Annals of Nuclear Energy 29 (2002) 901912 www.elsevier.

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Neutronic calculation to the TRIGA Ipr-R1 reactor using the WIMSD4 and CITATION codes
Hugo M. Dallea,b, Claubia Pereirab,*, Rosemary G.P. Souzaa
a

Centro de Desenvolvimento de Tecnologia NuclearCDTN, Rua Prof. Mario Werneck, s/n, Cidade ria UFMG, Pampulha, CP 941, CEP: 30123-970, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil Universita b Departamento de Engenharia Nuclear, EEUFMG, Av. Contorno 842, 9o. Andar, Centro, 30110-060 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil Received 5 July 2001; accepted 14 August 2001

Abstract The WIMSD4 and CITATION codes are used to calculate neutronic parameters of a TRIGA reactor. The results are compared with experimental values. Five congurations are analysed and the excess reactivity worth, the fuel temperature reactivity coecient, the control reactivity worth, safety and regulation rod of the TRIGA IPRR1 reactor are calculated. The idea is to obtain the systematic error for k1 for this methodology comparing the calculated and the experimental results. # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction The IPRR1 is a TRIGA Mark I reactor produced by the General Atomic (USA). It began to operate in November 1960. Since then it has been used for research in many elds such as radiochemistry, reactor physics, material science, environmental studies, medical and industrial radioisotopes production and sta training in the Angra dos Reis nuclear power plant. This reactor is operated by the Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN), in Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, that intends to increase its maximum thermal power from 100 to 250 kW. This methodology was developed to give a theoretical support to obtain the new power.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +55-31-3238-1007; fax: +55-31-3238-1760. E-mail address: claubia@nuclear.ufmg.br (C. Pereira). 0306-4549/02/$ - see front matter # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0306-4549(01)00093-7

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Part of the validation process is available in the references (Dalle et al., 1998a,b Dalle, 1999a) and it is completed with the results presented here. The results obtained from WIMSD4 (Ahnert, 1980) and CITATION (Fowler et al., 1969) are compared with experimental values for ve core congurations of the IPRR1 (Dalle, 1999b; Souza, 1999a) (see Figs. 15). The excess reactivity, the temperature reactivity coecient, the reactivity worth of the control, safety and regulation rods and the integral curves of the control and safety rods are calculated for the ve congurations. The idea is to obtain the systematic error for k1 for this methodology, comparing the calculated and the experimental results. Then the excess reactivity for other core congurations can be obtained from the calculated ke, by subtracting the systematic error. The fuel elements of the IPRR1 are composed by samarium-uranium (8 w/o) disks with the uranium enriched to 20 w/o, the clad is aluminium, with a hydrogento-zirconium ratio equal to 1. The reactor is operating with 1704 MWh. The ve core congurations are presented in the next gures.

2. Excess reactivity The excess reactivity is calculated by the following expression:

Fig. 1. Core I.

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Fig. 2. Core II.

k 1 keff k 1 k keff k

where  is the reactivity; ke the calculated eective multiplication factor; and k is the average systematic deviation from the calculated ke for the measured ke, in the ve tested core congurations. For the calculations, the average temperature of the fuel was considered equal to 140  C. The excess reactivity is presented in the Table 1 for the ve congurations.
Table 1 Excess reactivity Case Experimental reactivity (pcm) [2] 1059 695 269 703 656 Experimental ke (KE) 1.010703 1.006999 1.002697 1.007080 1.006603 Calculated ke (KC) 1.016707 1.012266 1.008348 1.012571 1.012301 KCKE Calculated reactivity (pcm) 1096 660 272 690 664 Obsd

CITCOF1B CITCOF2B CITCOF3B CITCOF4B CITCOF5B

0.006004 0.005267 0.005651 0.005491 0.005698

Core I Core II Core III Core IV Core V

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Fig. 3. Core III.

From the dierences between experimental ke (KE) and the calculated (KC) for the core congurations I, II, III, IV and V, the average systematic error is calculated: k 0:006004 0:005267 0:005651 0:005491 0005698=5 ) k 0:005622 being its standard deviation (square root of the variance) Sx=0.000272. Therefore, the variation coecient becomes: CV 4:8 % 5% Observing Table 1, the error for all the congurations is inside the range of the CV, i.e. 5%.

3. Reactivity worth of the control rods To calculate the control rods reactivity worth,  was dened by the following expression:

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Fig. 4. Core IV.

1 1 keff 1 k keff 2 k

where ke1 and ke2, are the eective multiplication factor calculated with the rod in positions 1 and 2, respectively. The reactivity of the control rods is presented in Table 2. The experimental values are used to determine the error of the reactivity worth calculation of the control rods. The experimental values were measured by the positive period method, which is considered to be more precise. This way, the experimental values of the core conguration III, measured only by the rod drop method (the very low excess reactivity of this core conguration did not permit the measure by positive period method) (Souza, 1999) were not considered. If considering the variation coecient, ve calculated values are out of the range. Nevertheless, if the variation coecient were equal to 5.5, only the value of the SECOF2B case would be out. To be conservative, the CV for other calculations will be considered as 7.2%. The calculation of the core conguration V presents the reactivity worth of the safety rod slightly superior to the control rod, in opposition to the experimental results, where the control rod is always more reactive. Nevertheless, this disagreement remains within the range of the error margin of the calculation.

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Fig. 5. Core V. Table 2 Reactivity worth of the control rods

Case Experimental reactivity (pcm) 1746a 1608a 399a 1706 1620 395 1588 1462 363 1572 1517 379 Calculated ke 0.999187 0.999652 1.012551 0.994631 0.994971 1.008055 0.996741 0.997213 1.009008 0.996447 0.996352 1.008510 Calculated reactivity (pcm) 1744 1697 408 1771 1737 417 1586 1538 353 1590 1599 376 Error (%) 0.12 5.54 2.26 3.81 7.22 5.57 0.13 5.20 2.75 1.15 5.41 0.80 Obsd

COCOF1B SECOF1B RECOF1B COCOF2B SECOF2B RECOF2B COCOF4B SECOF4B RECOF4B COCOF5B SECOF5B RECOF5B
a

Control rod in core I Safety rod in core I Regulation rod in core I Control rod in core II Safety rod in core II Regulation rod in core II Control rod in core IV Safety rod in core IV Regulation rod in core IV Control rod in core V Safety rod in core V Regulation rod in core V

Average of the two values measured in this core conguration (Souza, 1999).

4. Integral curves of the control and safety rods The three-dimensional neutronic calculation permits to simulate the partial insertion of the control rods in the reactor core. This way the theoretical curves of the

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reactivity of the rods can be determined. It is interesting to determine the reactivity insertion rate by rods through the analyses of the curves. Figs. 6 and 7 show the theoretical integral curves of the control and safety rods for the core congurations I, II, IV and V. They are obtained using the results of the calculations presented in Table 3. In all core congurations tested the largest dierential reactivity worth of the control and safety rods occurred between 15 and 20 cm of rod insertion. This result is consistent, since the active core considered in calculation is 35.6 cm and it is

Fig. 6. Integral curve of the control rod.

Fig. 7. Integral curve of the safety rod.

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Table 3 Reactivity worth of the control rod and safety rod versus the position of core congurations I, II, IV and V Position (cm) COCOF1BI I Control rod  (pcm) 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35.6 126 369 700 1069 1407 1648 1744 Safety rod  (pcm) 120 355 679 1040 1367 1603 1697 COCOF2BI II Control rod  (pcm) 130 379 719 1098 1434 1675 1771 Safety rod  (pcm) 127 362 699 1065 1402 1645 1737 COCOF4BI IV Control rod  (pcm) 114 343 646 975 1284 1495 1586 Safety rod  (pcm) 112 328 622 942 1240 1450 1538 COCOF5BI V Control rod  (pcm) 124 348 653 981 1293 1503 1590 Safety rod  (pcm) 122 344 643 982 1293 1508 1599

expected that the maximum dierential reactivity occurs close to the middle point, which is 17.8 cm. From the curves it can be observed that within the range close to the middle point, the curves are straight and with the maximum inclination. The maximum reactivity insertion rate by rods occurs within this region.

5. Determination of the maximum reactivity insertion rate by control and safety rods The maximum reactivity insertion rate by control rods can be estimated by the integral curves of the rods. The control rods have the maximum dierential reactivity worth close to the middle point. Taking the interval close to the middle point that appears in the curves like a straight line and in which the maximum inclination occurs, the maximum reactivity insertion rate can be estimated by MAX =x V 3

where  and x are the reactivity change and the position change of the rods in the considered interval, respectively. V is the rod velocity, having the following values: Vsafety 0:47 cm=s Vcontrol 0:48 cm=s Vregulation 0:47 cm=s:

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Tables 4 and 5 present these values for the core congurations I, II, IV and V. For convenience the reactivity is also presented. The calculated maximum reactivity insertion rate values present good agreement with the experimental values. The calculated values are always bigger than the experimental values indicating a conservative behaviour.

6. Temperature reactivity coecients and void inuence The temperature reactivity coecient, T, is obtained by    1 1 5 T 10 =T2 T1 pcm= C keff 1 keff 2

where ke1 and ke2, the eective multiplication factor, calculated with the fuel in the temperature T1 and T2, respectively. The temperature reactivity coecient for the core congurations I, II, III, IV and V was calculated considering four average fuel temperatures. The results are presented in Tables 610. In all cases, the values are negatives, satisfying a neutronic criterion. Fig. 8 shows the temperature reactivity coecient by the average temperature of the TRIGA fuel, supplied by the General Atomic, for the two types of fuel elements

Table 4 Maximum reactivity insertion rate by control rod to the core congurations I, II, Iv and V Cong X1 (cm) 15 15 15 15 X2 (cm) 20 20 20 20 1 (pcm) 700 719 646 653 2 (pcm) 1069 1098 975 981 V (cm/s) 0.48 0.48 0.48 0.48 Max calculated (pcm/s) 35.4 36.4 31.6 31.5 Max measured (pcm/s) 33.5 30.9 30.5 28.5

I II IV V

Table 5 Maximum reactivity insertion rate by safety rod to the core congurations I, II, IV and V Cong X1 (cm) 15 15 15 15 X2 (cm) 20 20 20 20 1 (pcm) 679 699 622 643 2 (pcm) 1040 1065 942 982 V (cm/s) 0.47 0.47 0.47 0.47 Max calculated (pcm/s) 33.9 34.4 30.1 31.9 Max measured (pcm/s) 32.5 32.8 28.5 28.4

I II IV V

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Table 6 Temperature reactivity coecient of core conguration I Case CITCOF1A CITCOF1B CITCOF1C CITCOF1D Calculated ke 1.019521 1.016707 1.011677 1.007745 (T2T1) ( C) 40 60 50 T (pcm/ C) 6.79 8.15 7.71 Obsd Fuel to 100  C Fuel to 140  C Fuel to 200  C Fuel to 250  C

Table 7 Temperature reactivity coecient of core conguration II Case CITCOF2A CITCOF2B CITCOF2C CITCOF2D Calculated ke 1.015069 1.012266 1.007208 1.003287 (T2T1) ( C) 40 60 50 T (pcm/ C) 6.82 8.27 7.76 Obs Fuel to 100  C Fuel to 140  C Fuel to 200  C Fuel to 250  C

Table 8 Temperature reactivity coecient of core conguration III Case CITCOF3A CITCOF3B CITCOF3C CITCOF3D Calculated ke 1.011107 1.008348 1.003270 0.999345 (T2T1) ( C) 40 60 50 T (pcm/ C) 6.77 8.37 7.83 Obsd Fuel to 100  C Fuel to 140  C Fuel to 200  C Fuel to 250  C

Table 9 Temperature reactivity coecient of core conguration IV Case CITCOF4A CITCOF4B CITCOF4C CITCOF4D Calculated ke 1.015374 1.012571 1.007553 1.003632 (T2T1) ( C) 40 60 50 T (pcm/ C) 6.82 8.20 7.76 Obsd Fuel to 100  C Fuel to 140  C Fuel to 200  C Fuel to 250  C

Table 10 Temperature reactivity coecient of core conguration V Case CITCOF5A CITCOF5B CITCOF5C CITCOF5D Calculated ke 1.015112 1.012301 1.007268 1.003321 (T2T1)  C 40 60 50 T (pcm/ C) 6.84 8.23 7.81 Obsd Fuel to 100  C Fuel to 140  C Fuel to 200  C Fuel to 250  C

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Fig. 8. Prompt negative temperature reactivity coecient in function of the mean temperature of the TRIGA fuel (source: General Atomics).

evaluated. In all core congurations, the calculated values are near to those shown in the gure. In order to check the eect of the insertion of voids in the core eect, it was simulated an insertion of a void cell in the central thimble in the core congurations I and II. The results are presented in Table 11. It can be observed that the insertion of void in the central thimble reduces the excess reactivity for all congurations.
Table 11 Reactivity insertion by the introduction of void in the central thimble in the core congurations I and II Congur. I II Case CITCOF1B CICOF1BV CITCOF2B CICOF2BV CI95MBZV Calculated ke 1.016707 1.014562 1.012266 1.010082 1.025368 Excess reactivity (pcm) 1096 886 660 444 1936 Reactivity dierence (pcm) 210 216 Obsd Water in the CT Void in the CT Water in the CT Void in the CT Void in the CT

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7. Conclusion The neutronic parameters calculated for the TRIGA IPR-R1 using the WIMSD4 and CITATION were compared to the experimental values. Comparing the ke, the systematic error for this parameter was determined and the variation coecient was obtained. Considering the results obtained in the reactivity worth of the control rods, to be more conservative, this value in the future will be considered equal 7.2%. Nevertheless the calculated maximum reactivity insertion rate values present good agreement with the experimental values. The calculated values are always bigger than the experimental values indicating a conservative behaviour. In general, the results of the methodology using the codes WIMSD4 and CITATION to simulate the TRIGA IPR-R1 reactor are very close to the experimental values.

References
Ahnert, I., 1980. Programa WIMS-TRACA para el Calculo de Elementos Combustibles. Manual de Usuario y Datos de Entrada. Junta de Energia Nuclear, Madrid. rias para Validac lculo NeuDalle, H.M., 1999a. Medidas Adicionais Necessa a o da Metodologia de Ca tro nico do Reator IPRR1 (NI-CT4-01/99). CDTN/CNEN, Belo Horizonte. . lculo Neutronico do Reator TRIGA IPRR1 Utilizando WIMSD4 e CITATION. Dalle, H.M., 1999. Ca Dissertac ao de Mestrado, Departamento de Engenharia Nuclear da Escola de Engenharia da UFMG., MG-Brasil, Belo Horizonte. lculo de Excesso de Reatividade e Valor de Dalle, H.M., Barros Filho, J.A., Carneiro, F.A.N., 1998. Ca Barras para Determinaca a o de uma Congurac o de Teste para o IPR-R1 a 250 kW (NICT4-10/98). CDTN/CNEN, Belo Horizonte. Dalle, H.M., Barros Filho, J.A., Carneiro, F.A.N., Aldama, D.L., 1998. Validac o da Metodologia de lculo Neutro Ca nico do Reator TRIGA IPRR1 (NI-CT4-008/98). CDTN/CNEN, Belo Horizonte. Fowler et al., 1969. Nuclear Reactor Core Analysis Code: CITATION. Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Souza, R.M.G.P., 1999. Resultados Experimentais da Calibrac a o das Barras de Controle e do Excesso de Reatividade em Cinco Congurac o cleo do Reator IPR-R1 (NI-AT4-001/99). Belo Horizonte, es do Nu CDTN/CNEN.