintenance workers of the prototype fast breeder reactor 'Monju'. So far, some training courses have been added to the both training courses of sodium handling technologies maintenance technologies in every year in order to carry out be significant training for preparation of Monju restarting. As encouragement of the sodium handling technology training in 2003FY, the sodium heat transfer basic course was equipped as the 9th sodium handling training course with the aims of learning basic principal technology regarding sodium heat transfer. While, for the maintenance training course, a named 'Monju Systems Learning Training Course', which aims to learn necessary knowledge as the engineers related Monju development, was provided newly in this year as an improvement concerned the maintenance course. In 2003FY, nine sodium handling technology training courses were carried out total 33 times and 235 trainees took part in those training courses. Also, nine training courses concerning the maintenance technology held 15 times and total 113 trainees participated. On the other hand, the 4th special lecture related sodium technology by France sodium school instructor was held on Mar. 15-17 and 34 trainees participated. Consequently, a cumulative trainees since October in 2000 opened the FBR cycle training facility reached to 1,236 so far. (author)

Report of the evaluation by the project evaluation committee on research and development of FBR structural materials. Result intermediate evaluation in fiscal year 2002

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-03-01

The project evaluation committee of FBR (Fast Breeder Reactor) and fuel cycle evaluated the problem under the evaluation method defined by the committee on the basis of material and supplementary data produced by JNC (Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute) and discussion. This report consists of summary, construction of the committee, investigation process, evaluation method, opinion of object, plan, research system, results, relation to practical use, public offering of results, development and others and total evaluation. Each opinion of the committee member are reported. Development of structural material is important problem of R and D of FBR. The estimation techniques of materials, high temperature structural and earthquake-resistant design techniques are evaluated to obtain the fruitful results. The remarkable results are development of materials of 316FR, using plate to reactor, estimation method of thermal striping, improvement of earthquake-resistant analysis technology, contribution to evaluation analysis of Monju second liner and basic information to develop quantity technique of material damage. (S.Y.)

Burn up Theoretical Analysis of A Thorium Fuel Rod in Light Water Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaber, F.A.; Aziz, M.; Elsheikh, B.

2008-01-01

A computer model was designed to analyze the burn up and irradiation of both Th-Pu and Th-U fuel rod in a typical light water reactors conditions. MCNP computer model was designed to simulate the fuel rod burnup and evaluate neutron flux and group constants . A system of ordinary differential equations were solved numerically to evaluate the isotopic concentrations for both the two types of fuel using the previous calculated data from MCNP model. The results are analyzed and compared with published data where satisfactory agreement was found

Integrated thermal analysis of top-shield and reactor vault of Indian FBR-600

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rajendrakumar, M.; Velusamy, K.; Selvaraj, P.

2015-01-01

The design for next generation fast breeder reactors (FBR-600) has been commenced with enhanced safety and improved economy as the main targets. The Top Shield (TS) of Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) is a box type structure consisting of Roof Slab (RS), Small Rotatable Plug (SRP), and Large Rotatable Plug (LRP). The large box type structure with many penetrations posed difficulties during manufacturing. Because of the required high load carrying capabilities, a dome shaped thick plate roof slab is conceived for FBR-600. Main Vessel (MV) which holds the primary sodium and associated components is welded to the RS through a triple joint. Reactor vault (RV) is a thick concrete structure which supports MV and Safety Vessel (SV). The temperature of RV concrete has to be less than 338 K (65°C) under normal operating heat loads (full and part load conditions) and less than 363 K (90°C) under Safety Grade Decay Heat Removal (SGDHR) conditions with one cooling loop in service. The temperature in the component penetrations of the RS should be greater than 120°C to avoid sodium aerosol deposition. Similarly, the temperature of the LRP and SRP has to be ∼120°C to protect the elastomeric seals provided to these structures. Further, the heat load to RV transferred by direct conduction by roof slab support has to be minimum. To meet these conflicting thermal requirements, detailed multi-physics CFD calculations have been performed to finalize, (i) the insulation requirements on the top of roof slab, (ii) number and position of reflective insulation plates below the bottom plate of roof slab/rotating plugs, (iii) air flow rate for various zones of the top shield and (iv) water flow rate and pitch of water cooling pipes for the reactor vault. (author)

Development of FBR piping bellows joint

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsukimori, Kazuyuki; Iwata, Koji

1991-01-01

Reduction of construction cost is one of the most important problems to realize a FBR (Fast Breeder Reactor) Plant. Significant reduction of the construction cost of a reactor building, related equipments and facilities can be expected by shortening the length of its long cooling pipes. Since the bellows has a great capacity for absorbing thermal expansion displacement, application of bellows expansion joints is considered as the most influential measure for reduction of the piping length. To confirm technological possibilities of application and practical use of bellows joints in the main piping systems, extensive R and D's, development of various methods for evaluating the strength of bellows, establishment of inspection and maintenance techniques, studies on safety logic, etc., were carried out by PNC from 1983 to 1988. Through these studies, technological possibilities of bellows joints were confirmed and the results were summarized in the 'Structural Design Guide for Class 1 Piping Bellows Expansion Joints of Fast Breeder Reactor for Elevated Temperature Service' and the 'Inspection and Maintenance Standards of Piping bellows expansion Joints'. (author)

Changes of the inventory of radioactive materials in reactor fuel from uranium in changing to higher burn-up and determining the important effects of this

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirchner, G.; Schaefer, R.

1985-01-01

The knowledge of the nuclide composition during and after use in the reactor is an essential, in order to be able to determine the effects associated with the operation of nuclear plants. The missing reliable data on the inventory of radioactive materials resulting from the expected change to higher burn-ups of uranium fuels in West Germany are calculated. The reliability of the program system used for this, which permits a one-dimensional account taken of the fuel rod cell and measurement of the changes of specific sets of nuclear data depending on burn-up, is confirmed by the comparison with experimentally found concentrations of important nuclides in fuel samples at Obrigheim nuclear power station. Realistic conditions of use are defined for a range of burn-up of 33 GWd/t to 55 GWd/t and the effects of changes of the number of cycles and the use of types of fuel elements being developed on the composition of the inventory are determined. The plutonium compositions during use in the reactor are given and are tabulated with the inventory for decay times up to 30 years. Effects during change to higher burn-ups are examined and discussed for the maximum inventories during use of fuel and for heat generation during final storage. (orig./HP) [de

Detonation of high explosives in Lagrangian hydrodynamic codes using the programmed burn technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berger, M.E.

1975-09-01

Two initiation methods were developed for improving the programmed burn technique for detonation of high explosives in smeared-shock Lagrangian hydrodynamic codes. The methods are verified by comparing the improved programmed burn with existing solutions in one-dimensional plane, converging, and diverging geometries. Deficiencies in the standard programmed burn are described. One of the initiation methods has been determined to be better for inclusion in production hydrodynamic codes

The Complete Burning of Weapons Grade Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium with (Laser Inertial Fusion-Fission Energy) LIFE Engine

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farmer, J C; Diaz de la Rubia, T; Moses, E

2008-12-23

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) project, a laser-based Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) experiment designed to achieve thermonuclear fusion ignition and burn in the laboratory, is under construction at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and will be completed in April of 2009. Experiments designed to accomplish the NIF's goal will commence in late FY2010 utilizing laser energies of 1 to 1.3 MJ. Fusion yields of the order of 10 to 20 MJ are expected soon thereafter. Laser initiated fusion-fission (LIFE) engines have now been designed to produce nuclear power from natural or depleted uranium without isotopic enrichment, and from spent nuclear fuel from light water reactors without chemical separation into weapons-attractive actinide streams. A point-source of high-energy neutrons produced by laser-generated, thermonuclear fusion within a target is used to achieve ultra-deep burn-up of the fertile or fissile fuel in a sub-critical fission blanket. Fertile fuels including depleted uranium (DU), natural uranium (NatU), spent nuclear fuel (SNF), and thorium (Th) can be used. Fissile fuels such as low-enrichment uranium (LEU), excess weapons plutonium (WG-Pu), and excess highly-enriched uranium (HEU) may be used as well. Based upon preliminary analyses, it is believed that LIFE could help meet worldwide electricity needs in a safe and sustainable manner, while drastically shrinking the nation's and world's stockpile of spent nuclear fuel and excess weapons materials. LIFE takes advantage of the significant advances in laser-based inertial confinement fusion that are taking place at the NIF at LLNL where it is expected that thermonuclear ignition will be achieved in the 2010-2011 timeframe. Starting from as little as 300 to 500 MW of fusion power, a single LIFE engine will be able to generate 2000 to 3000 MWt in steady state for periods of years to decades, depending on the nuclear fuel and engine configuration. Because the fission

Investigation of the burn-up behavior of boron poison rods, placed in a fuel assembly of a pressurized water reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arnold, C.; Lutz, D.C.

1979-09-01

The excess reactivity of a pressurized water reactor is compensated by boron, disolved in the moderator. In addition during the first cycle boron poison rods are placed in fuel assemblies without control rods. The burn-up behavior of a poison rod in a Biblis B fuel assembly is analysed in the present paper. Multigroup spectrum calculations were performed. The influence of critical boron concentration depending from burn-up, the changes of fuel concentration and the concentration of burnable poison were taken into consideration. Furthermore the built-up of rapidly saturating fisson products 135 Xe and 149 Sm was considered. The interaction of these effects are discussed. Spatial influences are emphasized most. Finally two group cross sections were calculated. The results are compared with calculations for a fuel assembly of the same type without burnable poison rods. (orig.) [de

The Non-Destructive Determination of Burn-Up by Means of the Prl44 2.18 M Gamma Activity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forsyth, R.S.; Blackadder, W.H.

1965-05-01

In recent years, gamma scanning has been used at several establishments for the determination of the burn-up profile along irradiated fuel elements, the 0.75 MeV gamma from Zr-95/Nb-95 being most often employed as the monitored radiation. Difficulties in establishing the geometry and the self-absorption of the gamma activity in the fuel have tended to prevent the application of the method to quantitative burn-up determination, which has usually been carried out by dissolution of selected portions of the fuel followed by conventional fission product separation or by uranium depletion methods. The present paper describes experiments carried out to calibrate a gamma scanner for quantitative measurements by counting the 2.18 MeV gamma activity due to Pr-144, the short-lived daughter of Ce-144 (t 1/2 = 285 days) from selected pellets in several UO 2 fuel specimens. Accurate burn-up values were then determined by dissolution and application of the isotopic dilution method, using stable molybdenum fission products. The elements, which were rotated about their longitudinal axes to minimize asymmetry effects, were viewed by a sodium iodide crystal and a multichannel analyser through a suitable collimator. Correction for attenuation of the gamma activity (much less than for 0.75 MeV) in the fuel elements which were of different diameters (12.6 to 15.04 mm) was made by applying relative attenuation factors and the effective geometry factor of the instrument was determined. In order to check the corrections applied, the counter factor was also calculated, for the 0.75 MeV activity from Zr-95/Nb-95 and in certain cases for the 0.66 MeV activity from Cs-137. The results obtained, demonstrate that at least over the range of diameters and cooling times used the method is suitable for quantitative determinations. Preliminary experiments to explore the possibility of using the high energy gammas (2.35, 2.65 MeV) from Rh-106 as a method for estimating the fraction of fission events

Work-related burn injuries in Ontario, Canada: a follow-up 10-year retrospective study

Science.gov (United States)

Clouatre, Elsa; Gomez, Manuel; Banfield, Joanne; Jeschke, Marc G

2013-01-01

Work-related burn injuries contribute to a quarter of all burn injuries in USA. In 2009, the provincial Workplace Safety and Insurance Board reported 64,824 work-related injuries that resulted in time-lost, 1188 injuries (2%) were a result of burns. There have been two previous studies performed at a regional burn centre (1984-1990 and 1998-2000) looking at incidence and characteristics of work-related burns. There was no significant change between these two groups. The purpose of this study was to identify the recent pattern of work-related burns from 2001 to 2010 and to compare it to the previous studies. During the study period, 1427 patients were admitted for an acute injury to the regional burn centre. Of these, 330 were due to a work-related incident (23%). The mean age of patients was 40.5±11.9 years, 95% were male. The mean total body surface area burn was 11.9±16.2%. The most common mechanism of burn injury was flame (32.7%) followed by electrical (27%) and scald (19.7%), inhalation injury was present in 4.8% of patients and the mortality was 1.8%. Our study has shown that there has been a significant decrease in the incidence in work-related burns treated at the regional burn centre (23.1%, vs. 28.2% vs. 30.2% pburns have now become the leading cause of injury, there was a significant reduction in inhalation injury (4.8% vs. 23% vs. 14.8%, pburns, improvement in burn care, and that prevention strategies may have been more effective. PMID:23352030

Multi-frequencies ECT algorithms to remove sodium noise in ISI of ferromagnetic SG tubes of FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mihalache, Ovidiu

2012-01-01

The paper presents developments and application of multi-frequency eddy current to be used during In-Service Inspection (ISI) of ferromagnetic steam generator (SG) tubes of Fast Breeder Reactors (FBR). Signal enhancement by means of multi-frequency ECT techniques are validated through 3D simulations of both signals and noise due to sodium forms around SG tube or SP. The purpose of such algorithms is to remove from ECT signal the electromagnetic noise resulting from sodium accumulated outside of SG tubes after SG vessel draining. Finite element method (FEM) simulations are used to analyse different sodium build-up scenarios observed experimentally, and to determine optimal multi-frequency ECT algorithms to suppress the most efficiently sodium noise. Also a new 'window multi-frequency' algorithm is applied and validated using 3-dimensional FEM simulations of SP and sodium forms. (author)

Development of external coupling for calculation of the control rod worth in terms of burn-up for a WWER-1000 nuclear reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noori-Kalkhoran, Omid, E-mail: o_noori@yahoo.com [Reactor Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute (NSTRI), Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Yarizadeh-Beneh, Mehdi [Faculty of Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Ahangari, Rohollah [Reactor Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute (NSTRI), Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2016-08-15

Highlights: • Calculation of control rod worth in term of burn-up. • Calculation of differential and integral control rod worth. • Developing an external couple. • Modification of thermal-hydraulic profiles in calculations. - Abstract: One of the main problems relating to operation of a nuclear reactor is its safety and controlling system. The most widely used control systems for thermal reactors are neutron absorbent rods. In this study a code based method has been developed for calculation of integral and differential control rod worth in terms of burn-up for a WWER-1000 nuclear reactor. External coupling of WIMSD-5B, PARCS V2.7 and COBRA-EN has been used for this purpose. WIMSD-5B has been used for cell calculation and handling burn-up of the core in various days. PARCS V2.7 has been used for neutronic calculation of core and critical boron concentration search. Thermal-hydraulic calculation has been performed by COBRA-EN. An external coupling algorithm has been developed by MATLAB to couple and transfer suitable data between these codes in each step. Steady-State Power Picking Factors (PPFs) of the core and control rod worth for different control rod groups have been calculated from Beginning Of Cycle (BOC) to 289.7 Effective Full Power Days (EFPDs) in some steps. Results have been compared with the results of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR). The results show a good agreement and confirm the ability of developed coupling in calculation of control rod worth in terms of burn-up.

Management of acid burns: experience from Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Kishore Kumar; Olga, Loren; Peck, Michael; Morselli, Paolo G; Salek, A J M

2015-05-01

Acid burn injuries in Bangladesh primarily occur as a result of intentional attacks although there are incidences of accidental acid burns in industry, on the street, and at home. A total of 126 patients with acid burns, 95 from attacks and 31 from accidents, were studied from July 2004 to December 2012. A diagnosis of acid burn was made from history, physical examination and in some cases from chemical analysis of the patients' clothing. Alkali burns were excluded from the study. In the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, we applied a slightly different protocol for management of acid burns, beginning with plain water irrigation of the wound, which effectively reduced burn depth and the requirement of surgical treatment. Application of hydrocolloid dressing for 48-72 h helped with the assessment of depth and the course of treatment. Early excision and grafting gives good results but resultant acid trickling creates a marble cake-like appearance of the wound separated by the vital skin. Excision with a scalpel and direct stitching of the wounds are often a good option. Observation of patients on follow-up revealed that wounds showed a tendency for hypertrophy. Application of pressure garments and other scar treatments were given in all cases unless the burn was highly superficial. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

Development of a standard database for FBR core nuclear design (XI). Analysis of the Experimental Fast Reactor 'JOYO' MK-I start-up test and operation data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yokoyama, Kenji; Numata, Kazuyuki

2000-03-01

As a recent research, Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) develops a database of integral data in addition to the JUPITER experiments, aiming at further improvement for accuracy and reliability. In this report, the authors describe the evaluation of the C/E values and the sensitivity analysis for the Experimental Fast Reactor 'JOYO' MK-I core. The minimal criticality, sodium void reactivity worth, fuel assembly worth and burn-up coefficient were analyzed. The results of both the minimal criticality and the fuel assembly worth, which were calculated by the standard analytical method for JUPITER experiments, agreed well with the measured values. On the other hand, the results of the sodium void reactivity worth have a tendency to overestimate. As for the burn-up coefficient, it was seen that the C/E values had a dispersion among the operation cycles. The authors judged that further investigation for the estimation of the experimental error will increase the applicability of the integral data to the adjusted library. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses for the minimal criticality, sodium void reactivity worth and fuel assembly worth showed the characteristics of 'JOYO' MK-I core in comparison with ZPPR-9 core of JUPITER experiments. (J.P.N.)

Burning Behaviour of High-Pressure CH4-H2-Air Mixtures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacopo D'Alessio

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Experimental characterization of the burning behavior of gaseous mixtures has been carried out, analyzing spherical expanding flames. Tests were performed in the Device for Hydrogen-Air Reaction Mode Analysis (DHARMA laboratory of Istituto Motori—CNR. Based on a high-pressure, constant-volume bomb, the activity is aimed at populating a systematic database on the burning properties of CH4, H2 and other species of interest, in conditions typical of internal combustion (i.c. engines and gas turbines. High-speed shadowgraph is used to record the flame growth, allowing to infer the laminar burning parameters and the flame stability properties. Mixtures of CH4, H2 and air have been analyzed at initial temperature 293÷305 K, initial pressure 3÷18 bar and equivalence ratio  = 1.0. The amount of H2 in the mixture was 0%, 20% and 30% (vol.. The effect of the initial pressure and of the Hydrogen content on the laminar burning velocity and the Markstein length has been evaluated: the relative weight and mutual interaction has been assessed of the two controlling parameters. Analysis has been carried out of the flame instability, expressed in terms of the critical radius for the onset of cellularity, as a function of the operating conditions.

Calculations of fuel burn up and radionuclide inventories in the Syrian miniature neutron source reactor using the WIMSD4 and CITATION codes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khattab, K.

2005-01-01

The WIMSD4 code is used to generate the fuel group constants and the infinite multiplication factor as a function of the reactor operating time for 10, 20, and 30 k W operating power levels. The uranium burn up rate and burn up percentage, the amounts of the plutonium isotopes, the concentrations and radioactivities of the fission products and actinide radionuclides accumulated in the reactor core, and the total radioactivity of the reactor core are calculated using the WIMSD4 code as well. The CITATION code is used to calculate the changes in the effective multiplication factor of the reactor.(author)

Chinese FBR program and its first FR conceptual design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Mi

1991-01-01

As the preliminary study results, The long term strategy of FBR development in China would be divided into three steps: Experimental Fast Reactor, Modulized Fast Breeder Reactor and Large Fast Breeder Reactor. The design requirements, main technical selections and design boundary conditions for the first step, experimental fast reactor, which is named FFR (First Fast Reactor) in China have been given in the paper. The conceptual design of FFR, based on core neutronics, core subassemblies thermo-hydraulics, reactor block and mechanics, fuel handling system, main heat transfer system and steam-electricity generation system has been completed and also presented in this paper. Finally, the R and D program of FFR which is carring on and will be done is briefly introduced. (author)

Experience with, and programme of, FBR and HWR development in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iida, M.; Sawai, S.; Nomoto, S.

1983-01-01

Nuclear power generation in Japan is moving forward on the long-term development programme of nuclear power from the LWR to the FBR, essentially in the same way as in other advanced nuclear countries. In this development programme the unique HWR is also included; it can use plutonium produced in LWRs together with depleted uranium before the introduction of commercial FBRs. This report describes the status of the FBR and HWR development project being carried out by the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC) based upon the Long-Term Programme on Research, Development and Utilization of Nuclear Energy in Japan. Operational experience and technical results are shown for the experimental fast reactor JOYO (100 MW(th)), which reached initial criticality in 1977. The status of the 280 MW(e) prototype reactor MONJU, under construction as of 1982, is described. The conceptual design of the subsequent 1000 MW(e) demonstration plant is outlined, as is additional future planning. Research and development results, mainly carried out at Oarai Engineering Center of PNC, are shown. The 165 MW(e) prototype FUGEN is a heavy-water-moderated, boiling-light-water-cooled, pressure-tube-type reactor which uses plutonium mixed-oxide fuel. This report describes the relationship of the fuel cycle to the HWR in Japan and also discusses the operational experience of the prototype FUGEN, which has operated since 1979. Also described is the design of the 600 MW(e) demonstration plant and the programme of related research and development. (author)

Measuring device for the distribution of burn-up degree in fuel assembly irradiated in nuclear reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumanomido, Hironori

1989-01-01

The object of the invention is to measure the distribution of burn-up degree, of fuel assemblies irradiated in a nuclear reactor in a short time and exactly. That is, the device comprises a device main body having substantially the same length as that for the axial length of a fuel assembly and a detector container disposed axially slidably to the main body. A plurality of radiation detectors are arranged at an equi-axial pitch and contained in the container. The container is caused to slide at a pitch equal to the equi-axial distance of the detectors. In the device having thus been constituted, measurement is conducted at least for twice at an axial position on the side of a fuel assembly irradiated in the nuclear reactor and a position caused to slide therefrom by one pitch. Based on the result, the sensitivities between each of the detectors are compared and the relative sensitivity of the radiation detectors is calibrated. Accordingly, the sensitivity between each of the detectors can be calibrated rapidly and easily. As a result, the distribution of the burn-up degree, etc of irradiated fuel assembly can be measured exactly. (K.M.)

An extended version of the SERPENT-2 code to investigate fuel burn-up and core material evolution of the Molten Salt Fast Reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aufiero, M.; Cammi, A.; Fiorina, C. [Politecnico di Milano, Department of Energy, CeSNEF (Enrico Fermi Center for Nuclear Studies), via Ponzio, 34/3, I-20133 Milano (Italy); Leppänen, J. [VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, P.O. Box 1000, FI-02044 VTT (Finland); Luzzi, L., E-mail: lelio.luzzi@polimi.it [Politecnico di Milano, Department of Energy, CeSNEF (Enrico Fermi Center for Nuclear Studies), via Ponzio, 34/3, I-20133 Milano (Italy); Ricotti, M.E. [Politecnico di Milano, Department of Energy, CeSNEF (Enrico Fermi Center for Nuclear Studies), via Ponzio, 34/3, I-20133 Milano (Italy)

2013-10-15

In this work, the Monte Carlo burn-up code SERPENT-2 has been extended and employed to study the material isotopic evolution of the Molten Salt Fast Reactor (MSFR). This promising GEN-IV nuclear reactor concept features peculiar characteristics such as the on-line fuel reprocessing, which prevents the use of commonly available burn-up codes. Besides, the presence of circulating nuclear fuel and radioactive streams from the core to the reprocessing plant requires a precise knowledge of the fuel isotopic composition during the plant operation. The developed extension of SERPENT-2 directly takes into account the effects of on-line fuel reprocessing on burn-up calculations and features a reactivity control algorithm. It is here assessed against a dedicated version of the deterministic ERANOS-based EQL3D procedure (PSI-Switzerland) and adopted to analyze the MSFR fuel salt isotopic evolution. Particular attention is devoted to study the effects of reprocessing time constants and efficiencies on the conversion ratio and the molar concentration of elements relevant for solubility issues (e.g., trivalent actinides and lanthanides). Quantities of interest for fuel handling and safety issues are investigated, including decay heat and activities of hazardous isotopes (neutron and high energy gamma emitters) in the core and in the reprocessing stream. The radiotoxicity generation is also analyzed for the MSFR nominal conditions. The production of helium and the depletion in tungsten content due to nuclear reactions are calculated for the nickel-based alloy selected as reactor structural material of the MSFR. These preliminary evaluations can be helpful in studying the radiation damage of both the primary salt container and the axial reflectors.

UK regulatory perspective on the application of burn-up credit to the BNFL thorp head end plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simister, D.N.; Clemson, P.D.

2003-01-01

In the UK the Health and Safety Executive, which incorporates the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII), is responsible for regulation of safety on nuclear sites. This paper reports progress made in the application and development of a UK regulatory position for assessing licensee's plant safety caes which invoke the use of Burn-up Credit for criticality applications. The NII's principles and strategy for the assessment of this technical area have been developed over a period of time following expressions of interest from UK industry and subsequent involvement in the international collaborations and debate in this area. This experience has now been applied to the first main plant safety case application claiming Burn-up Credit. This case covers the BNFL Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) dissolver at Sellafield, where dissolved gadolinium neutron poison is used as a criticality control. The case argues for a reduction in gadolinium content by taking credit for the burn-up of input fuel. The UK regulatory process, assessment principles and criteria are briefly outlined, showing the regulatory framework used to review the case. These issues include the fundamental requirement in UK Health and Safety law to demonstrate that risks have been reduced to as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP), the impact on safety margins, compliance and operability procedures, and the need for continuing review. Novel features of methodology, using a ''Residual Enrichment'' and ''Domain Boundary'' approach, were considered and accepted. The underlying validation, both of criticality methodology and isotopic determination, was also reviewed. Compliance was seen to rely heavily on local in-situ measurements of spent fuel used to determine ''Residual Enrichment'' and other parameters, requiring review of the development and basis of the correlations used to underpin the measurement process. Overall, it was concluded that the case as presented was adequate. Gadolinium reduction

Development of a parallel processing couple for calculations of control rod worth in terms of burn-up in a WWER-1000 reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noori-Kalkhoran, Omid; Ahangari, R. [Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute (NSTRI), Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of). Reactor Research school; Shirani, A.S. [Shahid Beheshti Univ., Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of). Faculty of Engineering

2017-03-15

In this study a code based method has been developed for calculation of integral and differential control rod worth in terms of burn-up for a WWER-1000 reactor. Parallel processing of WIMSD-5B, PARCS V2.7 and COBRA-EN has been used for this purpose. WIMSD-5B has been used for cell calculation and handling burn-up of core at different days. PARCS V2.7?has been used for neutronic calculation of core and critical boron concentration search. Thermal-hydraulic calculation has been performed by COBRA-EN. A Parallel processing algorithm has been developed by MATLAB to couple and transfer suitable data between these codes in each step. Steady-State Power Picking Factors (PPFs) of the core and Control rod worth have been calculated from Beginning Of Cycle (BOC) to 289.7 Effective full Power Days (EFPDs) in some steps. Results have been compared with Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR) results. The results show great similarity and confirm the ability of developed coupling in calculation of control rod worth in terms of burn-up.

Self-Burns in Fars Province, Southern Iran

OpenAIRE

Mohammadi, Ali Akbar; Tohidinik, Hamid Reza; Zardosht, Mitra; Seyed Jafari, Seyed Morteza

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND The alarming incidence of self- burning provoked to set up a multidisciplinary preventive program to decrease the incidence and complications of this harmful issue. This study investigated the incidence and the preventive measures in self-burn in Fars Province, southern Iran. METHODS This study was a longitudinal prospective design on trend of self-inflicted burn injuries in Fars province after setting up a regional multidisciplinary preventive plan (2009-2012). RESULTS From 18862 ...

Development of a depletion program for the calculation of the 3D-burn-up dependent power distributions in light water reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bennewitz, F.; Mueller, A.; Wagner, M.R.

1977-11-01

Based on the nodal collision probability method a multi-dimensional reactor burn-up program MEDIUM has been developed, which is written for 2 neutron energy groups. It is characterized by high computing speed, considerable generality and flexibility, a number of useful program options and good accuracy. The three-dimensional flux calculation model is described, the formulation and method of solution of the nuclear depletion equations and further details of the program structure. The results of a number of comparisons with experimental data and with independent computer programs are presented. (orig.) [de

Influence of fuel element burn-up on the power peaking factor in PWR; Vpliv zgorelosti gorivnega elementa na konicne faktorje moci v tlacnovodnem reaktorju

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ravnik, M; Mele, I [Institut ' Jozef Stefan' , Ljubljana (Yugoslavia); Falkowski, J [Institut energii atomowel, Swierk (Poland)

1988-07-01

Influence of fuel element burn-up distribution on radial power peaking factors is presented for Krsko NPP. The effect is strong for elements loaded in the periphery of the core with large power gradients. Neglecting the burn-up distributions inside fuel elements leads to {+-} 5% error on power peaking factor of the same element and {+-} 2% at other locations in the core. Influence on k is observed due to perturbed leakage from the core and due to redistribution of the importance function of the core. (author)

BWR noise spectra and application of noise analysis to FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nomura, T.

1975-01-01

Work related to noise analysis, in Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co. Ltd. (Toshiba) and Nippon Atomic Industry Group Co. Ltd. (NAIG) for the past several years is reviewed. After considering the Japan-United States Seminar on Reactor Noise Analysis in 1968, other subjects discussed were boiling water reactor noise analysis and work in relation to FBR. Parts of these are related to each other. For example, boiling detection and temperature fluctuations are problems pertinent to both fields. As the main problems in zero-power-reactor noise are now basically understood, only a brief description of the experiments involving the advanced two detector method is made. Focus is rather placed on the area of power plant noise. (author)

Health-related quality of life 6 months after burns among hospitalized patients: Predictive importance of mental disorders and burn severity.

Science.gov (United States)

Palmu, Raimo; Partonen, Timo; Suominen, Kirsi; Saarni, Samuli I; Vuola, Jyrki; Isometsä, Erkki

2015-06-01

Major burns are likely to have a strong impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We investigated the level of and predictors for quality of life at 6 months after acute burn. Consecutive acute adult burn patients (n=107) admitted to the Helsinki Burn Centre were examined with a structured diagnostic interview (SCID) at baseline, and 92 patients (86%) were re-examined at 6 months after injury. During follow-up 55% (51/92) suffered from at least one mental disorder. The mean %TBSA was 9. TBSA of men did not differ from that of women. Three validated instruments (RAND-36, EQ-5, 15D) were used to evaluate the quality of life at 6 months. All the measures (RAND-36, EQ-5, 15D) consistently indicated mostly normal HRQoL at 6 months after burn. In the multivariate linear regression model, %TBSA predicted HRQoL in one dimension (role limitations caused by physical health problems, p=0.039) of RAND-36. In contrast, mental disorders overall and particularly major depressive disorder (MDD) during follow-up (p-values of 0.001-0.002) predicted poor HRQoL in all dimensions of RAND-36. HRQoL of women was worse than that of men. Self-perceived HRQoL among acute burn patients at 6 months after injury seems to be mostly as good as in general population studies in Finland. The high standard of acute treatment and the inclusion of small burns (%TBSAburn itself on HRQoL. Mental disorders strongly predicted HRQoL at 6 months. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

Self-Burns in Fars Province, Southern Iran

Science.gov (United States)

Mohammadi, Ali Akbar; Tohidinik, Hamid Reza; Zardosht, Mitra; Seyed Jafari, Seyed Morteza

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND The alarming incidence of self- burning provoked to set up a multidisciplinary preventive program to decrease the incidence and complications of this harmful issue. This study investigated the incidence and the preventive measures in self-burn in Fars Province, southern Iran. METHODS This study was a longitudinal prospective design on trend of self-inflicted burn injuries in Fars province after setting up a regional multidisciplinary preventive plan (2009-2012). RESULTS From 18862 admitted patients, 388 (2%) committed self-burning. While the incidence showed a constant decrease in proportion of suicidal cases among all admitted patients (2.5% to 1.6%). The mean age of self-burning victims ranged from 28.3±10.8 to 30.3±11.7 years. The female victims comprised 67.4% of all suicidal burn patients (Female to male ratio: 2.18). The leading causes of suicide commitment were familial conflicts (75.6%) and psychological problems (16.7%) CONCLUSION It is crucial to continue the regional preventive programs and pave the way to set up national, and even international collaborations to alleviate relevant financial, social, cultural and infrastructural difficulties in order to have lower incidence for this dramatic issue. PMID:27308238

Study on thermalhydraulics of natural circulation decay heat removal in FBR. Experiment with water of typical reactor trip in the demonstration FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koga, Tomonari; Murakami, Takahiro; Eguchi, Yuzuru

2010-01-01

Intending to enhance safety and to reduce costs, an FBR plant is being developed in Japan. In relies solely on natural circulation of the primary cooling loop to remove a decay heat of the core after reactor trips. A water test was carried out to advance the development. The test used a 1/10 reduced scale model simulating the core and cooling systems. The experiments simulated representative accidents from steady state to decay heat removal through reactor trip and clarified thermal-hydraulic issues on the thermal circulation performance. Some modifications of the system design were proposed for solving serious problems of natural circulation. An improved design complying with the suggestions will make it possible for natural circulation of the cooling systems to remove the decay heat of the core without causing and unstable or unpredictable change. (author)

Calculation using MVP and MVP-BURN in JRR-3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Komeda, Masao; Kato, Tomoaki; Murayama, Yoji; Yamashita, Kiyonobu

2007-01-01

MVP is the particle-transport Monte Carlo code that has been developed in JAEA. MVP-BURN is an added function to do burn-up calculation. It is easy to built complex structure like core for MVP. And it is easy to do calculations of keff, any reaction rate, flux, burn-up and so on. In this report, it is introduced MVP and MVP-BURN. And some sample calculations of JRR-3 are shown. (author)

Numerical solution of the point reactor kinetics equations with fuel burn-up and temperature feedback

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tashakor, S.; Jahanfarnia, G.; Hashemi-Tilehnoee, M.

2010-01-01

Point reactor kinetics equations are solved numerically using one group of delayed neutrons and with fuel burn-up and temperature feedback included. To calculate the fraction of one-group delayed neutrons, a group of differential equations are solved by an implicit time method. Using point reactor kinetics equations, changes in mean neutrons density, temperature, and reactivity are calculated in different times during the reactor operation. The variation of reactivity, temperature, and maximum power with time are compared with the predictions by other methods.

High explosive programmed burn in the FLAG code

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mandell, D.; Burton, D.; Lund, C.

1998-02-01

The models used to calculate the programmed burn high-explosive lighting times for two- and three-dimensions in the FLAG code are described. FLAG uses an unstructured polyhedra grid. The calculations were compared to exact solutions for a square in two dimensions and for a cube in three dimensions. The maximum error was 3.95 percent in two dimensions and 4.84 percent in three dimensions. The high explosive lighting time model described has the advantage that only one cell at a time needs to be considered.

Heavy liquid metal cooled FBR. Results 2001

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Enuma, Yasuhiro; Soman, Yoshindo; Konomura, Mamoru; Mizuno, Tomoyasu

2003-08-01

In the feasibility studies of commercialization of an FBR fuel cycle system, the targets are economical competitiveness to future LWRs, efficient utilization of resources, reduction of environmental burden and enhancement of nuclear non-proliferation, besides ensuring safety. Both medium size pool-type lead-bismuth cooled reactor with primary pumps system and without primary pumps system are studied to pursue their improvement in heavy metal coolant considering design requirements form plant structures. The design of plant systems are reformed, and the conceptual design is made and the commodities are analyzed. (1) Conceptual design of lead-bismuth cooled reactor with pumping system: Electrical output 750 MWe and 4-module system. The heat-mass balance is optimized and drawings are made about plant layout, cooling system, reactor structure and cooling component structures. (2) Structural analysis of main components. (3) Conceptual design of natural circulation type lead-bismuth cooled reactor: Electrical output 550 MWe and 6-module system. The heat-mass balance is optimized and drawings are made about plant layout, cooling system, reactor structure and cooling component structures. (4) Study of R and D program. (author)

Reactor scram device for FBR type reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumasaka, Katsuyuki; Arashida, Genji; Itooka, Satoshi.

1991-01-01

In a control rod attaching structure in a reactor scram device of an FBR type reactor, an anti-rising mechanism proposed so far against external upward force upon occurrence of earthquakes relies on the engagement of a mechanical structure but temperature condition is not taken into consideration. Then, in the present invention, a material having curie temperature characteristics and which exhibits ferromagnetism only under low temperature condition and a magnet device are disposed to one of a movable control rod and a portion secured to the reactor. Alternatively, a bimetal member or a shape memory alloy which actuates to fix to the mating member only under low temperature condition is secured. The fixing device is adapted to operate so as to secure the control rods when the low temperature state is caused depending on the temperature condition. With such a constitution, when the control rods are separated from a driving device, they are prevented from rising even if they undergo external upward force due to earthquakes and so on, which can improve the reactor safety. (N.H.)

Long term outcomes data for the Burns Registry of Australia and New Zealand: Is it feasible?

Science.gov (United States)

Gabbe, Belinda J; Cleland, Heather; Watterson, Dina M; Schrale, Rebecca; McRae, Sally; Parker, Christine; Taggart, Susan; Edgar, Dale W

2015-12-01

Incorporating routine and standardised collection of long term outcomes following burn into burn registries would improve the capacity to quantify burn burden and evaluate care. To evaluate methods for collecting the long term functional and quality of life outcomes of burns patients and establish the feasibility of implementing these outcomes into a multi-centre burns registry. Five Burns Registry of Australia and New Zealand (BRANZ) centres participated in this prospective, longitudinal study. Patients admitted to the centres between November 2009 and November 2010 were followed-up at 1, 6, 12 and 24-months after injury using measures of burn specific health, health status, fatigue, itch and return to work. Participants in the study were compared to BRANZ registered patients at the centres over the study timeframe to identify participation bias, predictors of successful follow-up were established using a Generalised Estimating Equation model, and the completion rates by mode of administration were assessed. 463 patients participated in the study, representing 24% of all BRANZ admissions in the same timeframe. Compared to all BRANZ patients in the same timeframe, the median %TBSA and hospital length of stay was greater in the study participants. The follow-up rates were 63% at 1-month, 47% at 6-months; 40% at 12-months, and 21% at 24-months after injury, and there was marked variation in follow-up rates between the centres. Increasing age, greater %TBSA and opt-in centres were associated with greater follow-up. Centres which predominantly used one mode of administration experienced better follow-up rates. The low participation rates, high loss to follow-up and responder bias observed indicate that greater consideration needs to be given to alternative models for follow-up, including tailoring the follow-up protocol to burn severity or type. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

Observing the Peripheral Burning of Cigarettes by an Infrared Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liu C

2014-12-01

Full Text Available A modern infrared camera was used to observe the peripheral burning of cigarettes during puffing and smouldering. The computer-controlled infrared system captured thermal images with recording rates up to 50 Hz at 8-bit (256-colour resolution. The response time was less than 0.04 s at ca. 780 °C. The overall performance of the system was superior to most infrared systems used in previously reported investigations. The combined capacity allowed us to capture some faster, smaller high-temperature burning events on the periphery of a cigarette during puffing, which was first described by Egertion et al. in 1963 using an X-ray method. These transient burning events were caused by tobacco shreds near the coal surface experiencing the maximum air influx. The temperature of these transient burning events could be ca. 200 to 250 °C higher than the average peripheral temperature of the cigarette. The likelihood of these high-temperature burning events occurring during smouldering was significantly less. Some other details of the cigarette's combustion were also observed with improved simplicity and clarity.

Ice & Fire: the Burning Question

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

van Gelderen, Laurens; Jomaas, Grunde

2017-01-01

With the Arctic opening up to new shipping routes and increased oil exploration and production due to climate change, the risk of an Arctic oil spill is increasing. Of the classic oil spill response methods (mechanical recovery, dispersants and in-situ burning), in-situ burning is considered...... to be particularly a suitable response method in the Arctic. In-situ burning aims to remove the oil from the marine environment by burning it from the water surface. A recent Ph.D. thesis from the Technical University of Denmark has provided some new insights with respect to the fire science behind this response...

[The burn-out syndrome and restoring mental health at the working place].

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Joachim; Häfner, Steffen; Kächele, Horst; Wirsching, Michael; Dahlbender, Reiner W

2003-05-01

This paper reviews the scientific concepts and the clinical aspects of the burn-out syndrome. According to recent studies, up to 25 % of the German working population appear to suffer from what the Amercan physician and psychoanalyst, Herbert Freudenberger, has designated in 1974 as "burn-out syndrome". Characteristic features of this syndrome are emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and low personal accomplishment. People affected by the burn-out syndrome may suffer from depressive or anxious symptoms, from sleep disorders, chronic pain syndromes, or functional disorders of the cardiovascular or gastrointestinal system. Primary causes of the burnout syndrome include high demand combined with low influence, a high level of engagement without sufficient rewards or gratification, and a low level of social support. Preventive measures against burn-out include Balint-like supervision groups. In cases of a fully developed burn-out syndrome, affected persons should undergo either psychotherapy or a multimodal psychosomatic therapy.

Managing fusion high-level waste-A strategy for burning the long-lived products in fusion devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Guebaly, L.A.

2006-01-01

Fusion devices appear to be a viable option for burning their own high-level waste (HLW). We propose a novel strategy to eliminate (or minimize) the HLW generated by fusion systems. The main source of the fusion HLW includes the structural and recycled materials, refractory metals, and liquid breeders. The basic idea involves recycling and reprocessing the waste, separating the long-lived radionuclides from the bulk low-level waste, and irradiating the limited amount of HLW in a specially designed module to transmute the long-lived products into short-lived radioisotopes or preferably, stable elements. The potential performance of the new concept seems promising. Our analysis indicated moderate to excellent transmutation rates could be achieved in advanced fusion designs. Successive irradiation should burn the majority of the HLW. The figures of merit for the concept relate to the HLW burn-up fraction, neutron economy, and impact on tritium breeding. Hopefully, the added design requirements could be accommodated easily in fusion power plants and the cost of the proposed system would be much less than disposal in a deep geological HLW repository. Overall, this innovative approach offers benefits to fusion systems and helps earn public acceptance for fusion as a HLW-free source of clean nuclear energy

Evaluation of tube rupture simulation test (TRUST-1) for FBR steam generators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hayashida, Yoshihiko; Hamada, Hirotsugu [Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corp., Oarai, Ibaraki (Japan). Oarai Engineering Center

1996-06-01

The intermediate water leak in an FBR Steam Generator (SG) causes a high temperature and corrosive sodium-water reaction jet. In such cases, it is necessary to evaluate the wastage and overheating rupture behavior of heat transfer tubes. Especially, in the large SG that aims at high temperature of sodium and high temperature/pressure of water, the establishment of the rational evaluation method is important. In this paper, as a basic experiment to make clear the phenomenon of overheating rupture, tests and analysis of Tube Rupture Simulation Test-1 (TRUST-1) were conducted. TRUST-1 simulates the overheating rupture of the tube made of Mod.9Cr-1Mo steel by nitrogen gas pressurization and quick induction heating. The result of TRUST-1 are as follows: (1) The breaking strength predicted by the internal pressure is larger than the tensile strength of the tube material. (2) The margin of the breaking strength from the tensile strength of the tube material has a tendency of decreasing with the heating rate, especially in the lower temperature region. (3) Using an theoretical formula that is deduced from the steady creep model and appropriate experimental coefficients that are determined by the test data, the breaking strength can be reasonably evaluated. (author)

CLINICAL STUDY OF ELECTRICAL BURNS AMONG ALL BURNS CASES- 3 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nagabathula Durga Prasad

2017-08-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND With the advances in technology, electrical injuries are becoming more common and are the leading cause of work-related traumatic death. One third of all electrical traumas and most high-voltage injuries are job related and more than 50% of these injuries result from power line contact. The management of the major burn injury represents a significant challenge to every member of the burns team. Most of electrical burns present with gangrene of toes and limbs with eschar over body parts. Their presentation is mostly due to contact with high-voltage electricity at their work places. MATERIALS AND METHODS A retrospective study was made to study the clinico-social profile of patients suffering electric burns admitted into Department of General Surgery. RESULTS 92 cases were evaluated and studied. Majority of patients developed gangrene of limbs and toes. Amputations and skin grafting was done. Most patients who suffered electric burns were males of age group 21 to 40 years. All cases are accidental and mostly occurred at work places. Most electric burns are high-voltage based and caused deep burns. Major complications like acute renal failure and septicaemia were encountered. Most of them suffered 16 to 30% burns. Most commonly isolated organism from wounds is pseudomonas. Most of them suffered a hospital stay of 1 to 2 months. CONCLUSION Electric burns are a burden to the society. Prevention is the best way to deal with them. Electricity-based employees have to be trained properly regarding safety measures to be taken. General education of public regarding safety measures can prevent electrical burn injuries.

After-heat removing system in FBR type reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohashi, Yukio.

1990-01-01

The after-heat removing system of the present invention removes the after heat generated in a reactor core without using dynamic equipments such as pumps or blowers. There are disposed a first heat exchanger for heating a heat medium by the heat in a reactor container and a second heat exchanger situated above the first heat exchanger for spontaneously air-cooling the heat medium. Recycling pipeways connect the first and the second heat exchangers to form a recycling path for the heat medium. Then, since the second heat exchanger for spontaneously air-cooling the heat medium is disposed above the first heat exchanger and they are connected by the recycling pipeways, the heat medium can be circulated spontaneously. Accordingly, dynamic equipments such as pumps or blowers are no more necessary. As a result, the after-heat removing system of the FBR type reactor of excellent safety and reliability can be obtained. (I.S.)

Reduction of HLW repository environmental impact by Na-Cooled FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahn, Joonhong; Ikegami, Tetsuo

2005-01-01

The present study proposes the total toxicity index of radionuclides that have accumulated in the region exterior to the repository as the environmental impact measure. The measure is quantitatively evaluated by a radionuclide transport models that incorporate the effects of canister-array configuration and the initial mass loading in the waste canister. With the measure, it is demonstrated that the environmental impact of the repository can be effectively reduced by reduction of the initial mass loading resulting from FBR deployment and change in the canister-array configuration in the repository. The rate of increase in the environmental impact with the increase in the repository size can be reduced by reducing the initial mass loading of Np and its precursors. (author)

Development of thermal hydraulic analysis code for IHX of FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumagai, Hiromichi; Naohara, Nobuyuki

1991-01-01

In order to obtain flow resistance correlations for thermal-hydrauric analysis code concerned with an intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) of FBR, the hydraulic experiment by air was carried out through a bundle of tubes arranged in an in-line and staggard fashion. The main results are summarized as follows. (1) On pressure loss per unit length of a tube bundle, which is densely a regular triangle arrangement, the in-line fashion is almost the same as the staggard one. (2) In case of 30deg sector model for IHX tube bundle, pressure loss is 1/3 in comparison with the in-line or staggard arrangement. (3) By this experimental data, flow resistance correlations for thermalhydrauric analysis code are obtained. (author)

Monte Carlo sampling on technical parameters in criticality and burn-up-calculations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirsch, M.; Hannstein, V.; Kilger, R.

2011-01-01

The increase in computing power over the recent years allows for the introduction of Monte Carlo sampling techniques for sensitivity and uncertainty analyses in criticality safety and burn-up calculations. With these techniques it is possible to assess the influence of a variation of the input parameters within their measured or estimated uncertainties on the final value of a calculation. The probabilistic result of a statistical analysis can thus complement the traditional method of figuring out both the nominal (best estimate) and the bounding case of the neutron multiplication factor (k eff ) in criticality safety analyses, e.g. by calculating the uncertainty of k eff or tolerance limits. Furthermore, the sampling method provides a possibility to derive sensitivity information, i.e. it allows figuring out which of the uncertain input parameters contribute the most to the uncertainty of the system. The application of Monte Carlo sampling methods has become a common practice in both industry and research institutes. Within this approach, two main paths are currently under investigation: the variation of nuclear data used in a calculation and the variation of technical parameters such as manufacturing tolerances. This contribution concentrates on the latter case. The newly developed SUnCISTT (Sensitivities and Uncertainties in Criticality Inventory and Source Term Tool) is introduced. It defines an interface to the well established GRS tool for sensitivity and uncertainty analyses SUSA, that provides the necessary statistical methods for sampling based analyses. The interfaced codes are programs that are used to simulate aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, such as the criticality safety analysis sequence CSAS5 of the SCALE code system, developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratories, or the GRS burn-up system OREST. In the following, first the implementation of the SUnCISTT will be presented, then, results of its application in an exemplary evaluation of the neutron

Nuclear fuel and/or fertile material element suitable for non-destructive determination of burn-up

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muench, E.

1976-01-01

The invention refers to a nuclear fuel and/or fertile material element suitable for non-destructive burn-up analysis, where an isotope or a mixture of isotopes capable of being activated is provided for measuring the intensity of radiation emitted from radioactive nuclides, especially the intensity of gamma rays. The half-life of radioactive decay of the isotope or the mixture mentioned above after being activated is sufficiently large compared with the irradiation of the fuel and/or fertile material element in the nuclear reactor. (orig.) [de

Development and validation of ALEPH Monte Carlo burn-up code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stankovskiy, A.; Van den Eynde, G.; Vidmar, T.

2011-01-01

The Monte-Carlo burn-up code ALEPH is being developed in SCK-CEN since 2004. Belonging to the category of shells coupling Monte Carlo transport (MCNP or MCNPX) and 'deterministic' depletion codes (ORIGEN-2.2), ALEPH possess some unique features that distinguish it from other codes. The most important feature is full data consistency between steady-state Monte Carlo and time-dependent depletion calculations. Recent improvements of ALEPH concern full implementation of general-purpose nuclear data libraries (JEFF-3.1.1, ENDF/B-VII, JENDL-3.3). The upgraded version of the code is capable to treat isomeric branching ratios, neutron induced fission product yields, spontaneous fission yields and energy release per fission recorded in ENDF-formatted data files. The alternative algorithm for time evolution of nuclide concentrations is added. A predictor-corrector mechanism and the calculation of nuclear heating are available as well. The validation of the code on REBUS experimental programme results has been performed. The upgraded version of ALEPH has shown better agreement with measured data than other codes, including previous version of ALEPH. (authors)

The Non-Destructive Determination of Burn-Up by Means of the Pr{sup l44} 2.18 M Gamma Activity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Forsyth, R S; Blackadder, W H

1965-05-15

In recent years, gamma scanning has been used at several establishments for the determination of the burn-up profile along irradiated fuel elements, the 0.75 MeV gamma from Zr-95/Nb-95 being most often employed as the monitored radiation. Difficulties in establishing the geometry and the self-absorption of the gamma activity in the fuel have tended to prevent the application of the method to quantitative burn-up determination, which has usually been carried out by dissolution of selected portions of the fuel followed by conventional fission product separation or by uranium depletion methods. The present paper describes experiments carried out to calibrate a gamma scanner for quantitative measurements by counting the 2.18 MeV gamma activity due to Pr-144, the short-lived daughter of Ce-144 (t{sub 1/2} = 285 days) from selected pellets in several UO{sub 2} fuel specimens. Accurate burn-up values were then determined by dissolution and application of the isotopic dilution method, using stable molybdenum fission products. The elements, which were rotated about their longitudinal axes to minimize asymmetry effects, were viewed by a sodium iodide crystal and a multichannel analyser through a suitable collimator. Correction for attenuation of the gamma activity (much less than for 0.75 MeV) in the fuel elements which were of different diameters (12.6 to 15.04 mm) was made by applying relative attenuation factors and the effective geometry factor of the instrument was determined. In order to check the corrections applied, the counter factor was also calculated, for the 0.75 MeV activity from Zr-95/Nb-95 and in certain cases for the 0.66 MeV activity from Cs-137. The results obtained, demonstrate that at least over the range of diameters and cooling times used the method is suitable for quantitative determinations. Preliminary experiments to explore the possibility of using the high energy gammas (2.35, 2.65 MeV) from Rh-106 as a method for estimating the fraction of

Non-burn electric generation: How today's options stack up

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

The technical preparedness to generate electricity without burning fuel is dealt with. Nuclear, hydroelectric, solar and wind energy are recommended as the clean options. The aims of energy policy, views upon regulation, technical maturity and commercial preparedness of such variants are discussed. (Z.S.). 4 figs

A comprehensive biomass burning emission inventory with high spatial and temporal resolution in China

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Ying; Xing, Xiaofan; Lang, Jianlei; Chen, Dongsheng; Cheng, Shuiyuan; Wei, Lin; Wei, Xiao; Liu, Chao

2017-02-01

. As for the straw burning emission of various crops, corn straw burning has the largest contribution to all of the pollutants considered, except for CH4; rice straw burning has highest contribution to CH4 and the second largest contribution to other pollutants, except for SO2, OC, and Hg; wheat straw burning is the second largest contributor to SO2, OC, and Hg and the third largest contributor to other pollutants. Heilongjiang, Shandong, and Henan provinces located in the north-eastern and central-southern regions of China have higher emissions compared to other provinces in China. Gridded emissions, which were obtained through spatial allocation based on the gridded rural population and fire point data from emission inventories at county resolution, could better represent the actual situation. High biomass burning emissions are concentrated in the areas with more agricultural and rural activity. The months of April, May, June, and October account for 65 % of emissions from in-field crop residue burning, while, regarding EC, the emissions in January, February, October, November, and December are relatively higher than other months due to biomass domestic burning in heating season. There are regional differences in the monthly variations of emissions due to the diversity of main planted crops and climatic conditions. Furthermore, PM2.5 component results showed that OC, Cl-, EC, K+, NH4+, elemental K, and SO42- are the main PM2.5 species, accounting for 80 % of the total emissions. The species with relatively high contribution to NMVOC emission include ethylene, propylene, toluene, mp-xylene, and ethyl benzene, which are key species for the formation of secondary air pollution. The detailed biomass burning emission inventory developed by this study could provide useful information for air-quality modelling and could support the development of appropriate pollution-control strategies.

Characteristics of atmospheric ice nucleating particles associated with biomass burning in the US: Prescribed burns and wildfires

Science.gov (United States)

McCluskey, Christina S.

addition to LRT of mineral dust. The chemical compositions of INP were probed directly via TEM imaging. Single particle analyses of residual INP showed that they comprised various C-containing particle types, but with a higher abundance of mineral and metal oxide containing INP in emissions from flaming phase combustion. Fractal soot was found as an INP type comprising up to 60% of collected INP in young smoke emissions from the Georgia prescribed burns. In a series of laboratory combustion experiments, the use of a new instrumental set up, pairing the CFDC with a single particle soot photometer, revealed up to a 60% decrease in active INP after the removal of refractory black carbon from smoke aerosol emitted from a highly flaming burn of wiregrass, supporting that soot particles serve as INP in fire emissions. The presence of soil minerals was clearly evident in TEM images of samples taken during the wildfires in addition to tarballs, carbon balls most commonly associated with aged smoke plumes. These results demonstrate that the ice nucleating particles observed in the wildfires were influenced by other factors not represented in the smoke emitted from the laboratory or prescribed burns. Finally, an INP parameterization was developed based on the temperature dependent relationship between nINP and n500nm, following methods used by previous studies. This parameterization is likely only representative of the Hewlett and High Park wildfires due to the apparent impact of non-biomass-burning aerosol. However, all wildfires are typically associated with vigorous localized convection and arid soils, required for the lofting of the soils and dusts similar to these wildfires. It will be useful to compare future wildfires in various regions to the proposed parameterization. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Development of dose rate estimation system for FBR maintenance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iizawa, Katsuyuki [Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Inst., Tsuruga Head Office, International Cooperation and Technology Development Center, Tsuruga, Fukui (Japan); Takeuchi, Jun; Yoshikawa, Satoru [Hitachi Engineering Company, Ltd., Hitachi, Ibaraki (Japan); Urushihara, Hiroshi [Ibaraki Hitachi Information Service Co., Ltd., Omika, Ibaraki (Japan)

2001-09-01

During maintenance activities on the primary sodium cooling system by an FBR Personnel radiation exposure arises mainly from the presence of radioactive corrosion products (CP). A CP behavior analysis code, PSYCHE, and a radiation shielding calculation code, QAD-CG, have been developed and applied to investigate the possible reduction of radiation exposure of workers. In order to make these evaluation methods more accessible to plant engineers, the user interface of the codes has been improved and an integrated system, including visualization of the calculated gamma-ray radiation dose-rate map, has been developed. The system has been verified by evaluating the distribution of the radiation dose-rate within the Monju primary heat transport system cells from the estimated saturated CP deposition and distribution which would be present following about 20 cycles of full power operation. (author)

Development of dose rate estimation system for FBR maintenance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iizawa, Katsuyuki; Takeuchi, Jun; Yoshikawa, Satoru; Urushihara, Hiroshi

2001-01-01

During maintenance activities on the primary sodium cooling system by an FBR Personnel radiation exposure arises mainly from the presence of radioactive corrosion products (CP). A CP behavior analysis code, PSYCHE, and a radiation shielding calculation code, QAD-CG, have been developed and applied to investigate the possible reduction of radiation exposure of workers. In order to make these evaluation methods more accessible to plant engineers, the user interface of the codes has been improved and an integrated system, including visualization of the calculated gamma-ray radiation dose-rate map, has been developed. The system has been verified by evaluating the distribution of the radiation dose-rate within the Monju primary heat transport system cells from the estimated saturated CP deposition and distribution which would be present following about 20 cycles of full power operation. (author)

Satisfaction with life after burn: A Burn Model System National Database Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Goverman, J; Mathews, K; Nadler, D; Henderson, E; McMullen, K; Herndon, D; Meyer, W; Fauerbach, J A; Wiechman, S; Carrougher, G; Ryan, C M; Schneider, J C

2016-08-01

; scores at 12 months were associated with LOS, school status, and amputation; scores at 24 months were associated with LOS, school status, and drug abuse. In this large, longitudinal, multicenter cohort of burn survivors, satisfaction with life after burn was consistently lower than that of non-burn norms. Furthermore mean SWLS scores did not improve over the two-year follow-up period. This study demonstrates the need for continued efforts to improve patient-centered long term satisfaction with life after burn. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

The application of FORMOSAT-2 high-temporal- and high-spatial resolution imagery for monitoring open straw burning and carbon emission detection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C.-C. Liu

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Rice is produced in more than 95 countries worldwide and is a staple food for over half of the world's population. Rice is also a major food crop of Taiwan. There are numerous rice crops planted on the western plains of Taiwan, and, after the harvest season, the left-over straw is often burned on-site. The air pollutants from the burning emissions include CO2, CO, CH4 and other suspended particles, most of these being the greenhouse gases which cause global climate change. In this study FORMOSAT-2 satellite images and ground-truth data from 2008 and 2009 are used to conduct supervised classification and calculate the extent of the straw burning areas. It was found that 10% of the paddies in the study area were burned after harvest during this 2-yr period. On this pro rata basis, we calculated the overall carbon emissions from the burning of the straw. The findings showed that these few farmers produced up to 34 000 tons of carbon emissions in 2008, and 40 000 tons in 2009. The study results indicate that remotely sensed images can be used to efficiently evaluate the important characteristics for carbon emission detection. It also provides quantitative results that are relevant to tracking sources of transport pollution, postharvest burning, and Asian dust in Taiwan.

Barriers to return to work after burn injuries.

Science.gov (United States)

Esselman, Peter C; Askay, Shelley Wiechman; Carrougher, Gretchen J; Lezotte, Dennis C; Holavanahalli, Radha K; Magyar-Russell, Gina; Fauerbach, James A; Engrav, Loren H

2007-12-01

To identify barriers to return to work after burn injury as identified by the patient. A cohort study with telephone interview up to 1 year. Hospital-based burn centers at 3 national sites. Hospitalized patients (N=154) meeting the American Burn Association criteria for major burn injury, employed at least 20 hours a week at the time of injury, and with access to a telephone after discharge. Patients were contacted via telephone every 2 weeks up to 4 months, then monthly up to 1 year after discharge. A return to work survey was used to identify barriers that prevented patients from returning to work. A graphic rating scale determined the impact of each barrier. By 1 year, 79.7% of patients returned to work. Physical and wound issues were barriers early after discharge. Although physical abilities continued to be a significant barrier up to 1 year, working conditions (temperature, humidity, safety) and psychosocial factors (nightmares, flashbacks, appearance concerns) became important issues in those with long-term disability. The majority of patients return to work after a burn injury. Although physical and work conditions are important barriers, psychosocial issues need to be evaluated and treated to optimize return to work.

Microbiological Monitoring and Proteolytic Study of Clinical Samples From Burned and Burned Wounded Patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toema, M.A.; El-Bazza, Z.E.; El-Hifnawi, H.N.; Abd-El-Hakim, E.E.

2013-01-01

In this study, clinical samples were collected from 100 patients admitted to Burn and Plastic Surgery Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Egypt, over a period of 12 months. The proteolytic activity of 110 clinical samples taken from surfaces swabs which taken from burned and burned wounded patients with different ages and gender was examined. Screening for the proteolytic activity produced by pathogenic bacteria isolated from burned and burned wounded patients was evaluated as gram positive Bacilli and gram negative bacilli showed high proteolytic activity (46.4%) while 17.9% showed no activity. The isolated bacteria proved to have proteolytic activity were classified into high, moderate and weak. The pathogenic bacteria isolated from burned and burned wounded patients and showing proteolytic activity were identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus mirabilis, Proteus vulgaris, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella ozaeanae, Klebsiella oxytoca, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas fluoresces.

Fatigue damage evaluation method for the longitudinal welded joint of a FBR main vessel in the vicinity of the sodium surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanigawa, Masayuki; Shimokoshi, Minoru; Negishi, Hitoshi; Nagata, Takashi

1990-01-01

Metallurgical discontinuities are dominant in the fatigue strength reductions at the welded joints of vessels whose surfaces could be finished. In the welded joints of SUS 304 with TYPE 308 weld metal fatigue strength reductions are caused by strain concentrations as the result of the softening of the weld metal. A combination model of two elastic fully plastic materials is applicable to the structures under thermal stresses where displacements are self-controlled. Metallurgical discontinuities are represented by the difference of the yield strength. The longitudinal welded joint of a large FBR main vessel in the vicinity of the sodium surface was analyzed using this model under various conditions related to the design. Strain concentrations at the welded joint could be evaluated using the elastic follow-up model. The maximum value of the elastic follow-up parameter was 3.0 if the yield stress ratio of the weld metal to the base metal was not less than 0.8. (author)

The Burning Saints

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xygalatas, Dimitris

. Carrying the sacred icons of the saints, participants dance over hot coals as the saint moves them. The Burning Saints presents an analysis of these rituals and the psychology behind them. Based on long-term fieldwork, The Burning Saints traces the historical development and sociocultural context......, The Burning Saints presents a highly original analysis of how mental processes can shape social and religious behaviour....

Health and environmental risk-related impacts of actinide burning on high-level waste disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forsberg, C.W.

1992-05-01

The potential health and environmental risk-related impacts of actinide burning for high-level waste disposal were evaluated. Actinide burning, also called waste partitioning-transmutation, is an advanced method for radioactive waste management based on the idea of destroying the most toxic components in the waste. It consists of two steps: (1) selective removal of the most toxic radionuclides from high-level/spent fuel waste and (2) conversion of those radionuclides into less toxic radioactive materials and/or stable elements. Risk, as used in this report, is defined as the probability of a failure times its consequence. Actinide burning has two potential health and environmental impacts on waste management. Risks and the magnitude of high-consequence repository failure scenarios are decreased by inventory reduction of the long-term radioactivity in the repository. (What does not exist cannot create risk or uncertainty.) Risk may also be reduced by the changes in the waste characteristics, resulting from selection of waste forms after processing, that are superior to spent fuel and which lower the potential of transport of radionuclides from waste form to accessible environment. There are no negative health or environmental impacts to the repository from actinide burning; however, there may be such impacts elsewhere in the fuel cycle

Twenty-fifth water reactor safety information meeting: Proceedings. Volume 2: Human reliability analysis and human performance evaluation; Technical issues related to rulemakings; Risk-informed, performance-based initiatives; High burn-up fuel research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monteleone, S.

1998-03-01

This three-volume report contains papers presented at the conference. The papers are printed in the order of their presentation in each session and describe progress and results of programs in nuclear safety research conducted in this country and abroad. Foreign participation in the meeting included papers presented by researchers from France, Japan, Norway, and Russia. The titles of the papers and the names of the authors have been updated and may differ from those that appeared in the final program of the meeting. This volume contains the following: (1) human reliability analysis and human performance evaluation; (2) technical issues related to rulemakings; (3) risk-informed, performance-based initiatives; and (4) high burn-up fuel research

Studies in the dissolver off-gas system for a spent FBR fuel reprocessing plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heinrich, E.; Huefner, R.; Weirich, F.

1982-01-01

Investigations of possible modifications of the process steps of a dissolver off-gas (DOG) system for a spent FBR fuel reprocessing plant are reported. The following operations are discussed: iodine removal from the fuel solution; behaviour of NOsub(x) and iodine in nitric acid off-gas scrubbers at different temperatures and nitric acid concentrations; iodine desorption from the scrub acid; selective absorption of noble gases in refrigerant-12; cold traps. The combination of suitable procedures to produce a total DOG system is described. (U.K.)

Accurate reactivity void coefficient calculation for the fast spectrum reactor FBR-IME

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lima, Fabiano P.C.; Vellozo, Sergio de O.; Velozo, Marta J., E-mail: fabianopetruceli@outlook.com, E-mail: vellozo@cbpf.br, E-mail: martajann@gmail.com [Instituto Militar de Engenharia (IME), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Secao de Engenharia Militar

2017-07-01

This paper aims to present an accurate calculation of the void reactivity coefficient for the FBR-IME, a fast spectrum reactor in development at the Engineering Military Institute (IME). The main design peculiarity lies in using mixed oxide [MOX - PuO{sub 2} + U(natural uranium)O{sub 2}] as fuel core. For this task, SCALE system was used to calculate the reactivity for several voids distributions generated by bubbles in the sodium beyond its boiling point. The results show that although the void reactivity coefficient is positive and location dependent, they are offset by other feedback effects, resulting in a negative overall coefficient. (author)

Community integration after burn injuries.

Science.gov (United States)

Esselman, P C; Ptacek, J T; Kowalske, K; Cromes, G F; deLateur, B J; Engrav, L H

2001-01-01

Evaluation of community integration is a meaningful outcome criterion after major burn injury. The Community Integration Questionnaire (CIQ) was administered to 463 individuals with major burn injuries. The CIQ results in Total, Home Integration, Social Integration, and Productivity scores. The purposes of this study were to determine change in CIQ scores over time and what burn injury and demographic factors predict CIQ scores. The CIQ scores did not change significantly from 6 to 12 to 24 months postburn injury. Home integration scores were best predicted by sex and living situation; Social Integration scores by marital status; and Productivity scores by functional outcome, burn severity, age, and preburn work factors. The data demonstrate that individuals with burn injuries have significant difficulties with community integration due to burn and nonburn related factors. CIQ scores did not improve over time but improvement may have occurred before the initial 6-month postburn injury follow-up in this study.

Predicting gully rejuvenation after wildfire using remotely sensed burn severity data

Science.gov (United States)

Hyde, Kevin; Woods, Scott W.; Donahue, Jack

2007-05-01

The loss of surface vegetation and reduced infiltration caused by wildfires can trigger gully rejuvenation, resulting in damage to downstream aquatic resources and risk to human life and property. We developed a spatially explicit metric of burn severity — the Burn Severity Distribution Index (BSDI) — and tested its ability to predict post-fire gully rejuvenation in 1st and 2nd order basins burned in the 2000 Valley Complex fires in the Sapphire Mountains of western Montana. The BSDI was derived from burn severity data interpreted from Landsat 7 satellite imagery using the Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) method, and ranged from 0.0 for completely unburned basins to 4.0 for basins burned entirely at high severity. In July 2001 rainstorms with peak 30-minute intensities of up to 17 mm h - 1 triggered gully rejuvenation in 66 of the 171 basins examined. The frequency of gully rejuvenation was higher in basins with higher BSDI values, increasing from zero for basins with a BSDI less than 1.3 to 67% for basins with a BSDI greater than 3.0. Binary logistic regression indicated that BSDI was a more significant predictor of gully rejuvenation than basin morphometric variables. The absence of gully rejuvenation in several basins with a high BSDI was attributed to low gradient, dense riparian vegetation, or concentration of high burn severity at lower elevations in the basin. The presence of gully rejuvenation in several basins with a low BSDI was associated with false negative NBR classification errors in northwest aspects, and concentration of severe burn impacts in the drainage headslopes. BSDI is a useful metric for predicting gully rejuvenation after wildfire. The use of the BSDI in Burned Area Emergency Response team assessments could improve the planning, implementation, and monitoring of burned area recovery treatments.

Estimating NIRR-1 burn-up and core life time expectancy using the codes WIMS and CITATION

Science.gov (United States)

Yahaya, B.; Ahmed, Y. A.; Balogun, G. I.; Agbo, S. A.

The Nigeria Research Reactor-1 (NIRR-1) is a low power miniature neutron source reactor (MNSR) located at the Centre for Energy Research and Training, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Nigeria. The reactor went critical with initial core excess reactivity of 3.77 mk. The NIRR-1 cold excess reactivity measured at the time of commissioning was determined to be 4.97 mk, which is more than the licensed range of 3.5-4 mk. Hence some cadmium poison worth -1.2 mk was inserted into one of the inner irradiation sites which act as reactivity regulating device in order to reduce the core excess reactivity to 3.77 mk, which is within recommended licensed range of 3.5 mk and 4.0 mk. In this present study, the burn-up calculations of the NIRR-1 fuel and the estimation of the core life time expectancy after 10 years (the reactor core expected cycle) have been conducted using the codes WIMS and CITATION. The burn-up analyses carried out indicated that the excess reactivity of NIRR-1 follows a linear decreasing trend having 216 Effective Full Power Days (EFPD) operations. The reactivity worth of top beryllium shim data plates was calculated to be 19.072 mk. The result of depletion analysis for NIRR-1 core shows that (7.9947 ± 0.0008) g of U-235 was consumed for the period of 12 years of operating time. The production of the build-up of Pu-239 was found to be (0.0347 ± 0.0043) g. The core life time estimated in this research was found to be 30.33 years. This is in good agreement with the literature

Importance of transboundary transport of biomass burning emissions to regional air quality in Southeast Asia during a high fire event

Science.gov (United States)

Aouizerats, B.; van der Werf, G. R.; Balasubramanian, R.; Betha, R.

2015-01-01

Smoke from biomass and peat burning has a notable impact on ambient air quality and climate in the Southeast Asia (SEA) region. We modeled a large fire-induced haze episode in 2006 stemming mostly from Indonesia using the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with chemistry (WRF-Chem). We focused on the evolution of the fire plume composition and its interaction with the urbanized area of the city state of Singapore, and on comparisons of modeled and measured aerosol and carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations. Two simulations were run with WRF-Chem using the complex volatility basis set (VBS) scheme to reproduce primary and secondary aerosol evolution and concentration. The first simulation referred to as WRF-FIRE included anthropogenic, biogenic and biomass burning emissions from the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED3) while the second simulation referred to as WRF-NOFIRE was run without emissions from biomass burning. To test model performance, we used three independent data sets for comparison including airborne measurements of particulate matter (PM) with a diameter of 10 μm or less (PM10) in Singapore, CO measurements in Sumatra, and aerosol optical depth (AOD) column observations from four satellite-based sensors. We found reasonable agreement between the model runs and both ground-based measurements of CO and PM10. The comparison with AOD was less favorable and indicated the model underestimated AOD, although the degree of mismatch varied between different satellite data sets. During our study period, forest and peat fires in Sumatra were the main cause of enhanced aerosol concentrations from regional transport over Singapore. Analysis of the biomass burning plume showed high concentrations of primary organic aerosols (POA) with values up to 600 μg m-3 over the fire locations. The concentration of POA remained quite stable within the plume between the main burning region and Singapore while the secondary organic aerosol (SOA) concentration

Parameterized representation of macroscopic cross section in the PWR fuel element considering burn-up cycles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belo, Thiago F.; Fiel, Joao Claudio B.

2015-01-01

Nuclear reactor core analysis involves neutronic modeling and the calculations require problem dependent nuclear data generated with few neutron energy groups, as for instance the neutron cross sections. The methods used to obtain these problem-dependent cross sections, in the reactor calculations, generally uses nuclear computer codes that require a large processing time and computational memory, making the process computationally very expensive. Presently, analysis of the macroscopic cross section, as a function of nuclear parameters, has shown a very distinct behavior that cannot be represented by simply using linear interpolation. Indeed, a polynomial representation is more adequate for the data parameterization. To provide the cross sections of rapidly and without the dependence of complex systems calculations, this work developed a set of parameterized cross sections, based on the Tchebychev polynomials, by fitting the cross sections as a function of nuclear parameters, which include fuel temperature, moderator temperature and density, soluble boron concentration, uranium enrichment, and the burn-up. In this study is evaluated the problem-dependent about fission, scattering, total, nu-fission, capture, transport and absorption cross sections for a typical PWR fuel element reactor, considering burn-up cycle. The analysis was carried out with the SCALE 6.1 code package. The results of comparison with direct calculations with the SCALE code system and also the test using project parameters, such as the temperature coefficient of reactivity and fast fission factor, show excellent agreements. The differences between the cross-section parameterization methodology and the direct calculations based on the SCALE code system are less than 0.03 percent. (author)

Parameterized representation of macroscopic cross section in the PWR fuel element considering burn-up cycles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Belo, Thiago F.; Fiel, Joao Claudio B., E-mail: thiagofbelo@hotmail.com [Instituto Militar de Engenharia (IME), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2015-07-01

Nuclear reactor core analysis involves neutronic modeling and the calculations require problem dependent nuclear data generated with few neutron energy groups, as for instance the neutron cross sections. The methods used to obtain these problem-dependent cross sections, in the reactor calculations, generally uses nuclear computer codes that require a large processing time and computational memory, making the process computationally very expensive. Presently, analysis of the macroscopic cross section, as a function of nuclear parameters, has shown a very distinct behavior that cannot be represented by simply using linear interpolation. Indeed, a polynomial representation is more adequate for the data parameterization. To provide the cross sections of rapidly and without the dependence of complex systems calculations, this work developed a set of parameterized cross sections, based on the Tchebychev polynomials, by fitting the cross sections as a function of nuclear parameters, which include fuel temperature, moderator temperature and density, soluble boron concentration, uranium enrichment, and the burn-up. In this study is evaluated the problem-dependent about fission, scattering, total, nu-fission, capture, transport and absorption cross sections for a typical PWR fuel element reactor, considering burn-up cycle. The analysis was carried out with the SCALE 6.1 code package. The results of comparison with direct calculations with the SCALE code system and also the test using project parameters, such as the temperature coefficient of reactivity and fast fission factor, show excellent agreements. The differences between the cross-section parameterization methodology and the direct calculations based on the SCALE code system are less than 0.03 percent. (author)

High-speed three-dimensional plasma temperature determination of axially symmetric free-burning arcs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bachmann, B; Ekkert, K; Bachmann, J-P; Marques, J-L; Schein, J; Kozakov, R; Gött, G; Schöpp, H; Uhrlandt, D

2013-01-01

In this paper we introduce an experimental technique that allows for high-speed, three-dimensional determination of electron density and temperature in axially symmetric free-burning arcs. Optical filters with narrow spectral bands of 487.5–488.5 nm and 689–699 nm are utilized to gain two-dimensional spectral information of a free-burning argon tungsten inert gas arc. A setup of mirrors allows one to image identical arc sections of the two spectral bands onto a single camera chip. Two-different Abel inversion algorithms have been developed to reconstruct the original radial distribution of emission coefficients detected with each spectral window and to confirm the results. With the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium we calculate emission coefficients as a function of temperature by application of the Saha equation, the ideal gas law, the quasineutral gas condition and the NIST compilation of spectral lines. Ratios of calculated emission coefficients are compared with measured ones yielding local plasma temperatures. In the case of axial symmetry the three-dimensional plasma temperature distributions have been determined at dc currents of 100, 125, 150 and 200 A yielding temperatures up to 20000 K in the hot cathode region. These measurements have been validated by four different techniques utilizing a high-resolution spectrometer at different positions in the plasma. Plasma temperatures show good agreement throughout the different methods. Additionally spatially resolved transient plasma temperatures have been measured of a dc pulsed process employing a high-speed frame rate of 33000 frames per second showing the modulation of the arc isothermals with time and providing information about the sensitivity of the experimental approach. (paper)

Airborne bacterial dispersal during and after dressing and bed changes on burns patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Bache, Sarah E; Maclean, Michelle; Gettinby, George; Anderson, John G; MacGregor, Scott J; Taggart, Ian

2015-02-01

It is acknowledged that activities such as dressing changes and bed sheet changes are high-risk events; creating surges in levels of airborne bacteria. Burns patients are particularly high dispersers of pathogens; due to their large, often contaminated, wound areas. Prevention of nosocomial cross-contamination is therefore one of the major challenges faced by the burns team. In order to assess the contribution of airborne spread of bacteria, air samples were taken repeatedly throughout and following these events, to quantify levels of airborne bacteria. Air samples were taken at 3-min intervals before, during and after a dressing and bed change on a burns patient using a sieve impaction method. Following incubation, bacterial colonies were enumerated to calculate bacterial colony forming units per m(3) (cfu/m(3)) at each time point. Statistical analysis was performed, whereby the period before the high-risk event took place acted as a control period. The periods during and after the dressing and bed sheet changes were examined for significant differences in airborne bacterial levels relative to the control period. The study was carried out four times, on three patients with burns between 35% total burn surface area (TBSA) and 51% TBSA. There were significant increases in airborne bacteria levels, regardless of whether the dressing change or bed sheet change took place first. Of particular note, is the finding that significantly high levels (up to 2614cfu/m(3)) of airborne bacteria were shown to persist for up to approximately 1h after these activities ended. This is the most accurate picture to date of the rapidly changing levels of airborne bacteria within the room of a burns patient undergoing a dressing change and bed change. The novel demonstration of a significant increase in the airborne bacterial load during these events has implications for infection control on burns units. Furthermore, as these increased levels remained for approximately 1h afterwards

Clean up fly ash from coal burning plants by new isolated fungi Fusarium oxysporum and Penicillium glabrum.

Science.gov (United States)

Ertit Taştan, Burcu

2017-09-15

In Turkey approximately 45 million tons of coals are burned in a year and 19.3 million tons of fly ash have emerged. The bioremediation of heavy metals or different elements from fly ash makes them bio-available. However, in previous studies, requiring of long operational time and failing to show tolerance to high pulp densities of fly ash of selected fungal species makes them impractical. In this work, bioremediation of fly ash by new isolated fungi Fusarium oxysporum and Penicillium glabrum were investigated in one step and two step bioremediation process. Ca, Si, Fe and S were found to be considerable amount in studied fly ashes by ED-XRF element analysis. The bioremediation yields of Mo (100%), S (64.36%) Ni (50%) and Cu (33.33%) by F. oxysporum were high. The remediated elements by P. glabrum in fly ash were Mo (100%), S (57.43%), Ni (25%), Si (24.66%), V (12.5%), Ti (5%) and Sr (3.2%). The isolation of high fly ash resistant fungi and reduction of the bioremediation time will allow the practical applications of the bioremediation technology when it is scaled up. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Start-up of commercial high level waste vitrification facilities at La Hague

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sombret, C.; Jouan, A.; Fournier, W.; Alexandre, D.; Leroy, L.

1991-01-01

The paper describes industial experience gained in France for vitrification of fission products generated by spent fuel reprocessing. The continuous vitrification process developed by CEA, SGN and COGEMA is outlined and Marcoule Vitrification Facility (AVM), with output results since start-up of hot operation in June 1978, briefly presented. Vitrification of high-level liquid waste has now entered an industrial phase at La Hague with R7 and T7 facilities. R7 and T7 have each been designed to process FP solutions generated by reprocessing LWR fuel with an initial enrichment of 3.5% and a discharge burn-up of 33,000 MWd/t. R7 active operations began on June, 1989. This facility is now vitrifying the backlog of fission products resulting from the existing UP2 reprocessing plant, which is being currently extended. Scheduled to start early in 1992, T7 will vitrify the fission products, dissolution fines and sodium-rich solutions issuing from UP3 plant

Material attractiveness of plutonium composition on doping minor actinide of large FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Permana, Sidik; Suzuki, Mitsutoshi; Kuno, Yusuke

2011-01-01

Material attractiveness analysis on isotopic plutonium compositions of fast breeder reactors (FBR) has been investigated based on figure of merit (FOM) formulas as key parameters as well as decay heat (DH) and spontaneous fission neutron (SFN) compositions. Increasing minor actinide (MA) doping gives the significant effect to increase Pu-238 composition. However, the compositions of Pu-240 and Pu-242 become less with increasing MA doping. DH and SFN compositions in the core regions similar to the DH and SFN compositions of MOX-grade. Material attractiveness based on FOM1 formula shows all isotopic plutonium compositions in the blanket regions as well as in the core regions are categorized as high attractive material. Adopted FOM2 formula can distinguishes the material attractiveness levels which show the plutonium compositions in blanket regions as high attractiveness level and its composition in the core regions as low level of material attractiveness. MA doping is effective to reduce the material attractiveness level of blanket regions from high to medium and it requires much more MA doping rate to achieve low level of attractiveness (FOM<1) based on adopted FOM1 formula. Low material attractiveness level can be obtained by 4 % or more doping MA based on adopted FOM2 formula which considers not only DH composition effect, but also SFN composition effect that gives relatively higher contribution to material barrier of plutonium isotopes. (author)

Study of development of non-destructive method for determining FGR from high burned PWR type fuel rod

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yanagisawa, Kazuaki; Miyanishi, Hideyuki; Kitagawa, Isamu; Iida, Shozo; Ito, Tadaharu; Amano, Hidetoshi.

1991-11-01

Experimental study was made to evaluate the FGR (Fission Product Gas Release) from high burned PWR type fuel rods by means of non-destructive method through measurement of the gamma activity of 85 Kr isotope which was accumulated in the fuel top plenum. Experimental result shows that it is possible to know the amounts of FGR at fuel plenum by the equations given in the followings. FGR = 0.28C/V f or FGR = 0.07C where, FGR (%) is the amounts of Xe and Kr released from UO 2 fuel, C (counts/h) the radioactivity of 85 Kr at plenum of the tested fuel rod and V f (ml) the plenum volume of the tested fuel rod, respectively. The present study was made by using 14 x 14 PWR type fuel rods preirradiated up to the burn-up of 42.1 MWd/kgU, followed by the pulse irradiation at Nuclear Safety Research Reactor of Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI). The FGR of the tested segmented fuel rods were measured by puncturing and found to range from 0.6% to 12% according to the magnitude of the deposited energy given by pulse. Estimated experimental error bands against the above equations were within plus minus 30%. (author)

Modification of UO2 grain re-crystallization temperature in function of burn-up as a base for Vitanza experimental curve reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szuta, M.; Dąbrowski, L.

2013-01-01

Crossing the experimental critical fuel temperature dependent on burn-up, an onset of fission gas burst release is observed. This observed phenomena can be explained by assumption that the fission gas immobilization in the uranium dioxide irradiated to a fluency of greater than 10 19 fissions/cm 3 is mainly due to radiation induced chemical activity. Application of the “ab initio” method show that the bond energy of Xenon and Krypton is equal to –1.23 eV, and –3.42 eV respectively. Assuming further that the gas chemically bound can be released mainly in the process of re-crystallization and modifying the differential equation of Ainscough of grain growth by including the burn-up dependence and the experimental data of limiting grain size in function of the fuel temperature for the un-irradiated and irradiated fuel we can re-construct the experimental curve of Vitanza. (authors)

Improvement of computer programs 'BAMBOO' and 'ASFRE-IV' for coupling analysis of deformation and thermal-hydraulics in a high burn-up fuel subassembly of fast reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uwaba, Tomoyuki; Ohshima, Hiroyuki; Imai, Yasutomo

2003-04-01

A simulation system of a deformed fuel subassembly is being developed for the structure integrity of high burn-up wire-spacer-type fuel subassemblies of sodium-cooled fast breeder reactors. This report describes a computer program improvement work for coupling analyses of deformation and thermal-hydraulics in a fuel subassembly as part of the simulation system development. In this work, a function of data conversion as an interface between a bundle deformation analysis program BAMBOO and a thermal hydraulic analysis program ASFRE-IV was incorporated to each program. BAMBOO was improved to accept the coolant temperature data from ASFRE-IV and to offer bundle deformation data to ASFRE-IV. ASFRE-IV was also improved to offer the coolant temperature data to BAMBOO and to obtain the bundle deformation data from BAMBOO. Improved BAMBOO and ASFRE-IV were applied to an analysis of 169-pin bundle for the program verification. It was confirmed that the coupling analysis gave the physically reasonable results on both deformation and thermal hydraulic behaviors in the fuel subassembly. (author)

Reactor core for FBR type reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujita, Tomoko; Watanabe, Hisao; Kasai, Shigeo; Yokoyama, Tsugio; Matsumoto, Hiroshi.

1996-01-01

In a gas-sealed assembly for a FBR type reactor, two or more kinds of assemblies having different eigen frequency and a structure for suppressing oscillation of liquid surface are disposed in a reactor core. Coolant introduction channels for introducing coolants from inside and outside are disposed in the inside of structural members of an upper shielding member to form a shielding member-cooling structure in the reactor core. A structure for promoting heat conduction between a sealed gas in the assembly and coolants at the inner side or the outside of the assembly is disposed in the reactor core. A material which generates heat by neutron irradiation is disposed in the assembly to heat the sealed gases positively by radiation heat from the heat generation member also upon occurrence of power elevation-type event to cause temperature expansion. Namely, the coolants flown out from or into the gas sealed-assemblies cause differential fluctuation on the liquid surface, and the change of the capacity of a gas region is also different on every gas-sealed assemblies thereby enabling to suppress fluctuation of the reactor power. Pressure loss is increased by a baffle plate or the like to lower the liquid surface of the sodium coolants or decrease the elevating speed thereof thereby suppressing fluctuation of the reactor power. (N.H.)

F.B.R. Core mock-up RAPSODIE - II - numerical models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brochard, D.; Hammami, L.; Gantenbein, F.

1990-01-01

To study the behaviour of LMFBR cores excited by a seism, tests have been performed on the RAPSODIE core mock-up. The aim of this paper is to present the numerical models used to interprete these tests and the comparisons between calculations and experimental results

A fuel performance analysis for a 450 MWth deep burn-high temperature reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Young Min; Jo, Chang Keun; Jun, Ji Su; Cho, Moon Sung; Venneri, Francesco

2011-01-01

Highlights: → We have checked, through a fuel performance analysis, if a 450 MW th high temperature reactor was safe for the deep burn of a TRU fuel. → During a core heat-up event, the fuel temperature was below 1600 deg. C and the maximum gas pressure in the void of coated fuel particle was about 90 MPa. → At elevated temperatures of the accident event, the failure fraction of coated fuel particles resulted from the mechanical failure and the thermal decomposition of the SiC barrier was 3.30 x 10 -3 . - Abstract: A performance analysis for a 450 MW th deep burn-high temperature reactor (DB-HTR) fuel was performed using COPA, a fuel performance analysis code of Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). The code computes gas pressure buildup in the void volume of a tri-isotropic coated fuel particle (TRISO), temperature distribution in a DB-HTR fuel, thermo-mechanical stress in a coated fuel particle (CFP), failure fractions of a batch of CFPs, and fission product (FP) releases into the coolant. The 350 μm DB-HTR kernel is composed of 30% UO 2 + 70% (5% NpO 2 + 95% PuO 1.8 ) mixed with 0.6 moles of silicon carbide (SiC) per mole of heavy metal. The DB-HTR is operated at the constant temperature and power of 858 deg. C and 39.02 mW per CFP for 1395 effective full power days (EFPD) and is subjected to a core heat-up event for 250 h during which the maximum coolant temperature reaches 1548.70 deg. C. Within the normal operating temperature, the fuel showed good thermal and mechanical integrity. At elevated temperatures of the accident event, the failure fraction of CFPs resulted from the mechanical failure (MF) and the thermal decomposition (TD) of the SiC barrier is 3.30 x 10 -3 .

Epidemiology, etiology and outcomes of burn patients in a Referral Burn Hospital, Tehran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Mehdi Soltan Dallal

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Background: Burns and its complications are regarded as a major problem in the society. Skin injuries resulted from ultraviolet radiation, radioactivity, electricity or chemicals as well as respiratory damage from smoke inhalation are considered burns. This study aimed to determine the epidemiology and outcome of burn patients admitted to Motahari Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Methods: Two hundred patients with second-degree burns admitted to Motahari Referral Center of Burn in Tehran, Iran. They were studied during a period of 12 months from May 2012 to May 2013. During the first week of treatment swabs were collected from the burn wounds after cleaning the site with sterile normal saline. Samples were inoculated in blood agar and McConkey agar, then incubation at 37 C for 48 hours. Identification was carried out according to standard conventional biochemical tests. Treatment continued up to epithelial formation and wound healing. Results of microbial culture for each patient was recorded. Healing time of the burn wounds in patients was recorded in log books. Chi-square test and SPSS Software v.19 (IBM, NY, USA were used for data analysis. Results: Our findings indicate that the most causes of burns are hot liquids in 57% of cases and flammable liquid in 21% of cases. The most cases of burns were found to be in the range of 21 to 30 percent with 17.5% and 7% in male and female respectively. Gram-negative bacteria were dominated in 85.7% and among them pseudomonas spp. with 37.5% were the most common cause of infected burns, followed by Enterobacter, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter and Klebsiella spp. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the most cause of burns in both sex is hot liquid. Men were more expose to burn than women and this might be due to the fact that men are involved in more dangerous jobs than female. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most common organism encountered in burn infection.

Leak detector for a steam generator in FBR type reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyaji, Nobuyoshi.

1979-01-01

Purpose: To facilitate maintenance for liquid leak detectors such as exchange of nickel membrane sensors during operation in a sodium-cooled fbr type reactor. Constitution: A pipeway capable of supplying a cover gas such as argon into the cylinder of a hydrogen detector containing a nickel membrane sensor is provided in a liquid leak detector constituting a part of a by-pass loop. The pipeway is also adapted to be evacuated. A pipeway and a small sodium tank for drain use are provided on the side of the by-pass loop near valves. Then, after closing the inlet and outlet valves to disconnect the by-pass loop from the sodium main pipeway, the cover gas is supplied to drive liquid sodium to the drain tank. After the drain of the liquid sodium, the sensor can be replaced. (Ikeda, J.)

The epidemology of burn injuries of children and the importance of modern burn centre

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janez Mohar

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Burns represent the major percentage of injuries to children. Their incidence level, injury mechanisms and treatment often differ from the burn injuries of adults.Methods: From the medical records of the Department for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery of the Ljubljana Medical Centre we gathered, analyzed and compared the burn injuries of children up to the age of 15 who were admitted to hospital in the year 2003 to those who were treated as outpatients. Moreover, we compared the burn injuries of hospitalized children at the same department in the years 2003, 1993 and 1983 respectively. We compared their gender, age, the total body surface area of burns, the depth of burns, frequency of the mechanisms of injury, the affected parts of the body and the length and mode of treatment. Finally, we compared our results with the results of similar studies from other burn centres.Results: The number of children treated for burns at the department has declined. In all the years studied, the injured children were younger than 5 and the majority of them were boys. The number of children admitted with substantial total body surface areas of burns was also declining. However, there was an increase in the number of children admitted with burns less than 10 % of their total body surface area. The number of burns treated by surgery slightly increased over the years studied. There was a similar sex and age distribution among the hospitalized children and those treated as outpatients.Conclusions: The number of children hospitalized with burns is in decline. In the years 1983, 1993 and 2003, there was no significant difference in the percentage of children who were treated surgically and those who were treated conservatively (P = 0.247. The Burn Centre at the Department for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery of the Ljubljana Medical Centre which together with the Burn Department of the Maribor General Hospital covers the population of two million

New Scientific Aspects of the "Burning Candle" Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Massalha, Taha

2016-01-01

The "burning candle" experiment is used in middle school education programs to prove that air contains a component that is essential to burning (i.e., oxygen). The accepted interpretation taught by teachers in middle school is this: when burning occurs, oxygen is used up, creating an underpressure that causes a rise in water level inside…

The Newfoundland in-situ Oil Burn Experiment - NOBE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fingas, M.; Li, K.; Ackerman, F.; Bissonnette, M.C.; Lambert, P.; Halley, G.; Nelson, R.; Belanger, J.; Pare, J.R.P.; Campagna, P.R.

1993-01-01

A group of over 25 Canadian and US agencies conducted a major offshore oil spill burn near Newfoundland. Over 20 vesels, 7 aircraft, and 230 people were involved in this test, the largest of its kind ever conducted. The burn involved release of two oil spills of ca 50 tons each into a towed fireproof boom. Each burn lasted over an hour. The burn plume was sampled using remote-controlled helicopters and a blimp, and air emissions were monitored downwind from remote controlled boats which also took water samples and temperatures. Over 200 sensors or samplers were used; these will yield data on over 2,000 parameters or substances. Preliminary results are reported. Burning occurred outside the boom due to some initial oil splashover, but this did not result in sheening or significant oil loss. The scaling of burns from test tanks to on-sea burns did not always hold true. Quantitative analytical data showed that emissions from this in-situ fire were less than expected; all measured compounds and parameters were below health concern levels beyond ca 150 m from the fire and very little was detected beyond 500 m. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) were found to be lower in the soot than in the starting oil and were consumed by the fire to a large degree. Particulates were found to be of concern only up to 150 m downwind at sea level. Combustion gases did not reach levels of concern and volatile organics were in high concentrations but less than those emitted from a non-burning spill. No compounds of concern could be detected in the water samples. Burn residue samples had lower PAH levels than the starting oil. Generally, burning oil spills at sea was found to be feasible and practical. 2 refs., 9 figs., 3 tabs

Comparison between TRU burning reactors and commercial fast reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujimura, Koji; Sanda, Toshio; Ogawa, Takashi

2001-03-01

fueled large fast reactor generating the same output. But it is merit that this concept is very similar to the conventional fast reactor core concepts. In this section, the MAs composition from the FBR's multi recycle is also used and the dependency of transmutation and nuclear characteristics on the MAs composition were evaluated. It was clarified that MA transmutation amount and transmutation rate in the TRU burning large reactor core being loaded the MAs from the FBRs multi recycle are smaller than those in the core being loaded the MAs from the spent fuel of light water reactor. (author)

Computational and experimental analysis of causes for local deformation of research reactor U-Mo fuel pin claddings in case of high burn-ups

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popov, V.V.; Khmelevsky, M.Ya.; Lukichev, V.A.; Golosov, O.A.

2005-01-01

Post-reactor investigations of (U-Mo) fuel pins irradiated in the IVV-2M reactor have allowed to determine: the change in a fuel pin volume; the dimensions and the kind of the local deformation of fuel pin claddings; the amount of gases released under the cladding from the fuel composition, the thickness and appearance of the interaction layer of between the (U-Mo) particles and aluminium as a matrix material. The computational analysis of the stressed-strained state of fuel pins has shown that the major contribution to the increase of the fuel pin volume is made by the fuel swelling caused by the solid products of fission being formed in the process of operation. The emergence of the (U-Mo) fuel-aluminium matrix interaction layers around the (U-Mo) particles results in formation and evolution of lamination cavities inside the fuel composition under the joint action of the pressure of process gases and gaseous fission products. In case of high burn-up a local bulge of a fuel pin cladding is being formed in the fuel lamination area caused by the pressure of gases in the presence of creep in the fuel pin cladding material. The computational results relating to the local strain in a research reactor (U-Mo) fuel pin are in a good accordance with the results of the post-reactor investigations. (author)

F.B.R. Core mock-up RAPSODIE- I: Experimental analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brochard, D.; Buland, P.; Gantenbein, F.

1990-01-01

The main phenomena which influence the LMFBR core response to a seismic excitation are the fluid structure interaction and the impacts between subassemblies. To study the core behaviour, seismic tests have been performed on the core mock-up RAPSODIE with or without fluid and restraint ring and for different levels of excitation. This paper summarizes the results of these tests

Improving burn care and preventing burns by establishing a burn database in Ukraine.

Science.gov (United States)

Fuzaylov, Gennadiy; Murthy, Sushila; Dunaev, Alexander; Savchyn, Vasyl; Knittel, Justin; Zabolotina, Olga; Dylewski, Maggie L; Driscoll, Daniel N

2014-08-01

Burns are a challenge for trauma care and a contribution to the surgical burden. The former Soviet republic of Ukraine has a foundation for burn care; however data concerning burns in Ukraine has historically been scant. The objective of this paper was to compare a new burn database to identify problems and implement improvements in burn care and prevention in this country. Retrospective analyses of demographic and clinical data of burn patients including Tukey's post hoc test, analysis of variance, and chi square analyses, and Fisher's exact test were used. Data were compared to the American Burn Association (ABA) burn repository. This study included 1752 thermally injured patients treated in 20 hospitals including Specialized Burn Unit in Municipal Hospital #8 Lviv, Lviv province in Ukraine. Scald burns were the primary etiology of burns injuries (70%) and burns were more common among children less than five years of age (34%). Length of stay, mechanical ventilation use, infection rates, and morbidity increased with greater burn size. Mortality was significantly related to burn size, inhalation injury, age, and length of stay. Wound infections were associated with burn size and older age. Compared to ABA data, Ukrainian patients had double the length of stay and a higher rate of wound infections (16% vs. 2.4%). We created one of the first burn databases from a region of the former Soviet Union in an effort to bring attention to burn injury and improve burn care. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

Development of 3-D FBR heterogeneous core calculation method based on characteristics method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeda, Toshikazu; Maruyama, Manabu; Hamada, Yuzuru; Nishi, Hiroshi; Ishibashi, Junichi; Kitano, Akihiro

2002-01-01

A new 3-D transport calculation method taking into account the heterogeneity of fuel assemblies has been developed by combining the characteristics method and the nodal transport method. In the axial direction the nodal transport method is applied, and the characteristics method is applied to take into account the radial heterogeneity of fuel assemblies. The numerical calculations have been performed to verify 2-D radial calculations of FBR assemblies and partial core calculations. Results are compared with the reference Monte-Carlo calculations. A good agreement has been achieved. It is shown that the present method has an advantage in calculating reaction rates in a small region

IFR starts to burn up weapons-grade material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1994-01-01

With funding from different parts of the federal government, the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) project has survived into fiscal year 1994 and is now embarking on a demonstration of how this type of liquid-metal-cooled reactor (LMR) can be used to burn fuel derived from weapons-grade plutonium. This month, an assembly made from weapons-grade material is to be loaded into Experimental Breeder Reactor-II in Idaho, which is serving as the prototype for the IFR concept. Although FY 1994 work is being funded by the DOE, this particular examination of plutonium burnup is backed by the Department of Defense

Fusion core start-up, ignition, and burn simulations of reversed-field pinch (RFP) reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chu, Y.Y.

1988-01-01

A transient reactor simulation model is developed to investigate and simulate the start-up, ignition, and burn of a reversed-field pinch reactor. The simulation is based upon a spatially averaged plasma balance model with field profiles obtained from MHD quasi-equilibrium analysis. Alpha particle heating is estimated from Fokker-Planck calculations. The instantaneous plasma current is derived from a self-consistent circuit analysis for plasma/coil/eddy current interactions. The simulation code is applied to the TITAN RFP reactor design which features a compact, high-power-density reversed-field pinch fusion system. A contour analysis is performed using the steady-state global plasma balance. The results are presented with contours of constant plasma current. A saddle point is identified in the contour plot which determined the minimum value of plasma current required to achieve ignition. In the simulations of the TITAN RFP reactor, the OH-driven super-conducting EF coils are found to deviate from the required equilibrium values as the induced plasma current increases. A set of basic results from the simulation of TITAN RFP reactor yield a picture of RFP plasma operation in a reactor. Investigations of eddy currents are also presented and have very important in reactor design

Development of the tool for generating ORIGEN2 library based on JENDL-3.2 for FBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ohkawachi, Yasushi; Fukushima, Manabu

1999-05-01

ORIGEN2 is one of the most widely-used burnup analysis code in the world. This code has one-grouped cross section libraries compiled for various types of reactors. However, these libraries have some problems. One is that these libraries were developed from old nuclear data libraries (ENDF/B-IV,V) and the other is that core and fuel designs from which these libraries are generated do not match the current analysis. In order to solve the problems, analysis tool is developed for generating ORIGEN2 library from JENDL-3.2 considering multi-energy neutron spectrum. And eight new libraries are prepared using this tool for analysis of sodium-cooled FBR. These new libraries are prepared for eight kinds of cores in total. Seven of them are made by changing core size (small core - large core), fuel type (oxide, nitride, metal) and Pu vector as a parameter. The eighth one is a Pu burner core. Burnup calculation using both new and original libraries, shows large difference in buildup or depletion numbers of nuclides among the libraries. It is estimated that the analysis result is greatly influenced by the neutron spectrum which is used in collapse of cross section. By using this tool or new libraries, it seems to improve evaluation accuracy of buildup or depletion numbers of nuclides in transmutation research on FBR fuel cycle. (author)

Modeling of the solar radiative impact of biomass burning aerosols during the Dust and Biomass-burning Experiment (DABEX)

Science.gov (United States)

Myhre, G.; Hoyle, C. R.; Berglen, T. F.; Johnson, B. T.; Haywood, J. M.

2008-12-01

The radiative forcing associated with biomass burning aerosols has been calculated over West Africa using a chemical transport model. The model simulations focus on the period of January˜February 2006 during the Dust and Biomass-burning Experiment (DABEX). All of the main aerosol components for this region are modeled including mineral dust, biomass burning (BB) aerosols, secondary organic carbon associated with BB emissions, and carbonaceous particles from the use of fossil fuel and biofuel. The optical properties of the BB aerosol are specified using aircraft data from DABEX. The modeled aerosol optical depth (AOD) is within 15-20% of data from the few available Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) measurement stations. However, the model predicts very high AOD over central Africa, which disagrees somewhat with satellite retrieved AOD from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR). This indicates that BB emissions may be too high in central Africa or that very high AOD may be incorrectly screened out of the satellite data. The aerosol single scattering albedo increases with wavelength in our model and in AERONET retrievals, which contrasts with results from a previous biomass burning aerosol campaign. The model gives a strong negative radiative forcing of the BB aerosols at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) in clear-sky conditions over most of the domain, except over the Saharan desert where surface albedos are high. The all-sky TOA radiative forcing is quite inhomogeneous with values varying from -10 to 10 W m-2. The regional mean TOA radiative forcing is close to zero for the all-sky calculation and around -1.5 W m-2 for the clear-sky calculation. Sensitivity simulations indicate a positive regional mean TOA radiative forcing of up to 3 W m-2.

Sun burn incidence and knowledge of greek elementary and high school children about sun protection.

Science.gov (United States)

Saridi, Maria Ioannis; Toska, Aikaterini George; Rekleiti, Maria Dimitrios; Tsironi, Maria; Geitona, Maria; Souliotis, Kyriakos

2015-01-01

Overexposure to sun radiation and particularly its accumulation during childhood and adolescence is a significant risk factor for skin cancer development. The sun burn is particularly important. To estimate sun burn incidence in young pupils in a coastal area of Greece. Two surveys were conducted in a school population in the same district in Greece, over different periods of time, in young people 9 to 18 years old (n=2 977). Anonymous questionnaires were completed. Levels of significance were two- tailed and statistical significance was set at p=0.05. SPSS 17.0 software was used for statistical analysis. From the individual characteristics of the participants it was shown that the majority of them had dark hair and fair skin, whereas a significant percentage reported the existence of moles on face and their body (83.4% vs 68.1%). The sun burn incidence was high in adolescents and the younger pupils (41.9% vs 55.6%). The younger aged children who were living in an urban area had significantly higher rates of sun burn than those living in semi-urban areas (33.8% vs 24.8%, p=0.020). As far as the knowledge of pupils about the risks of sun radiation it was shown that the elementary school pupils had better knowledge than those at high school. Finally, those with better knowledge had the fewer sun burns (Mean 2.83 SD 0.87, pknowledge to the decrease of sun burn incidence is important as long as this is continuous. Therefore, the education should concern not only children but also teachers and parents in the context of continuous and systematic programs of health education.

Burning of forest materials under late Paleozoic high atmospheric oxygen levels

Science.gov (United States)

Richard A., Jr. Wildman; Leo J. Hickey; Matthew B. Dickinson; Robert A. Berner; Jennifer M. Robinson; Michael Dietrich; Robert H. Essenhigh; Craig B. Wildman

2004-01-01

Theoretical models suggest that atmospheric oxygen reached concentrations as high as 35% O2 during the past 550 m.y. Previous burning experiments using strips of paper have challenged this idea, concluding that ancient wildfires would have decimated plant life if O2 significantly exceeded its present level of 21%. New...

High-fidelity plasma codes for burn physics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cooley, James [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Graziani, Frank [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Marinak, Marty [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Murillo, Michael [Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States)

2016-10-19

Accurate predictions of equation of state (EOS), ionic and electronic transport properties are of critical importance for high-energy-density plasma science. Transport coefficients inform radiation-hydrodynamic codes and impact diagnostic interpretation, which in turn impacts our understanding of the development of instabilities, the overall energy balance of burning plasmas, and the efficacy of self-heating from charged-particle stopping. Important processes include thermal and electrical conduction, electron-ion coupling, inter-diffusion, ion viscosity, and charged particle stopping. However, uncertainties in these coefficients are not well established. Fundamental plasma science codes, also called high-fidelity plasma codes, are a relatively recent computational tool that augments both experimental data and theoretical foundations of transport coefficients. This paper addresses the current status of HFPC codes and their future development, and the potential impact they play in improving the predictive capability of the multi-physics hydrodynamic codes used in HED design.

Twenty-fifth water reactor safety information meeting: Proceedings. Volume 2: Human reliability analysis and human performance evaluation; Technical issues related to rulemakings; Risk-informed, performance-based initiatives; High burn-up fuel research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Monteleone, S. [comp.] [Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (United States)

1998-03-01

This three-volume report contains papers presented at the conference. The papers are printed in the order of their presentation in each session and describe progress and results of programs in nuclear safety research conducted in this country and abroad. Foreign participation in the meeting included papers presented by researchers from France, Japan, Norway, and Russia. The titles of the papers and the names of the authors have been updated and may differ from those that appeared in the final program of the meeting. This volume contains the following: (1) human reliability analysis and human performance evaluation; (2) technical issues related to rulemakings; (3) risk-informed, performance-based initiatives; and (4) high burn-up fuel research. Selected papers have been indexed separately for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology Database.

Aluminum and aluminum/silicon coatings on ferritic steels by CVD-FBR technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perez, F.J.; Hierro, M.P.; Trilleros, J.A.; Carpintero, M.C.; Sanchez, L.; Bolivar, F.J.

2006-01-01

The use of chemical vapor deposition by fluidized bed reactors (CVD-FBR) offers some advantages in comparison to other coating techniques such as pack cementation, because it allows coating deposition at lower temperatures than pack cementation and at atmospheric pressure without affecting the mechanical properties of material due to heat treatments of the bulk during coating process. Aluminum and aluminum/silicon coatings have been obtained on two different ferritics steels (P-91 and P-92). The coatings were analyzed using several techniques like SEM/EDX and XRD. The results indicated that both coatings were form by Fe 2 Al 5 intermetallic compound, and in the co-deposition the Si was incorporated to the Fe 2 Al 5 structure in small amounts

Documentation for WIMSD-formatted libraries based on ENDF/B-VII.1 evaluated nuclear data files with extended actinide burn-up chains and cross section data up to 2000 K for fuel materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

López Aldama, Daniel

2014-11-01

In the frame of WIMS Library Update Project the WIMSD-IAEA-69 and WIMSD-IAEA-172 libraries were prepared and made available at the Nuclear Data Section (NDS) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The main libraries were prepared from different sources of evaluated nuclear data that were available before December 2003. Also others WIMSD libraries were prepared from the major evaluated nuclear data libraries and made available at http://www-nds.iaea.org/wimsd. During the last ten years new libraries have been prepared every time that a major version of an evaluated nuclear data library has been released, namely JEFF-3.1 and ENDF/B-VII.0. Recently, end-users have requested to extend the temperature ranges of fuel materials included in the libraries and also to extend the burn-up chains to higher actinides up to Cf-254. The inclusion of new structural materials, like bismuth, has been also considered. Therefore, new WIMSD-formatted libraries in the 69- and 172-energy structure have been prepared with more materials, extended actinides burn-up chains and higher temperatures in thermal and resonance range

Preferential removal of Sm by evaporation from Nd-Sm mixture and its application in direct burn-up determination of spent nuclear fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sajimol, R.; Bera, S.; Nalini, S.; Sivaraman, N.; Joseph, M.; Kumar, T.

2016-01-01

Rate of evaporation of Sm and Nd from their mixture was studied based on their ion intensities using thermal ionization mass spectrometry. Because of the comparatively larger evaporation rate of Sm, it was found possible to get the isotopic composition of Nd (fission product monitor) free from isobaric interference of Sm isotopes. The decrease in ion intensity of Sm was studied as a function of time and filament temperature. Based on this study, an easy and time effective method for the determination of burn-up of spent nuclear fuel was examined and the results are compared with that obtained by the conventional method. Typical burn-up value obtained for a pressurized heavy water reactor fuel dissolver solution using the direct method by preferential evaporation of Sm is: 0.84 at.%, whereas the one obtained by the use of conventional method is 0.82 at.%. In both the cases, Nd was employed as the fission product monitor. (author)

Bacterial infections in burn patients at a burn hospital in Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Ekrami, Alireza; Kalantar, Enayat

2007-12-01

The major challenge for a burn team is nosocomial infection in burn patients, which is known to cause over 50% of burn deaths. Most studies on infection in burn patients focus on burn wound infection, whereas other nosocomial infections in these patients are not well described. We undertook this study to determine three types of nosocomial infections viz., burn wound infection, urinary tract infection, and blood stream infection in burn patients in a burn hospital in Iran. During the one year period (May 2003 to April 2004), 182 patients were included in this study. Blood, urine and wound biopsy samples were taken 7 and 14 days after admission to Taleghani Burn hospital. Isolation and identification of microorganisms was done using the standard procedure. Disk diffusion test were performed for all the isolates for antimicrobial susceptibility. Of the 182 patients, 140 (76.9%) acquired at least one type of infection of the 140, 116 patients (82.8%) were culture positive on day 7 while 24 (17.2%) on 14 days after admission. Primary wound infection was most common (72.5%), followed by blood stream (18.6%) and urinary tract infections (8.9 %). The microorganisms causing infections were Pseudomonas aeruginosa (37.5%), Staphylococcus aureus (20.2%), and Acinetobacter baumanni (10.4%). Among these isolates P. aeruginosa was found to be 100 per cent resistant to amikacin, gentamicin , carbenicillin, ciprofloxacin, tobramycin and ceftazidime; 58 per cent of S. aureus and 60 per cent of coagulase negative Staphylococcus were methicillin resistant. High prevalence of nosocomial infections and the presence of multidrug resistant bacteria, and methicillin resistant S. aureus in patients at Taleghani Burn Hospital suggest continuous surveillance of burn infections and develop strategies for antimicrobial resistance control and treatment of infectious complications.

Acute pain management in burn patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gamst-Jensen, Hejdi; Vedel, Pernille Nygaard; Lindberg-Larsen, Viktoria Oline

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Burn patients suffer excruciating pain due to their injuries and procedures related to surgery, wound care, and mobilization. Acute Stress Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, chronic pain and depression are highly prevalent among survivors of severe burns. Evidence-based pain...... patients. The most highly recommended guidelines provided clear and accurate recommendations for the nursing and medical staff on pain management in burn patients. We recommend the use of a validated appraisal tool such as the AGREE instrument to provide more consistent and evidence-based care to burn...

A study of the effects of changing burn-up and gap gaseous compound on the gap convection coefficient (in a hot fuel pin) in VVER-1000 reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahgoshay, M.; Rahmani, Y.

2007-01-01

In this article we worked on the result and process of calculation of the gap heat transfer coefficient for a hot fuel pin in accordance with burn-up changes in the VVER-1000 reactor at the Bushehr nuclear power plant (Iran). With regard to the fact that in calculating the fuel gap heat transfer coefficient, various parameters are effective and the need for designing a model is being felt, therefore, in this article we used Ross and Stoute gap model to study impacts of different effective parameters such as thermal expansion and gaseous fission products on the h gap change rate. Over time and with changes in fuel burn-up some gaseous fission products such as xenon, argon and krypton gases are released to the gas mixture in the gap, which originally contained helium. In this study, the composition of gaseous elements in the gap volume during different times of reactor operation was found using ORIGEN code. Considering that the thermal conduction of these gases is lower than that of helium, and by using the Ross and Stoute gap model, we find first that the changes in gaseous compounds in the gap reduce the values of gap thermal conductivity coefficient, but considering thermal expansion (due to burn-up alterations) of fuel and clad resulting in the reduction of gap thickness we find that the gap heat transfer coefficient will augment in a broad range of burn-up changes. These changes result in a higher rate of gap thickness reduction than the low rate of decrease of heat conduction coefficient of the gas in the gap during burn-up. Once these changes have been defined, we can proceed with the analysis of the results of calculations based on the Ross and Stoute model and compare the results obtained with the experimental results for a hot fuel pin as presented in the final safety analysis report of the VVER-1000 reactor at Bushehr. It is noteworthy that the results of accomplished calculations based on the Ross and Stoute model correspond well with the existing

Burn-up analysis of uranium silicide fuels 20% 235U, in the LFR facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amor, Ricardo A.; Bouza, Edgardo; Cabrejas, Julian L.; Devida, Claudio A.; Gil, Daniel A.; Stankevicius, Alejandro; Gautier, Eduardo; Garavaglia, Ricardo N.; Lobo, Alfredo

2003-01-01

The LFR Facility is a laboratory designed and constructed with a Hot-Cells line, a Globe-Box and a Fume-Hood, all of them suited to work with radioactive materials such as samples of irradiated silicide MTR fuel elements. A series of dissolutions of this material was performed. From the resulting solutions, two fractions were separated by HPLC. One contained U + Pu, and other the fission product Nd. The concentrations of these elements were obtained by isotopic dilution and mass spectrometry (IDMS). It is concluded that this technique is very powerful and accurate when properly applied, and makes the validation of burn-up calculation codes possible. It is worth remarking the Lfr capacity to carry on different Research and Development (R + D) tasks in the Nuclear Fuel Cycle field. (author)

Main lessons for FBR safety study from the CABRI experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Ikken

2006-01-01

CABRI project has been carried out FBR safety study with international cooperation of five nations since 1978. The project consists of four periods such as CABRI-1, CABRI-2, CABRI-FAST and CABRI-RAFT. The objects and the main information for hypothetical core decay accident and safety study of fuel are described. The behavior of core decay accident was studied in the first period (CABRI-1), the safety study of fuel was investigated after the second period (CABRI-2). Change of phenomena at the initial process of core decay accident, comparison between analysis and data of fuel diffusion behavior of neutron horoscope by CABRI-2 experiment, representative in-core experiment under slow TOP conditions, the damaged and undamaged pin under slow TOP conditions, the exterior of CABRI and TREAT and the upper part of CABRI and TREAT reactor are shown. CABRI experiments changed to LWR safety study and a part of TREAT is stated. (S.Y.)

Posttraumatic Stress and Cognitive Processes in Patients with Burns

OpenAIRE

Sveen, Josefin

2011-01-01

A severe burn is one of the most traumatic injuries a person can experience. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is relatively common after burns, and can be devastating for the individual’s possibilities for recovery. The principal aims were to gain knowledge regarding posttraumatic stress symptoms and cognitive processes after burn and to evaluate methods for assessing symptoms of PTSD up to one year after burn. The psychometric properties of a Swedish version of the Impact of Event Scale-...

Spatial patterns of ponderosa pine regeneration in high-severity burn patches

Science.gov (United States)

Suzanne M. Owen; Carolyn H. Sieg; Andrew J. Sanchez. Meador; Peter Z. Fule; Jose M. Iniguez; L. Scott. Baggett; Paula J. Fornwalt; Michael A. Battaglia

2017-01-01

Contemporary wildfires in southwestern US ponderosa pine forests can leave uncharacteristically large patches of tree mortality, raising concerns about the lack of seed-producing trees, which can prevent or significantly delay ponderosa pine regeneration. We established 4-ha plots in high-severity burn patches in two Arizona wildfires, the 2000 Pumpkin and 2002 Rodeo-...

[Fat grafting in facial burns sequelae].

Science.gov (United States)

Viard, R; Bouguila, J; Voulliaume, D; Comparin, J-P; Dionyssopoulos, A; Foyatier, J-L

2012-06-01

Fat graft is now part of the armamentarium in face plastic surgery. It is successfully used in burn scars. The aim of our study is the discussion of the value of this technique in optimizing cosmetic result of burns face sequelae. Fifteen adult patients (10 females and five males) with scars resulting from severe burns 2 to 9 years previously were selected. The patients were treated by injection of adipose tissue harvested from abdominal subcutaneous fat and processed according to Coleman's technique. Two to three injections were administered at the dermohypodermal junction. Ages, sexes, aetiology of burn, facial burn sequelae, recipient sites, quantity of fat injected, aesthetic results are discussed. Patient age ranged from 21 to 55 years (average: 38). The mean follow-up of the study was 66 months (23-118). Patients received 7.5 (5-11) facial restorative surgeries before fat graft. Patients underwent two sessions of fat transfer, 33cc average per session. We did not report any complications. The clinical appearance, discussed by three surgeons and subjective patient feelings, after a 6-month follow-up period, suggests considerable improvement in the mimic features, skin texture, and thickness. The result is good in 86% of cases and acceptable in the other cases. Burns sequelae offer local conditions which justify special cannula can cross fibrosis and explaining the value of multiplying the sessions. Indications for lipostructure include four distinct nosological situations, sometimes combined. Lipostructure can restore a missing relief, filling a localized depression, reshape a lack of face volume or smooth a scarring skin. Fat graft seems to complete and improve the results of the standard surgical approach in burned face. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Simulating high spatial resolution high severity burned area in Sierra Nevada forests for California Spotted Owl habitat climate change risk assessment and management.

Science.gov (United States)

Keyser, A.; Westerling, A. L.; Jones, G.; Peery, M. Z.

2017-12-01

Sierra Nevada forests have experienced an increase in very large fires with significant areas of high burn severity, such as the Rim (2013) and King (2014) fires, that have impacted habitat of endangered species such as the California spotted owl. In order to support land manager forest management planning and risk assessment activities, we used historical wildfire histories from the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity project and gridded hydroclimate and land surface characteristics data to develope statistical models to simulate the frequency, location and extent of high severity burned area in Sierra Nevada forest wildfires as functions of climate and land surface characteristics. We define high severity here as BA90 area: the area comprising patches with ninety percent or more basal area killed within a larger fire. We developed a system of statistical models to characterize the probability of large fire occurrence, the probability of significant BA90 area present given a large fire, and the total extent of BA90 area in a fire on a 1/16 degree lat/lon grid over the Sierra Nevada. Repeated draws from binomial and generalized pareto distributions using these probabilities generated a library of simulated histories of high severity fire for a range of near (50 yr) future climate and fuels management scenarios. Fuels management scenarios were provided by USFS Region 5. Simulated BA90 area was then downscaled to 30 m resolution using a statistical model we developed using Random Forest techniques to estimate the probability of adjacent 30m pixels burning with ninety percent basal kill as a function of fire size and vegetation and topographic features. The result is a library of simulated high resolution maps of BA90 burned areas for a range of climate and fuels management scenarios with which we estimated conditional probabilities of owl nesting sites being impacted by high severity wildfire.

Rocket propellants with reduced smoke and high burning rates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Menke, K.; Eisele, S. [Fraunhofer-Institut fuer Chemische Technologie (ICT), Pfinztal-Berghausen (Germany)

1997-07-01

Rocket propellants with reduced smoke and high burning rates recommend themselves for use in a rocket motor for high accelerating tactical missiles. They serve for an improved camouflage on the battle field and may enable guidance control due to the higher transmission of their rocket plume compared to traditional aluminized composite propellants. In this contribution the material based ranges of performance and properties of three non aluminized rocket propellants will be introduced and compared to each other. The selected formulations based on AP/HTPB; AP/PU/TMETN and AP/HMX/GAP/TMETN have roughly the same specific impulse of I{sub SP}=2430 Ns/kg at 70:1 expansion ratio. The burning rates in the pressure range from 10-18 MPa vary from to 26-33 mm/s for the AP/HTPB propellant, 52-68 mm/s for the formulation based on AP/PU/TMETN and 28-39 mm/s for the propellant based on AP/HMX/GAP. With 58% and 20% AP-contents the propellants with nitrate ester plasticizers create a much smaller secondary signature than the AP/HTPB representative containing 85% AP. Their disadvantage, however, is the connection of high performance to a high level of energetic plasticizer. For this reason, the very fast burning propellant based on AP/PU/TMETN is endowed with a low elastic modulus and is limited to a grain configuration which isn`t exposed too much to the fast and turbulent airstream. The mechanical properties of the AP/HMX/GAP-propellant are as good or better as those of the AP/HTPB propellant. The first one exhibits the same performance and burn rates as the composite representative but produces only one fifth of HCl exhaust. For this reason it is recommended for missile applications, which must have high accelerating power together with a significantly reduced plume signature and smoke production. (orig.) [Deutsch] Rauchreduzierte Festtreibstoffe mit hohen Abbrandgeschwindigkeiten bieten sich fuer den Antrieb hochbeschleunigender taktischer Flugkoerper an, da sie gegenueber

Mineralization and defluoridation of 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoro -1-propanol (TFP) by UV oxidation in a novel three-phase fluidized bed reactor (3P-FBR).

Science.gov (United States)

Shih, Yu-Jen; Tsai, Meng-Tso; Huang, Yao-Hui

2013-05-01

2,2,3,3-Tetrafluoro-1-propanol (TFP, C3H4F4O, M.W. = 132.06) is extensively used as the solvent in CD-R and DVD-R fabrication. Since it has a fluorinated alky-chain configuration and is non-biodegradable, its treatment by conventional oxidation methods is typically very inefficient. In this work, novel three-phase fluidized bed reactor (3P-FBR, 7.5 cm in diameter, 50 cm high) that combines photo oxidation (UV/H2O2, one of AOPs (Advanced Oxidation Process) and adsorption (BT5 iron oxide as adsorbent) processes is designed for mineralizing and defluorinizing TFP wastewater. The experimental results reveal that TFP can be efficiently mineralized, and the BT5 that is circulated by aeration in the 3P-FBR system can remove the released fluoride ions in the reaction period. Irradiation with 254 nm UV and a 10 mM H2O2 dose yield a TOC removal of TFP (1.39 mM, equivalent to an initial TOC of 50 ppm) of over 99.95% in 2 h, and 99% of fluoride was removed by BT5 with an adsorption capacity of 24.1 mg-F g(-1). Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reasons for Distress Among Burn Survivors at 6, 12, and 24 Months Postdischarge: A Burn Injury Model System Investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiechman, Shelley A; McMullen, Kara; Carrougher, Gretchen J; Fauerbach, Jame A; Ryan, Colleen M; Herndon, David N; Holavanahalli, Radha; Gibran, Nicole S; Roaten, Kimberly

2017-12-16

To identify important sources of distress among burn survivors at discharge and 6, 12, and 24 months postinjury, and to examine if the distress related to these sources changed over time. Exploratory. Outpatient burn clinics in 4 sites across the country. Participants who met preestablished criteria for having a major burn injury (N=1009) were enrolled in this multisite study. Participants were given a previously developed list of 12 sources of distress among burn survivors and asked to rate on a 10-point Likert-type scale (0=no distress to 10=high distress) how much distress each of the 12 issues was causing them at the time of each follow-up. The Medical Outcomes Study 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey was administered at each time point as a measure of health-related quality of life. The Satisfaction With Appearance Scale was used to understand the relation between sources of distress and body image. Finally, whether a person returned to work was used to determine the effect of sources of distress on returning to employment. It was encouraging that no symptoms were worsening at 2 years. However, financial concerns and long recovery time are 2 of the highest means at all time points. Pain and sleep disturbance had the biggest effect on ability to return to work. These findings can be used to inform burn-specific interventions and to give survivors an understanding of the temporal trajectory for various causes of distress. In particular, it appears that interventions targeted at sleep disturbance and high pain levels can potentially effect distress over financial concerns by allowing a person to return to work more quickly. Copyright © 2017 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impact of pediatric burn camps on participants' self esteem and body image: an empirical study.

Science.gov (United States)