EVALUATION OF THE CASL BWR FUEL ASSEMBLY BENCHMARK USING THE TRANSLAT LATTICE PHYSICS CODE WITH 16-SECTOR FUEL CELLS

摘要

The TRANSLAT lattice physics code is used to determine the eigenvalue, reaction rate, and fuel depletion parameters for a highly-heterogeneous BWR fuel assembly lattice using a high-definition 16-sector fuel cell model. The BWR lattice is a classic benchmark problem that also represents the base fuel assembly design selected by CASL for developing a comprehensive reactor simulation technology. An evaluation of this benchmark shows that TRANSLAT is capable of predicting k-infinites to within 37 pcm of MCNP at 0 hours, 41 pcm of RACER at 0 hours, and 135 pcm of RACER at peak reactivity in the depletion. The benchmark also shows that TRANSLAT calculates Fission rate distributions with an RMS of 0.6% relative to MCNP at 0 hours and 1.2%-1.5% of RACER at 0 hours and 17,000 hours. Differences in the peak fission rod were nominally predicted to be 0.4% to 0.7%. It is also shown that TRANSLAT calculated capture rate distributions with an RMS of 0.3% relative to MCNP.