New fuel loading design for the Advanced Neutron Source

摘要

A new fuel loading design has been developed for the Advanced Neutron Source Reactor. In this reactor the combination of a small core volume and high power results in a very high power density. Using a direct optimization procedure the thermal-hydraulic margins for oxide temperature drop, centerline temperature and incipient boiling (and thus critical heat flux) were maximized to increase the limiting thermal power from 298 MW to 346 MW compared to the previous fuel grading, while maintaining the desired peak reflector thermal flux.