Dataset of observables for UOX and MOX spent fuel extracted from Serpent2 fuel depletion calculations for PWRs

Abstract

This database contains the isotopic mass density and the contribution to activity, decay heat, photon emission, spontaneous fission rate, (α,n) emission rates and radiotoxicity of 150 nuclides that are present in nuclear fuel irradiated in PWRs. These nuclides are of paramount importance for nuclear waste characterization and fuel cycle analysis. These values were obtained by depletion calculations based on a 3D pin-cell geometry model and performed with the Monte Carlo reactor physics burnup calculation code Serpent2, with state-of-the-art nuclear data libraries and relevant methods. The calculations cover a wide range of burnup levels for conventional PWRs and take into account both UOX and MOX fuel. A broad span for initial enrichment for UOX (from 1.5% to 6.0%), and for both the initial plutonium content (from 4.0% to 12.0% and the plutonium isotopic composition of MOX has been considered. This database has been made publicly available due to its relevance in the fields of waste and fuel characterization, nuclear safeguards and radiation protection, and it will allow other potential users to avoid the time-consuming calculations required to obtain the aforementioned data. Additionally, it constitutes an interesting dataset for model training in machine learning applications related to nuclear science and engineering.

Keywords

• Spent nuclear fuel
• UOX
• MOX
• Nuclide inventory
• Decay heat
• Neutron and gamma emission