Importance of Assembly Discontinuity Factors In Simulating Reactor Cores Containing Highly Heterogeneous Fuel Assemblies

G. Gomes[1]
[1]Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Mississuaga, Ontario, Canada
Published in 2009

To assess the importance of assembly discontinuity factors (ADF), a highly heterogeneous reactor core was simulated using a COMSOL model in which ADF are not used. The resulting errors in assembly powers were found to be unacceptably high. This indicates that for highly heterogeneous cores such as one with MOX and LEU fuel assemblies, the use of techniques that counter the effect of homogenization, such as ADF, are necessary to reduce power errors to acceptable levels. A direct correlation was found between ADF and assembly power error.

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