Depletion Chain Simplification With Pseudo-Nuclides to Model Decay Effects

Abstract

This work introduces the novel usage of pseudo-nuclides to model decay effects which are otherwise absent from simplified depletion libraries. Pseudo-nuclides are artificial nuclides which, when added to a simplified depletion library, can preserve quantities of interest such as decay energy release or decay photon activity which are otherwise significantly under-predicted by simplified libraries. Several dozen pseudo-nuclides are capable of accurately modeling decay effects of hundreds of short-lived radionuclides. The computational resources needed to model the decay effects in depletion systems with simplified depletion libraries with pseudo-nuclides are significantly less than those needed when using simplified depletion libraries without pseudo-nuclides. When compared to the similar method of decay heat precursors for a given system, pseudo-nuclides allow for smaller depletion libraries to be generated because of their ability to more accurately model the fission product irradiation effect on decay heat.