Monte Carlo code Serpent calculation of the parameters of the stationary nuclear fission wave

Abstract

n this work, propagation of the stationary nuclear fission wave was simulated for series of fixed power values using Monte Carlo code Serpent. The wave moved in the axial direction in 5 m long cylindrical core of fast reactor with pure 238U raw fuel. Stationary wave mode arises some period later after the wave ignition and lasts sufficiently long to determine kef with high enough accuracy. The velocity characteristic of the reactor was determined as the dependence of the wave velocity on the neutron multiplication factor. As we have recently shown within a one-group diffusion description, the velocity characteristic is two-valued due to the effect of concentration mechanisms, while thermal feedback affects it only quantitatively. The shape and parameters of the velocity characteristic critically affect feasibility of the reactor design since stationary wave solutions of the lower branch are unstable and do not correspond to any real waves in self-regulated reactor, like CANDLE. In this work calculations were performed without taking into account thermal feedback. They confirm that theoretical dependence correctly describes the shape of the velocity characteristic calculated using the results of the Serpent modeling.

Keywords

• nuclear fission wave
• breed-and-burn reactor
• traveling wave reactor
• CANDLE
• Serpent