Rod drop transient at VR-1 reactor - Experiment and Serpent transient calculation analysis

摘要

The rod drop experiment is an important transient in reactor operation. This study focuses on a comparison between experimental reactor physics data and respective calculation. The rod drop experiment was performed at the VR-1 reactor. A full core 3D model was used to calculate this transient using Serpent2. Additionally, a point kinetic solution is presented. The Serpent results were compared with the experiment and with the point kinetic calculation. Two different nuclear data libraries (ENDF/B-VIII.0, JEFF3.3) were used in the data sensitivity analysis. The Serpent 3D kinetics results were almost identical to the point kinetic equation solution. Experimental data differed in the rod worth. This study shows that the new Serpent dynamic toolkit provides an accurate description of the reactor behavior during this transient. The 3D calculation proved that the detector position during the transient has a direct impact on the measured control rod worth. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.