Analysis of Void Reactivity Coefficient for 3D BWR Assembly Model

Abstract

The effect of BWR fuel assembly 3D model on void reactivity coefficient (VRC) estimation is investigated. VRC values were calculated for different BWR assembly models applying deterministic T-NEWT and Monte Carlo KENO-VI functional modules of SCALE 6.1 code package. The difference between deterministic T-NEWT and Monte Carlo KENO-VI simulations is negligible (0.18 pcm/%). The influence of the assumed more detailed coolant density profile was estimated as well. VRC increases with the application of a larger number of coolant density values across fuel assembly height. It was shown that the coolant density profile described by 6 values per height could be considered sufficient from prospect of VRC estimation, as a more detailed density profile has impact below 1% on total assembly void effects. VRC values were decomposed to values for individual nodes and isotopes, since decomposition provides useful insights to describe the overall behaviour of VRC in detail.