Neutronic Analysis of the European Sodium Fast Reactor: Part II—Burnup Results

Abstract

Abstract In the framework of the Horizon 2020 project ESFR-SMART (2017–2021), the European sodium fast reactor (ESFR) core was updated through a safety-related modification and optimization of the core design from the earlier FP7 CP-ESFR project (2009–2013). This study is dedicated to neutronic analyses of the improved ESFR core design. The conducted work is reported in two parts. Part I deals with the evaluation of the safety-related neutronic parameters of the fresh beginning-of-life (BOL) core carried out by eight organizations using both continuous energy Monte Carlo and deterministic computer codes. In addition to the neutronics characterization of the core, a special emphasis was put on the calibration and verification of the computational tools involved in the analyses. Part II is devoted to once-through and realistic batchwise burnup calculations aiming at the establishing of the equilibrium core state, which will later serve as a basis for detailed safety analyses.