VALIDATION OF SRAC CODE SYSTEM FOR NEUTRONIC PARAMETERS CALCULATION OF THE PWR MOX/UO2 CORE BENCHMARK

Abstract

VALIDATION OF SRAC CODE SYSTEM FOR NEUTRONIC PARAMETERS CALCULATION OF THE PWR MOX/UO2 CORE BENCHMARK. Determination of neutronic parameter value is an important part in determining reactor safety, so accurate calculation results can be obtained. This study is focused on the validation of SRAC code system in the calculation of neutronic parameters value of a PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) reactor core. MOX/UO2 Core Benchmark was choosed because it is used by several researchers as a reference core for code validation in the determination of neutronic parameters of a reactor core. The neutronic parameters calculated include critical boron concentration, delayed neutron fraction, and Power Peaking Factor (PPF) and its distribution in axial and radial directions. When compared with reference data, the calculation results of the critical boron concentration value show that there is a difference of 22.5 ppm on SRAC code system. Meanwhile, differences in power per fuel element (assembly power error) value of power-weighted error (PWE) and error-weighted error (EWE) is 2.93% and 3.94%, respectively. Maximum difference between PPF value in axial direction with reference reaches a value of 4.57%. SRAC calculation results also show consistency with the calculation results of other program packages or code. Results of this study indicate that SRAC code system is still quite accurate for the calculation of neutronic parameters of PWR reactor core benchmark. Therefore, SRAC code system can be used to calculate neutronic parameters of PWR reactor core, especially when using MOX (mixed oxide) fuel. Keywords: Neutronic parameter, critical boron concentration, power peaking factor, SRAC code system.