28 research outputs found
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Validation of SCALE (SAS2H) Isotopic Predictions for BWR Spent Fuel
Thirty spent fuel samples obtained from boiling-water-reactor (BWR) fuel pins have been modeled at Oak Ridge National Laboratory using the SAS2H sequence of the SCALE code system. The SAS2H sequence uses transport methods combined with the depletion and decay capabilities of the ORIGEN-S code to estimate the isotopic composition of fuel as a function of its burnup history. Results of these calculations are compared with chemical assay measurements of spent fuel inventories for each sample. Results show reasonable agreement between measured and predicted isotopic concentrations for important actinides; however, little data are available for most fission products considered to be important for spent fuel concerns (e.g., burnup credit, shielding, source-term calculations, etc.). This work is a follow-up to earlier works that studied the ability to predict spent fuel compositions in pressurized-water-reactor (PWR) fuel pins. Biases and uncertainties associated with BWR isotopic predictions are found to be larger than those of PWR calculations. Such behavior is expected, as the operation of a BWR is significantly more complex than that of a PWR plant, and in general the design of a BWR has a more heterogeneous configuration than that of a PWR. Nevertheless, this work shows that the simple models employed using SAS2H to represent such complexities result in agreement to within 5% (and often less than 1%) or less for most nuclides important for spent fuel applications. On the other hand, however, the set of fuel samples analyzed represent a small subset of the BWR fuel population, and results reported herein may not be representative of the full population of BWR spent fuel
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An extension of the validation of SCALE (SAS2H) isotopic predictions for PWR spent fuel
Isotopic characterization of spent fuel via depletion and decay calculations is necessary for determination of source terms. Unlike fresh fuel assumptions typically used in criticality safety analysis of spent fuel configurations, burnup credit applications also rely on depletion and decay calculations to predict spent fuel composition; these isotopics are used in subsequent criticality calculations to assess the reduced worth of spent fuel. To validate the depletion codes and data, experiment is compared with predictions; such comparisons have been done in earlier ORNL work. This report describes additional independent measurements and corresponding calculations as a supplement. The current work includes measured isotopic data from 19 spent fuel samples from the Italian Trino Vercelles PWR and the US Turkey Point-3 PWR. In addition, an approach to determine biases and uncertainties between calculated and measured isotopic concentrations is discussed, together with a method to statistically combine these terms to obtain a conservative estimate of spent fuel isotopic concentrations. Results on combination of measured-to-calculated ratios are presented. The results described herein represent an extension to a new reactor design and spent fuel samples with enrichment as high as 3.9 wt% {sup 235}U. Consistency with the earlier work for each of two different cross-section libraries suggests that the estimated biases for each of the isotopes in the earlier work are reasonably good estimates
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Validation of SCALE (SAS2H) isotopic predictions for BWR spent fuel
Thirty spent fuel samples obtained from boiling-water-reactor (BWR) fuel pins have been modeled at Oak Ridge National Laboratory using the SAS2H sequence of the SCALE code system. The SAS2H sequence uses transport methods combined with the depletion and decay capabilities of the ORIGEN-S code to estimate the isotopic composition of fuel as a function of its burnup history. Results of these calculations are compared with chemical assay measurements of spent fuel inventories for each sample. Results show reasonable agreement between measured and predicted isotopic concentrations for important actinides; however, little data are available for most fission products considered to be important for spent fuel concerns (e.g., burnup credit, shielding, source-term calculations, etc.). This work is a follow-up to earlier works that studied the ability to predict spent fuel compositions in pressurized-water-reactor (PWR) fuel pins. Biases and uncertainties associated with BWR isotopic predictions are found to be larger than those of PWR calculations. Such behavior is expected, as the operation of a BWR is significantly more complex than that of a PWR plant, and in general the design of a BWR has a more heterogeneous configuration than that of a PWR. Nevertheless, this work shows that the simple models employed using SAS2H to represent such complexities result in agreement to within 5% (and often less than 1%) or less for most nuclides important for spent fuel applications. On the other hand, however, the set of fuel samples analyzed represent a small subset of the BWR fuel population, and results reported herein may not be representative of the full population of BWR spent fuel
Identification of multiple risk loci and regulatory mechanisms influencing susceptibility to multiple myeloma
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have transformed our understanding of susceptibility to multiple myeloma (MM), but much of the heritability remains unexplained. We report a new GWAS, a meta-analysis with previous GWAS and a replication series, totalling 9974 MM cases and 247,556 controls of European ancestry. Collectively, these data provide evidence for six new MM risk loci, bringing the total number to 23. Integration of information from gene expression, epigenetic profiling and in situ Hi-C data for the 23 risk loci implicate disruption of developmental transcriptional regulators as a basis of MM susceptibility, compatible with altered B-cell differentiation as a key mechanism. Dysregulation of autophagy/apoptosis and cell cycle signalling feature as recurrently perturbed pathways. Our findings provide further insight
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ORIGEN-S Decay Data Library and Half-Life Uncertainties
The results of an extensive update of the decay data of the ORIGEN-S library are presented in this report. The updated decay data were provided for both the ORIGEN-S and ORIGEN2 libraries in the same project. A complete edit of the decay data plus the available half-life uncertainties are included in Appendix A. A detailed description of the types of data contained in the library, the format of the library, and the data sources are also presented. Approximately 24% of the library nuclides are stable, 66% were updated from ENDF/B-VI, about 8% were updated from ENSDF, and the remaining 2% were not updated. Appendix B presents a listing of percentage changes in decay heat from the old to the updated library for all nuclides containing a difference exceeding 1% in any parameter
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Benchmark of SCALE (SAS2H) isotopic predictions of depletion analyses for San Onofre PWR MOX fuel
The isotopic composition of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel, fabricated with both uranium and plutonium, after discharge from reactors is of significant interest to the Fissile Materials Disposition Program. The validation of the SCALE (SAS2H) depletion code for use in the prediction of isotopic compositions of MOX fuel, similar to previous validation studies on uranium-only fueled reactors, has corresponding significance. The EEI-Westinghouse Plutonium Recycle Demonstration Program examined the use of MOX fuel in the San Onofre PWR, Unit 1, during cycles 2 and 3. Isotopic analyses of the MOX spent fuel were conducted on 13 actinides and {sup 148}Nd by either mass or alpha spectrometry. Six fuel pellet samples were taken from four different fuel pins of an irradiated MOX assembly. The measured actinide inventories from those samples has been used to benchmark SAS2H for MOX fuel applications. The average percentage differences in the code results compared with the measurement were {minus}0.9% for {sup 235}U and 5.2% for {sup 239}Pu. The differences for most of the isotopes were significantly larger than in the cases for uranium-only fueled reactors. In general, comparisons of code results with alpha spectrometer data had extreme differences, although the differences in the calculations compared with mass spectrometer analyses were not extremely larger than that of uranium-only fueled reactors. This benchmark study should be useful in estimating uncertainties of inventory, criticality and dose calculations of MOX spent fuel
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San Onofre PWR Data for Code Validation of MOX Fuel Depletion Analyses
The isotopic composition of mixed-oxide fuel (fabricated with both uranium and plutonium isotope) discharged from reactors is of interest to the Fissile Material Disposition Program. The validation of depletion codes used to predict isotopic compositions of MOX fuel, similar to studies concerning uranium-only fueled reactors, thus, is very important. The EEI-Westinghouse Plutonium Recycle Demonstration Program was conducted to examine the use of MOX fuel in the San Onofre PWR, Unit I, during cycles 2 and 3. The data usually required as input to depletion codes, either one-dimensional or lattice codes, were taken from various sources and compiled into this report. Where data were either lacking or determined inadequate, the appropriate data were supplied from other references. The scope of the reactor operations and design data, in addition to the isotopic analyses, were considered to be of sufficient quality for depletion code validation
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San Onofre PWR Data for Code Validation of MOX Fuel Depletion Analyses -- Revision 1
The isotopic composition of mixed-oxide fuel (fabricated with both uranium and plutonium isotopes) discharged from reactors is of interest to the Fissile Material Disposition Program. The validation of depletion codes used to predict isotopic compositions of MOX fuel, similar to studies concerning uranium-only fueled reactors, thus, is very important. The EEI-Westinghouse Plutonium Recycle Demonstration Program was conducted to examine the use of MOX fuel in the San Onofre PWR, Unit I, during cycles 2 and 3. The data, usually required as input to depletion codes, either one-dimensional or lattice codes, were taken from various sources and compiled into this report. Where data were either lacking or determined inadequate, the appropriate data were supplied from other references. The scope of the reactor operations and design data, in addition to the isotopic analyses, was considered to be of sufficient quality for depletion code validation
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The scale analysis sequence for LWR fuel depletion
The SCALE (Standardized Computer Analyses for Licensing Evaluation) code system is used extensively to perform away-from-reactor safety analysis (particularly criticality safety, shielding, heat transfer analyses) for spent light water reactor (LWR) fuel. Spent fuel characteristics such as radiation sources, heat generation sources, and isotopic concentrations can be computed within SCALE using the SAS2 control module. A significantly enhanced version of the SAS2 control module, which is denoted as SAS2H, has been made available with the release of SCALE-4. For each time-dependent fuel composition, SAS2H performs one-dimensional (1-D) neutron transport analyses (via XSDRNPM-S) of the reactor fuel assembly using a two-part procedure with two separate unit-cell-lattice models. The cross sections derived from a transport analysis at each time step are used in a point-depletion computation (via ORIGEN-S) that produces the burnup-dependent fuel composition to be used in the next spectral calculation. A final ORIGEN-S case is used to perform the complete depletion/decay analysis using the burnup-dependent cross sections. The techniques used by SAS2H and two recent applications of the code are reviewed in this paper. 17 refs., 5 figs., 5 tabs
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Spent-fuel photon and neutron source spectra
Computational activities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been performed to develop appropriate data and techniques for computing the photon and neutron source spectra of spent fuel. The methods reviewed here include both the determination of spent-fuel composition and the radiation source spectra associated with these isotopic inventories