Shielding analyses: the rabbit vs the turtle?

This paper compares solutions using Monte Carlo and discrete- ordinates methods applied to two actual shielding situations in order to make some general observations concerning the efficiency and advantages/disadvantages of the two approaches. The discrete- ordinates solutions are performed using two-dimensional geometries, while the Monte Carlo approaches utilize three-dimensional geometries with both multigroup and point cross-section data

Investigation of Nuclide Importance to Functional Requirements Related to Transport and Long-Term Storage of LWR Spent Fuel

The radionuclide characteristics of light-water-reactor (LWR) spent fuel play key roles in the design and licensing activities for radioactive waste transportation systems, interim storage facilities, and the final repository site. Several areas of analysis require detailed information concerning the time-dependent behavior of radioactive nuclides including (1) neutron/gamma-ray sources for shielding studies, (2) fissile/absorber concentrations for criticality safety determinations, (3) residual decay heat predictions for thermal considerations, and (4) curie and/or radiological toxicity levels for materials assumed to be released into the ground/environment after long periods of time. The crucial nature of the radionuclide predictions over both short and long periods of time has resulted in an increased emphasis on thorough validation for radionuclide generation/depletion codes. Current radionuclide generation/depletion codes have the capability to follow the evolution of some 1600 isotopes during both irradiation and decay time periods. Of these, typically only 10 to 20 nuclides dominate contributions to each analysis area. Thus a quantitative ranking of nuclides over various time periods is desired for each of the analysis areas of shielding, criticality, heat transfer, and environmental dose (radiological toxicity). These rankings should allow for validation and data improvement efforts to be focused only on the most important nuclides. This study investigates the relative importances of the various actinide, fission-product, and light-element isotopes associated with LWR spent fuel with respect to five analysis areas: criticality safety (absorption fractions), shielding (dose rate fractions), curies (fractional curies levels), decay heat (fraction of total watts), and radiological toxicity (fraction of potential committed effective dose equivalent). These rankings are presented for up to six different burnup/enrichment scenarios and at decay times from 2 to 100,000 years. Ranking plots for each of these analysis areas are given in an Appendix for completeness, as well as summary tables in the main body of the report. Summary rankings are presented in terms of high (greater than 10% contribution to the total), medium (between 1% and 10% contribution), and low (less than 1% contribution) for both short- and long-term cooling. When compared with the expected measurement accuracies, these rankings show that most of the important isotopes can be characterized sufficiently for the purpose of radionuclide generation/depletion code validation in each of the analysis areas. Because the main focus of this work is on the relative importances of isotopes associated with LWR spent fuel, some conclusions may not be applicable to similar areas such as high-level waste (HLW) and nonfuel-bearing components (NFBC)

Shielding and Criticality Analyses of Phase I Reference Truck and Rail Cask Designs for Spent Nuclear Fuel

This work was performed in support of the planned Phase I request for proposals (RFP) for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) transportation cask designs. The funding for this work was provided by the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) through its M&O contractor, TRW Environmental Safety Systems (TESS). The objective of this work was to prepare for the criticality and shielding evaluation of the Phase I cask design proposals by investigating the effect of SNF and design variables on reference cask models. Prior knowledge in this area should mitigate the analysis effort required for the bid evaluation process. The effect of SNF burnup/age characteristics on payload, the effect of initial enrichment on the radiation source and dose, and the relative effectiveness of several gamma-ray and neutron shield materials were all areas of investigation. In addition, the results of this effort provide data that can be used to assess the practicality of the RFP specifications regarding the targeted performance of the Phase I casks. Although the final RFP for the Phase I cask was never issued, this report has been issued because of its potential value in future SNF cask design efforts. Results are presented herein to determine the adequacy with respect to shielding regulations of reference designs for a truck cask containing 2 PWR or 5 BWR assemblies of standard burnup (45 GWd/MTU for PWR, 40 GWd/MTU for BWR) and 1 PWR assembly with extended burnup (55 GWd/MTU). The study also includes reference and modified rail cask designs with projected payloads of 8, 10, or 12 PWR assemblies. The burnup/age trends are analyzed in one dimension for both Pb and depleted uranium (DU) gamma-ray shields. The two-dimensional analyses concentrate on multidimensional aspects of each design and the degree to which the one-dimensional results are adequate. Both cask types are also analyzed for adequacy from a criticality safety standpoint. The results of the two-dimensional shielding analysis uphold the one-dimensional results as being an appropriate means of studying the burnup/age trends for the truck cask. These results show that the reference design for the Pb-shield truck cask is inadequate for all cases considered, while the DU-shield truck cask is capable of carrying the desired payloads. The one-dimensional shielding analysis results for the reference Pb and DU rail casks indicate substantial margins exist in the side doses for reasonable burnup/age combinations. For a Pb-cask configuration, margins exist primarily for long-cooled (15 years) fuel. For the modified Pb and DU rail casks, the 2-m dose rates offer substantial margins below the regulatory limits for all burnup values considered provided the spent fuel has cooled for {ge}10 years. The modified Pb and DU casks yield essentially identical results and, hence, could be considered equivalent from a shielding perspective. The criticality analyses that were performed indicate that a truck basket can be designed to provide an adequate subcritical margin for 2 PWR assemblies enriched to 5 wt %. While the 10- and 12-assembly rail cask designs are very close to the regulatory limit of 0.95 for k{sub eff}, after accounting for a 0.01 {Delta}k bias and 2 standard deviations, the limit is exceeded by about 3%. It is believed that a combination of decreased enrichments and/or increased water gaps should allow these baskets to be acceptable

Investigation of Burnup Credit Issues in BWR Fuel

Calculations for long-term-disposal criticality safety of spent nuclear fuel requires the application of burnup credit because of the large mass of fissile material that will be present in the repository. Burnup credit calculations are based on depletion calculations that provide a conservative estimate of spent fuel contents, followed by criticality calculations to assess the value of keff for a spent fuel cask or a fuel configuration under a variety of probabilistically derived events. In order to ensure that the depletion calculation is conservative, it is necessary to both qualify and quantify assumptions that can be made in depletion models used to characterize spent fuel. Most effort in the United States this decade has focused on burnup issues related to pressurized-water reactors. However, requirements for the permanent disposal of fuel from boiling-water reactors has necessitated development of methods for prediction of spent fuel contents for such fuels. Concomitant with such analyses, validation is also necessary. This paper provides a summary of initial efforts at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to better understand and validate spent fuel analyses for boiling-water-reactor fuel

Sensitivities of the flux spectrum in the cavity of a PWR to variations in the core source distribution

As a part of an ongoing, EPRI-sponsored project whose aim is the quantification and reduction of fluence uncertainties in the pressure vessel of operating PWR's, this work describes the calculation of sensitivities necessary for the propagation of PWR core source distribution uncertainties to the flux spectrum at locations of interest (e.g., the cavity or T/4 pressure vessel locations) in the AN0l reactor. In this case standard perturbation theory requires an adjoint run to be made for each group flux since each group flux is a response. An alternate approach has been developed by Cacuci which should be more efficient than the standard approach although it has not yet been applied to a flux spectrum response

Guide to verification and validation of the SCALE-4 radiation shielding software

Whenever a decision is made to newly install the SCALE radiation shielding software on a computer system, the user should run a set of verification and validation (V&V) test cases to demonstrate that the software is properly installed and functioning correctly. This report is intended to serve as a guide for this V&V in that it specifies test cases to run and gives expected results. The report describes the V&V that has been performed for the radiation shielding software in a version of SCALE-4. This report provides documentation of sample problems which are recommended for use in the V&V of the SCALE-4 system for all releases. The results reported in this document are from the SCALE-4.2P version which was run on an IBM RS/6000 work-station. These results verify that the SCALE-4 radiation shielding software has been correctly installed and is functioning properly. A set of problems for use by other shielding codes (e.g., MCNP, TWOTRAN, MORSE) performing similar V&V are discussed. A validation has been performed for XSDRNPM and MORSE-SGC6 utilizing SASI and SAS4 shielding sequences and the SCALE 27-18 group (27N-18COUPLE) cross-section library for typical nuclear reactor spent fuel sources and a variety of transport package geometries. The experimental models used for the validation were taken from two previous applications of the SASI and SAS4 methods

Feasibility assessment of burnup credit in the criticality analysis of shipping casks with boiling water reactor spent fuel

Considerable interest in the allowance of reactivity credit for the exposure history of power reactor fuel currently exists. This burnup credit'' issue has the potential to greatly reduce risk and cost when applied to the design and certification of spent fuel casks used for transportation and storage. Recently, analyses have demonstrated the technical feasibility and estimated the risk and economic incentives for allowing burnup credit in pressurized water reactor (PWR) spent fuel shipping cask applications. This report summarizes the extension of the previous PWR technical feasibility assessment to boiling water reactor (BWR) fuel. This feasibility analysis aims to apply simple methods that adequately characterize the time-dependent isotopic compositions of typical BWR fuel. An initial analysis objective was to identify a simple and reliable method for characterizing BWR spent fuel. Two different aspects of fuel characterization were considered:l first, the generation of burn- up dependent material interaction probabilities; second, the prediction of material inventories over time (depletion). After characterizing the spent fuel at various stages of exposure and decay, three dimensional (3-D) models for an infinite array of assemblies and, in several cases, infinite arrays of assemblies in a typical shipping cask basket were analyzed. Results for assemblies without a basket provide reactivity control requirements as a function of burnup and decay, while results including the basket allow assessment of typical basket configurations to provide sufficient reactivity control for spent BWR fuel. Resulting basket worths and reactivity trends over time are then evaluated to determine whether burnup credit is needed and feasible in BWR applications

Criticality Safety Review of 2 1/2-, 10-, and 14-Ton UF(Sub 6) Cylinders

Currently, UF{sub 6} cylinders designed to contain 2 1/2 tons of UF{sub 6} are classified as Fissile Class II packages with a transport index (TI) of 5 for the purpose of transportation. The 10-ton UF{sub 6} cylinders are classified as Fissile Class I with no TI assigned for transportation. The 14-ton cylinders, although not certified for transport with enrichments greater than 1 wt % because they have no approved overpack, can be used in on-site operations for enrichments greater than 1 wt %. The maximum 235U enrichments for these cylinders are 5.0 wt % for the 2 1/2-ton cylinder and 4.5 wt % for the 10- and 14-ton cylinders. This work reviews the suitability for reclassification of the 2 1/2-ton UF{sub 6} packages as Fissile Class I with a maximum {sup 235}U enrichment of 5 wt %. Additionally, the 10- and 14-ton cylinders are reviewed to address a change in maximum {sup 235}U enrichment from 4.5 to 5 wt %. Based on this evaluation, the 2 1/2-ton UF{sub 6} cylinders meet the 10 CFR.71 criteria for Fissile Class I packages, and no TI is needed for criticality safety purposes; however, a TI may be required based on radiation from the packages. Similarly, the 10- and 14-ton UF{sub 6} packages appear acceptable for a maximum enrichment rating change to 5 wt % {sup 235}U

Burnup credit feasibility for BWR spent fuel shipments

Considerable interest in the allowance of reactivity credit for the exposure history of power reactor fuel currently exists. This burnup credit'' issue has the potential to greatly reduce risk and cost when applied to the design and certification of spent of fuel casks used for transportation and storage. Analyses{sup 1} have shown the feasibility estimated the risk and economic incentives for allowing burnup credit in pressurized water reactor (PWR) spent fuel shipping cask applications. This paper summarizes the extension of the previous PWR feasibility assessments to boiling water reactor (BWR) fuel. As with the PWR analysis, the purpose was not verification of burnup credit (see ref. 2 for ongoing work in this area) but a reasonable assessment of the feasibility and potential gains from its use in BWR applications. This feasibility analysis aims to apply simple methods that adequately characterize the time-dependent isotopic compositions of typical BWR fuel. An initial analysis objective was to identify a simple and reliable method for characterizing BWR spent fuel. The method includes characterization of a typical pin-cell spectrum, using a one-dimensional (1-D) model of a BWR assembly. The calculated spectrum allows burnup-dependent few-group material constants to be generated. Point depletion methods were then used to obtain the time-varying characteristics of the fuel. These simple methods were validated, where practical, with multidimensional methods. 6 refs., 1 tab

K-Effective Trends with Burnup, Enrichment, and Pooling Time for BWR Fuel Assemblies

This report documents the work performed by ORNL for the Yucca Mountain Project (YMP) M and O contractor, Framatome Cogema Fuels. The goal of this work was to obtain k{sub inf} values for infinite arrays of flooded boiling-water-reactor (BWR) fuel assemblies as a function of various burnup/enrichment and cooling-time combinations. These scenarios simulate expected limiting criticality loading conditions (for a given assembly type) for drift emplacements in a repository. Upon consultation with the YMP staff, a Quad Cities BWR fuel assembly was selected as a baseline assembly. This design consists of seven axial enrichment zones, three of which contain natural uranium oxide. No attempt was made to find a ''bounding'' or even ''typical'' assembly design due to the wide variety in fuel assembly designs necessary for consideration. The current work concentrates on establishing a baseline analysis, along with a small number of sensitivity studies which can be expanded later if desired