Nuclear Reactor Theory

Nuclear Reactor Theory
J. Frybort, L. Heraltova
Department of Nuclear Reactors
June 13, 2011
Chapter 5
J. Frybort, L. Heraltova (CTU in Prague)
June 13, 2011
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Content
1
One-Group Reactor Equation
Basic Reactor Geometries

Slab Reactor
Sphere Reactor
Infinite Cylinder Reactor
Finite Cylinder Reactor
Maximum to Average Flux and Power
Critical Equations
One-Group Critical Equation
Thermal Reactors
Criticality Calculation
Reflected Reactors
One-Group Method
Two-Group Method
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Introduction
In a critical nuclear reactors, there is balance between number of
produced and lost neutrons
neutrons are produced by fission
neutrons are lost by either absorption or escape
Central problem in nuclear reactor designing is determination of

its dimensions and composition
Techniques for calculation of size and material composition of a
homogeneous nuclear reactor are introduced here
Criticality calculations are usually carried out by a group diffusion
method
The first part will deal with one-group method suitable for fast
reactors and to some extend even for thermal systems
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Fast Homogeneous Reactor
Fast critical reactor with homogeneous mixture of fuel and coolant

is considered
The reactor has only one region, no reflector, it is so-called bare
reactor
The reactor is described by one-group diffusion equation:
D2 a ` s
1 B
v Bt
(5-1)
This equation is time-dependent and power of the reactor might

increase or decrease
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Fission Source of Neutrons

Fission neutrons are the source of neutrons (s) in a nuclear
reactor
If f is fission cross-section of the fuel and number of neutrons
emitted per one fission, source s can be expressed as:
s f
If fission source does not balance neutron absorption and
leakage, then right-hand side of equation (5-1) is nonzero
Parameter k can be used to adjust the source strength and to
reach a steady state diffusion equation:
D2 a `
1
0
k f
(5-2)
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Quantity geometric buckling (B2 ) is defined as:
B2
1
f a
D k
(5-3)
Then previous equation (5-2) can be rewritten in form of

one-group reactor equation:
2 ` B 2 0
(5-4)
The formula for buckling (5-3) can be solved for the constant k:
k
f
DB 2 ` a
(5-5)
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Multiplication Factor
f
f
f
DB 2 ` a
DB 2 ` a
D2 ` a
Physical interpretation of the previous equation is following:

numerator is the number of neutrons born in fission in the current
generation
denominator represents neutrons lost from the previous generation
since all neutrons must be absorbed or leak from the reactor, the
denominator must be also equal to the number of neutrons born in
the previous generation
This is definition of multiplication factor for a finite reactor

It can be also defined as a neutron birth rate divided by sum of
neutron absorption and leakage rate
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Multiplication Factor for Infinite Reactor

The neutron source term can be rewritten with neutron absorption.
Let aF be cross-section for neutron absorption in fuel, then:
s aF
Quantity is called neutron reproduction factor and means
number of produced neutrons per a single neutron absorbed in
the fuel
It can be further adjusted to:
s aF a f a , where f is aF
a
a
Quantity f is called fuel utilisation factor and means a fraction of
neutrons absorbed in the fuel from all neutrons absorbed in the
reactor
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Multiplication Factor for Infinite Reactor (contd)

There is no escape of neutrons in an infinite nuclear reactor, all
neutrons are either absorbed in fuel or coolant
In one generation, a certain number of neutrons is born related to
, all these neutrons must be absorbed expressed as a
Of these neutrons f a are absorbed in fuel and this leads to
production of f a neutrons
All these neutrons must be again absorbed
It means that absorption of a neutrons in one generation leads
to absorption of f a neutrons in the following generation
Absorption of neutrons is directly related to production of
neutrons, therefore multiplication factor in an infinite reactor is
defined as:
f a
k8
f
(5-6)
a
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Buckling for Critical Reactor

Value of and f depend only on material composition and k8 is
therefore identical for all infinite bare reactors with the same
material composition
The neutron source term can be written as:
s k8 a
And one-group reactor equation (5-2) can be transformed to:
DB 2 ` a
k8
a 0
k
If the reactor is just critical (k = 1) the right-hand side is zero and:

DB 2 pk8 1qa 0
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Buckling for Critical Reactor (contd)
Dividing by D and introducing one-group diffusion area L2 D{a

leads to:
k8 1
B2
0
L2
The above equation can be solved for geometric buckling factor of
a critical reactor
B2
k8 1
L2
It will be further shown that buckling factor determines shape of

neutron flux and sets a condition for a reactor to be critical
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Slab Reactor
Slab Reactor
First example is a critical infinite slab reactor with thickness a. The
reactor equation (5-4) is:
B2
` B2 0
(5-7)
Bx 2
The neutron flux within the reactor will be determined using
boundary condition
r a ` 2d
The neutron flux vanishes on extrapolated surface a
The boundary condition becomes:

r
r
a
a

0
2
2
It is also obvious that because of the problem symmetry
(pxq pxq), there will be maximum neutron flux density and
no net flow in the reactor centre:
d
0 , for x 0
dx
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Slab Reactor
Slab Reactor (contd)

General solution to equation (5-7) is:
pxq A cospBxq ` C sinpBxq
(5-8)
Constant A and C are to be determined by boundary conditions

Placing the derivative of (5-8) equal zero at x = 0 gives
immediately C = 0
The general solution reduces to:
pxq A cospBxq
(5-9)
Introducing the boundary condition gives:

r
r
a
Ba
A cos
0
2
2
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Slab Reactor
Slab Reactor (contd2)

Solution to the above equation is either trivial A = 0, or must
satisfy equation:

r
Ba
cos
0
2
There are Bn solutions:
Bn
n
, n is odd integer
r
a
The various Bn constants are known as eigenvalues

It can be shown that only the first eigenfunction is solution of
neutron flux in a steady state critical reactor
Function describing neutron flux in a bare critical slab reactor is:
x
pxq A cos B1 x A cos
r
a
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Slab Reactor
Reactor Buckling
The square of the lowest eigenvalue B12 is called reactor buckling
It is found by solving the equation
d2
` B12 0
dx 2
1 d2
B12
dx 2
The right-hand side is proportional to the curvature of the neutron
flux in the reactor
Since in the slab reactor:
2
B12
r
a
r is increasing
Buckling decreases as a
2
In the limit, B1 is approaching zero and flux is constant and does
not buckle
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Slab Reactor
Neutron Flux Magnitude

The constant A has not been determined yet. It is related to the
reactor power and not material composition
Reactor power is determined as P VEf f AV
With recoverable energy from fission 200 MeV (3.21011 J), the
total power of the slab reactor can be calculated as:
a{2
pxq dx
P Ef f
a{2
The integration is carried out for physical dimensions of the reactor

Inserting the previously calculated function for (5-9) and
performing the integration gives:

rEf f A sin ar
2a
2a
P
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Slab Reactor
Neutron Flux in a Bare Slab Reactor
The final formula for neutron flux in a bare slab reactor is:
P
pxq
rEf f sin
2a
a
r
2a
cos
x
r
a
(5-10)
If d is small compared to physical dimensions of the reactor, the

above formula reduces to:
pxq
x
P
cos
2aEf f
a
(5-11)
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Sphere Reactor
Sphere Reactor
The spherical reactor has radius R and neutron flux inside the
reactor depends only on distance r
Reactor equation (5-4) in spherical coordinates is:
2 d
d2
`
` B2 0
dr
dr 2
(5-12)
r 0
The neutron flux must satisfy boundary condition pRq
By substituting u{r into (5-12) and solving the resulting
equation for u leads to a general solution for neutron flux:
cos pBr q
sin pBr q
`C
, where A and C are constants
r
r
The second term becomes infinite when r goes to zero, thus C
must be zero and resulting equation is:
pr q A
pr q A
sin pBr q
r
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Sphere Reactor
Sphere Reactor (contd2)
Boundary condition is satisfied if B is one of the eigenvalues

r 0 Bn
sinpB Rq
n
, where n is any integer
r
R
Only the first eigenvalue is relevant for a critical reactor, thus

buckling is
2
2
B1
r
R
Flux becomes:
pr q A
r
sinpr {Rq
r
(5-13)
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Sphere Reactor
Sphere Reactor (contd3)

Constant A is determined by the reactor power
P E f f
pr q dV
V
Volume element is calculated as dV 4r 2 dr and previous

equation changes to:
R
r 2 pr q dr
P 4Ef f
0
Introducing neutron flux (5-13) and integration leads to:
ff
r R
r
R
R
R
P 4Ef f A
sin
R cos
r
r

R
R
If d is small, neutron flux can be written in form:
pr q
P
sinpr {Rq
2
r
4Ef f R
(5-14)
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Consider a critical infinite bare cylinder with radius R
In such a system, neutron flux depends only on the distance r
from the cylinder axis
The reactor equation (5-4) in cylindrical coordinates is:
d2 1 d
`
` B2 0
r dr
dr 2
(5-15)
Neutron flux must satisfy not only this equation, but also the
r 0
boundary condition pRq
The equation (5-15) is an ordinary Bessel equation of the order
zero. Its general solution is in form of the zero order ordinary
Bessel functions of the first (J0 ) and second (Y0 ) kind:
pr q AJ0 pBr q ` CY0 pBr q
Function Y0 is infinite at r = 0, thus constant C must equal zero
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Infinite Cylinder Reactor (contd)

Neutron flux reduces to:
pr q AJ0 pBr q
Based on function J0 pxq shape, boundary condition
r AJ0 pB Rq
r 0 is satisfied at several values of xn
pRq
It means that the boundary condition is satisfied if B is one the
values:
xn
Bn
r
R
Again, only the first eigenvalue is valid for a critical reactor and
buckling must equal:
B12
x1
r
R
2.405
r
R
2
(5-16)
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Infinite Cylinder Reactor (contd2)
One-group flux in an infinite bare reactor is
2.405r
pr q AJ0
r
R
(5-17)
The constant A is determined from the reactor power

Volume element in cylindrical reactor is dV 2r dr , thus power
per unit length of the reactor is:
R
R
2.405r
dr (5-18)
P 2Ef f
r pr q dr 2Ef f
rJ0
r
R
0
0
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Infinite Cylinder Reactor (contd3)
The
equation (5-18) can be evaluated using formula
J0 px 1 qx 1 dx 1 xJ1 pxq, which gives for small d

P 2Ef f R 2 A
J1 p2.405q
1.35Ef f R 2 A
2.405
Final expression for the neutron flux is:

0.738P
pr q
J0
Ef f R 2
2.405r
R
(5-19)
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Finite cylinder reactor with radius R and height H is close to a real
reactor system
In this reactor, the neutron flux depends on the distance r from the
axis and the distance z from the midpoint of the cylinder
The reactor equation (5-4) is following:
B 2 pr , zq 1 Bpr , zq B 2 pr , zq
`
`
` B 2 pr , zq 0
r
Br
Br 2
Bz 2
r zq 0 and
The solution must satisfy boundary conditions pR,
r
pr , H{2q
0
The solution is obtained by assuming separation of variables
pr , zq Rpr qZ pzq
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Finite Cylinder Reactor(contd)

Separation of variables leads to two equations, which can be
solved independently:
d2 R 1 dR
` Br2 R 0
`
r dr
dr 2
d2 Z
` Bz2 Z 0
dz 2
The buckling B 2 Br2 ` Bz2
The final solution and application of boundary conditions is similar
to the previously solved slab and infinite cylinder reactors:

z
2.405r
cos
(5-20)
pr , zq AJ0
r
r
R
H
r H ` 2d and R
r R ` d are extrapolated boundaries
H
Constant A can be determined from the reactor power
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Maximum neutron flux (reactor power) is found in the centre of the
reactor
It is useful to known the ratio of the average neutron power to the
maximum value
For example, in a spherical nuclear reactor the maximum flux is:
P
P
sinpr {Rq
lim
r
4Ef f R 2 r 0
4Ef f R 3
Average flux is calculated as:
P
av
Ef f V
Dividing the previous equations gives power peaking factor K for a
sphere reactor
max
2
K
3.29
av
3
Power distribution is kept uniform in the reactor core
max
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Critical Equations
Critical Equations
It was shown previously that it is necessary for a reactor to be

critical that B2 must be equal to the first eigenvalue B21
Critical equations will be determined for one-group and two-group
reactor equations
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Critical Equations

Critical reactor follows equation (5-5), which solved for B2 gives:
B2
f a
, or the critical buckling must be:
D
Bc2
f
a
D
a
The right-hand side must equal to the first eigenvalue B21

depending only on dimensions and geometry of the reactor
Using definition of k8 and L2 it can be written:
k8 1
B12
L2
It can be interpreted that in order to reach critical state, physical
dimensions and geometry must by appropriate to fuel composition
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Critical Equations
Neutron Leakage
The previous equation can be rearranged in the following form
(from this moment B2 refers to buckling of a critical reactor):
k8
1
1 ` B 2 L2
(5-21)
This form is usually known as one-group critical equation

Rate of neutron leakage from volume V through area A is:
Jn dA
div J dV D
2 dV
A
From reactor equation (5-4), this can be rewritten as:
2
2
D
dV DB
dV
V
V
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Critical Equations
Neutron Leakage (contd)

Neutrons can either escape from the reactor or be absorbed
inside with no other alternative
Probability of neutron non-leakage (PNL ) can be calculated as:
a V dV
a
1
PNL
a ` DB 2
1 ` B 2 L2
a V dV ` DB 2 V dV
(5-22)
From comparing previous equations (5-21) and (5-22) it can be
concluded that critical equation can be rewritten in form:
k8 PNL 1
(5-23)
This result has following interpretation
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Critical Equations
Neutron Leakage (contd2)
Total a V dV neutrons are absorbed in the reactor every

second and this leads to release of fission neutrons:
f a
dV k8 a
dV
V
Due to leakage, only PNL k8 a

neutrons
dV initiate new generation of
From definition of multiplication factor follows that:
PNL k8 V a dV
k
k8 PNL fPNL
a V dV
(5-24)
Thus, the left-hand side of the critical equation (5-21) is actually

the multiplication factor for the reactor
The critical equation follows by placing k = 1
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Thermal Reactors
Thermal Reactors
Most of the currently operated nuclear reactors are thermal

reactors
Thermal reactors consist of fuel, constructional materials,
moderator and coolant
Only fuel and moderator will be distinguished in the current
analysis
All materials apart from fuel are considered as moderator
Purpose of moderator is to slow-down neutrons to reach thermal
energy range
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Thermal Reactors
Thermal Reactors Difference

Previous criticality calculations were performed for one neutron
group suitable for fast reactors
One-group method is not sufficient for thermal reactor
calculations, because neutrons can diffuse for a considerable
distance while slowing down
At least two neutron groups must be considered:
fast group for neutrons released during fission
thermal group for neutrons at energies with high probabilities to
initiate fission
It can be assumed that there is no absorption in the fast group and

in this group neutrons are only lost as a result of slowing-down
into the thermal group
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Thermal Reactors
Two-Group Critical Calculation

1 1 neutrons are scattered out of the fast group per cm3 /sec,
where 1 is fast neutron flux
Fission is initiated mostly by thermal neutrons, the few fissions by
fast neutrons are taken into account by fast fission factor
s a T pk8 {pq
s a T fission neutrons are
It follows that T f
emitted per cm3 /sec
These neutrons appear in the fast group as a source of neutrons
Formulation of reactor equations in two energy groups are
following:
D1 2 1 1 1 `
k8 s
a T 0, fast group
p
s 2 T
s a T ` p1 1 0, thermal group
D
(5-25)
(5-26)
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Thermal Reactors
Two-Group Critical Calculation (contd)

Both thermal and fast neutron flux follow the same spatial
distribution and can be written as:
1 A1
T A2
A1 and A2 are constants and satisfies the equation:
2 ` B 2 0
Substituting the last three equation into (5-25) and (5-26) yields:
pD1 B 2 ` 1 qA1 `
k8 s
a A 2 0
p
s 2`
s a qA2 0
p1 A1 pDB
(5-27)
(5-28)
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Thermal Reactors
Two-Group Critical Calculation (contd2)

According to Cramers rule equations (5-27) and (5-28) have
non-trivial solution if system determinant equals zero:
pD B 2 ` q
k8 s
a
1
1
p
s 2`
s a q 0
p1
pDB
Multiplying out the determinant gives:
s 2`
s a 1 pDB
s a qpD1 B 2 ` 1 q 0
k8
s a finally yields:
Rearranging and dividing by 1
Two-group critical equation for a bare homogeneous reactor
p1 `
k8
2
2
B LT qp1
` B 2 T q
(5-29)
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Thermal Reactors
Two-Group Critical Equation

In the previous equation (5-29) were used L2T thermal diffusion
area and neutron age T defined as:
s
D
D1
L2T s and T
1
a
The two-group critical equation (5-29) contains probability that
thermal neutron will not leak from the reactor PTNL and
probability of not escaping while slowing-down PFNL
1
1
PTNL
and PFNL
1 ` B 2 T
1 ` B 2 L2T
Multiplication factor of thermal reactor is k k8 PTNL PFNL
If denominator in the two-group critical equation is multiplied out,
term B 4 L2T T can often be ignored resulting in expression:
1
1`
B 2 pL2T
` T q
(5-30)
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Thermal Reactors
Modified One-Group Critical Equation

It is possible to define thermal migration area MT2 L2T ` T ,
then equation (5-30) can be written as:
1
1
1 ` B 2 MT2
(5-31)
This form is known as modified one-group critical equation

It is clear that if T is much smaller than L2T , then the reactor is
sufficiently described by the one-group critical equation
This approach is suitable for graphite and D2 O moderated reactor
Two-group theory is necessary for reactors moderated by H2 O
The resulting equations (5-29) and (5-31) are used to calculate
critical mass of bare thermal reactors
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Reflected Reactors
Reactor Reflector
Neutron economy is improved if the reactor core is surrounded by

a reflector
Reflector is realized by a thick unfueled region of moderator
Neutrons escaping from the core must pass through this
moderator region and some of these diffuse back
The net result is that critical dimensions of the reactor are reduced
Reflector parameters will be derived using one-group method for a
sphere reactor of radius R
The following analysis deals only with an infinite reflector
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Reflected Reactors
One-Group Method
Reflected Sphere Reactor

In the following analysis, parameters referring to the reactor core
and reflector will have subscripts c and r, respectively
Neutron flux in the reactor core must follow the equation:
2 c ` B 2 c 0 , where for critical reactor
B2
(5-32)
k8 1
L2c
Since there are no neutron sources in the reflector, neutron flux in

this area must satisfy the following equation:
2 r
1
r 0
L2r
(5-33)
The previous equations for c and r must be solved with respect

to boundary conditions
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Reflected Reactors
One-Group Method
Reflected Sphere Reactor (contd)

General solution for equation (5-32) was derived previously and it
is in form:
sinpBr q
cospBr q
c A c
` Cc
r
r
Because neutron flux must be finite in the whole reactor volume
(including r = 0), constant Cc must equal 0 and c reduces to:
sinpBr q
r
General solution to equation (5-33) is:
c Ac
(5-34)
er {Lr
er {Lr
` Cr
r
r
Constant Cr must equal zero to keep neutron flux finite as r goes
to infinity and the equation reduces to:
r Ar
r Ar
er {Lr
r
(5-35)
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Reflected Reactors
One-Group Method
Reflected Sphere Reactor (contd2)

Boundary conditions for neutron flux and neutron current on the
core/reflector interface (r = R) are used:
c pRq r pRq and
dc
dr
Dc
Dr
dr R
dr R
(5-36)
(5-37)
Introducing equations (5-34) and (5-35) into (5-36) gives:

sinpBRq
eR{Lr
Ar
(5-38)
R
R
Next, differentiating equations (5-34) and (5-35) and inserting
results into (5-37) yields:
B cospBRq sinpBRq
1
1
Ac Dc
Ar Dr
`
eR{Lr
R
RLr
R
R2
(5-39)
Ac
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Reflected Reactors
One-Group Method
Critical Equation of a Reflected Sphere Reactor

System of equations (5-38) and (5-39) for unknowns Ac and Ar
has nontrivial solution if determinant of the system equals zero.
This is satisfied if
1
1
1
`
Dc B cotpBRq
Dr
(5-40)
R
Lr
R
The equation (5-40) is usually rearranged in the following form:
Dr R
BR cotpBRq 1
`1
(5-41)
Dc Lr
It is critical equation for sphere reactor with infinite reflector
It must be satisfied for a reactor to be critical
For given R, B2 must be calculated from equation (5-41) and
critical composition can be determined
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Reflected Reactors
One-Group Method
Solution of Critical Equation of a Reflected Sphere

Reactor
Critical equation (5-41) is transcendental and cannot be solved
analytically, but graphical solution is possible
Suppose that the core composition and hence B is specified
Reactor core radius can then be found by plotting the left-hand
side (LHS) and the right-hand side (RHS) of the equation
separately as functions of BR
As shown later, LHS has infinite number of branches and RHS
forms a straight line with slope Dr {pDc BLr q
Every value of BR corresponding to intersection of LHS and RHS
forms an infinite number of solutions
Only the first solution is relevant to a critical reactor
It is to be noted that the solution is smaller that , which means
that critical radius of reflected sphere is smaller than for a bare
spherical reactor
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Reflected Reactors
One-Group Method
Graphical Solution of Critical Equation of a Reflected

Sphere Reactor
Graphical solution to the critical equation of a reflected sphere reactor

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Reflected Reactors
One-Group Method
Special Solution of Critical Equation of a Reflected

Sphere Reactor
In a special case in which moderator in the core and reflector are

the same, Dc Dr and equation (5-41) reduces to:
B cotpBRq
1
Lr
(5-42)
This equation is not transcendental in R, thus if B is known, critical

radius R can be calculated directly
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Reflected Reactors
One-Group Method
Determination of Power of a Critical Reflected Sphere

Reactor
Having obtained the criticality conditions, it is necessary to
evaluate constants Ac and Ar from the reactor power
Constants Ac and Ar are related by equation (5-38) and it is
possible to find for instance Ar in terms of Ac
Ar Ac eR{Lr sinpBRq
The reactor power is determined as P Ef f V c dV with

dV 4r 2 dr
R
4Ef f Ac
P 4Ef f Ac
r sinpBRqdr
psinpBRqBR cospBRqq
B2
0
Solution for Ac gives:
Ac
PB 2
4Ef f psinpBRq BR cospBRqq
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Reflected Reactors
One-Group Method
Reflected Reactor Discussion

The presented procedure of critical equation determination is
analytically possible only for spherical and fully reflected
parallelepiped and cylindrical reactor
In practise, critical conditions of these reactors are evaluated by
transforming to a spherical reactor of the same composition and
volume
The whole calculation was carried using one-group method
without regard for whether the reactor is fast or thermal
It is therefore valid for both energy groups
One-group method is sufficient for critical parameters
computation, but for neutron flux distribution it is necessary to use
two-group calculation
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Reflected Reactors
Two-Group Method
Flux in a Reflected Thermal Reactor

In two-group approximation, it is necessary to solve a two-group
reactor equation for the reactor core and a two-group diffusion
equation for the reflector
The evaluation will not be presented here, only the most important
results
The most striking result is that thermal neutron flux rises near the
core-reflector interface and exhibits a peak in the reflector
It is caused by fast neutrons thermalisation in the reflector
Thermal neutrons are not much absorbed in the reflector,
therefore they tend to accumulate there before they escape
through the outer surface or diffuse back into the core
This leads to flattening of the neutron flux distribution in the core
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Reflected Reactors
Two-Group Method
Plotted Neutron Flux a in Reflected Thermal Reactor
June 13, 2011
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Reflected Reactors
Two-Group Method
Reflector Savings
Reactor reflector reduces critical dimensions of the core and
reduces maximum-to-average power ratio
Reflector savings is defined as:
r 0 R , where R
r 0 is critical diameter of a bare reactor (5-43)
R
Following formula can be used to roughly estimate reflector
savings for D2 O and graphite moderated/reflected reactor:
sc
D
s LTr
Dr
(5-44)
The equation (5-44) is valid if reflector is several diffusion lengths

thick, then it can be considered effectively infinite and further
thickness increase does not reduce critical size of the core
In practise all reactors have sufficiently thick reflectors to be
considered infinite
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Nuclear Reactor Theory

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Nuclear Reactor Theory

June 13, 2011

J. Frybort, L. Heraltova (CTU in Prague)