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At least 811 records · Page 45

NRC Multiphysics Analysis Capability Deployment FY2020: Part 3

This report details progress and activities of Idaho National Laboratory (INL) on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) project “Development and Modeling Sup- port for Advanced Non-Light Water Reactors.” The tasks completed for this report are: Task2c: Explicit modeling of pebble transient temperature response. In this simulation, the 400 MWth Pebble-Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) design, PBMR- 400, experiences a 20-second power ramp from 100% to 150% power. This is followed by a similar reduction in the power back to 100%. Several multiscale pebble coupling approaches are tested with one pebble per mesh element in the active core region. The results show good conservation behavior and the stability of the coupling.; Extended scope part 1: An assessment of the computational efficiency of the Discontinuous Finite Element Method (DFEM) heat transfer solver shows good scalability. The DFEM solver is a factor of 4 more expensive in solution time than the Finite Element Method (FEM) solver for heat transfer problems due to the increased number of degrees of freedom. Nonetheless, the DFEM approach provides the user with the flexibility to model gap heat transfer problems.; Extended scope part 2: The GapHeatTransferInterfaceMaterial was improved to give the user increased flexibility with the modeling of heat transfer through gaps with the DFEM solver. A number of gap parameters can now be coupled both through functions and variables.; Extended scope part 3: Demonstration of how the gap width between hexagonal fuel cells can be calculated during a heat-up transient and used in the GapHeatTransferInterface model. A full-domain DFEM model with gap expansion is coupled to a SubApp that models the thermal expansion of the base plate. The results show the expected physical behavior, although have not been fully bench-marked at this point in time.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Comparative analysis of energy deposition modes available in Serpent 2 within the framework of the supercritical water reactor - Fuel qualification test reactor physics benchmark

A joint European Canadian Chinese development of a supercritical water-cooled small modular reactor (SCW-SMR) technology is in progress since September 2020 in the framework of a Horizon 2020 project called ECC-SMART. As a main purpose of the project, proper estimates of energy deposition and its spatial distribution are prerequisites for the accurate analysis of safety related parameters of the SCW-SMR concept under development. A supercritical water reactor fuel computational benchmark model, provided by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, was applied for detailed comparison of different energy deposition calculation options available in the Serpent 2 Monte Carlo code. The effect of energy deposition options on the normalization of the results as well as on the spatial distribution of the energy deposition are discussed. Consistent energy deposition calculation methods are presented between three Monte Carlo codes, viz., Serpent 2, MCNP6 and OpenMC. Although resource-intensive, the use of the coupled neutron-photon transport mode of Serpent 2 is recommended for accurate spatial and quantitative characterization of energy deposition in the SCW-SMR fuel assemblies, accounting for both neutron and photon heating of all the materials. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Development of HELIOS/BIPR/PARCS/MCNP6 Computation Route for WWER RPV Neutron Fluence Analysis and Validation Against Ex-Vessel Detector Measurement Data

Here, a computational route was developed for precise calculation of fast neutron fluence on a WWER-type reactor pressure vessel (RPV). The method is based on the transfer of neutronics data from HELIOS-2 lattice calculations and nodal diffusion neutronics data (power, density, and temperature) from BIPR7.1 and PARCS 3.36/PATHS core calculations into a three-dimensional (pinwise axially distributed) fixed neutron source for modeling of transport of fast neutrons from the reactor core to the outer surface of the RPV using MCNP6.2. Validation of the proposed computational method was carried out based on comparative analysis of MCNP6.2-predicted and neutron dosimetry–measured reaction rates [ 54 Fe(n,p) 54 Мn, 93 Nb(n,n') 93 mNb, and 58 Ni(n,р) 58 Со] on the outer surface of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP) Unit 2 RPV. Validation revealed that the MCNP6.2-predicted fast neutron fluence results are very sensitive to the ENDF-B neutron data. Particularly, MCNP6.2 with ENDF/B-VIII.0 significantly underpredicts (20% to 30%) fast neutron fluence while using ENDF/B-VII.1 data overpredicts it. Adding revised beta-released evaluations of 54 Fe, 56 Fe, 57 Fe, and 16 O from the International Nuclear Data Evaluation Network (INDEN) to ENDF/B-VIII.0 allows one to obtain reasonable agreement with measurement results for all types of measured reaction rates.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Solvent- and catalyst-free mechanochemical synthesis of alkali metal monohydrides

Alkali metal monohydrides, AH (A = Li–Cs) have been synthesized in quantitative yields at room temperature by reactive milling of alkali metals in the presence of hydrogen gas at 200 bar or less. The mechanochemical approach reported here eliminates problems associated with the malleability of alkali metals — especially Li, Na, and K — and promotes effective solid–gas reactions, ensuring their completion. This is achieved by incorporating a certain volume fraction of the corresponding hydride powder as a process control agent, which allows continuous and efficient milling primarily by coating the surface of metal particles, effectively blocking cold welding. Formation of high-purity crystalline monohydrides has been confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction, solid-state NMR spectroscopy, and volumetric analyses of reactively desorbed H 2 from as-milled samples. The proposed synthesis method is scalable and particularly effective for extremely air-sensitive materials, such as alkali and alkaline earth metal hydrides. Furthermore, the technique may also be favorable for production in continuous reactors operating at room temperature, thereby reducing the total processing time, energy consumption and, hence, the cost of production of these hydrides or their derivatives and composites.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Benchmark Specification for FFTF LOFWOS Test #13

The Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) at the Hanford site in Washington was designed by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation for the U.S. Department of Energy. FFTF was a 400 MW thermal, oxide-fueled, liquid sodium cooled test reactor, built to assist development and testing of advanced fuels and materials for fast breeder reactors. After reaching criticality in 1980, FFTF operated until 1992, providing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with the means to test fuels, materials, and other components in a fast neutron flux environment. In July 1986, a series of unprotected transients (with the plant protection system intentionally disabled) were performed in FFTF as part of the passive safety demonstration program. Among these were thirteen loss of flow without scram (LOFWOS) tests. The goals of this program included confirming the liquid metal reactor safety margins, providing data for computer code validation, and demonstrating the inherent and passive safety benefits of specific design features. The test defined in this benchmark is LOFWOS Test #13, which was initiated at 50% power and 100% flow with the pump pony motors turned off. This benchmark specification is intended to support collaborative efforts within international partnerships on the validation of simulation tools and models in the area of Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) safety. Validated tools and models are needed to evaluate SFR inherent safety characteristics and assess the impact of passive design features in response to accident initiators. Comparisons with experimental data and the results of safety analyses from other groups create unique opportunities to improve predictive capabilities of computational codes and methods for SFR modeling and simulation. The conditions of the LOFWOS test along with the feedback from FFTF’s limited free bow core restraint system and the novel passive reactivity control Gas-Expansion Modules (GEMs) pose a very challenging and uniquely valuable benchmark exercise.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

MORPHOLOGICAL AND RADIATION DAMAGE INFORMED THERMAL PROPERTY PREDICTION IN SCALED GEOMETRIC DOMAINS

This proposed work has the potential to rewrite the way the nuclear industry investigates new fuel and nuclear material designs. The current rubric of nuclear material design has myriad steps in the process, and while certain physics are modeled accurately, each step must be connected in order to obtain an entire description of the process. At present, neutronic, thermal, microstructural, fission product chemistry and migration, and radiation defect analysis (hereafter referred to together as “combined analysis”) are performed, albeit separately. There is no existing method which combines these physics in an attempt to understand the natural interactions between these phenomena. Consequently, the timeline for design, fabrication, experiment, validation, and licensing can take years. A disruptive approach is required to accelerate the development of new technology. This proposed undertaking creates a validated computational framework, generating a new microscopic-to-macroscopic methodology yielding thermal property predictions for nuclear fuels and materials at an engineering spatial scale.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Enhanced Micro-Pocket Fission Detector for High Temperature Reactors - FY17 FInal Project Report

A collaboration between the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), the Kansas State University (KSU), and the French Atomic Energy Agency, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, (CEA), has been initiated by the Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies (NEET) Advanced Sensors and Instrumentation (ASI) program for developing and testing High Temperature Micro-Pocket Fission Detectors (HT MPFD), which are compact fission chambers capable of simultaneously measuring thermal neutron flux, fast neutron flux and temperature within a single package for temperatures up to 800 °C. The MPFD technology utilizes a small, multi-purpose, robust, in-core fission chambers and thermocouple. As discussed within this report, the small size, variable sensitivity, and increased accuracy of the MPFD technology represent a revolutionary improvement over current methods used to support irradiations in US Material Test Reactors (MTRs). Previous research conducted through NEET ASI1-3 has shown that the MPFD technology could be made robust and was successfully tested in a reactor core. This new project will further the MPFD technology for higher temperature regimes and other reactor applications by developing a HT MPFD suitable for temperatures up to 800 °C. This report summarizes the research progress for this three year project.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Progress in Extending the High-Temperature Plasma Regime in the LHD

In this paper, we show the expansion of the high-temperature regime and related physical phenomena in the Large Helical Device (LHD). At the LHD, we have developed a high-temperature operational regime for both ion (T i ) and electron (T e ) temperatures through understanding the physical characteristics of high-temperature plasma, the enhancement of plasma heating, and the development of technical methods such as wall recycling control and impurity control. In particular, the formation of the ion internal transport barrier (i-ITB) and electron internal transport barrier (e-ITB) in the plasma core region is the key to improving plasma performance. In addition, the deuterium experiment that began in 2017 showed that, due to the isotope effect, the thermal transport of both ions and electrons is suppressed in deuterium plasma compared to light hydrogen plasma, and that a high central temperature can be achieved efficiently. Furthermore, the combination of neutral beam injection (NBI) and electron cyclotron heating (ECH) has extended the operating conditions that simultaneously maintain high T i and T e , and comprehensive research on plasma confinement characteristics with an eye to future fusion reactor conditions has progressed.

Large Helical Device↗

Roads less traveled: Nitrogen reduction reaction catalyst design strategies for improved selectivity

Direct electrochemical nitrogen reduction for ammonia production is necessary to reduce the use of fossil fuels from conventional Haber–Bosch methods. Applications of nitrogen reduction electrocatalysts remain inhibited by slow reaction kinetics and low faradaic efficiencies because of competitive H2 production pathways. Current strategies to address this challenge in selectivity have focused on catalyst design, reactor configuration, and electrolyte conditions. This brief review discusses the thermodynamic and kinetic challenges in the field as well as current underused approaches for selective catalyst development including bimetallic catalysts, transition metal nitrides, and carbon supports.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Coarse-Grained-Particle Method for Simulation of Liquid–Solids Reacting Flows

A coarse-grained-particle method (CGPM) that tracks fewer particles and their collisions by lumping several real particles into computational parcels is developed. We demonstrate that the accuracy of CGPM can be improved by properly selecting interpolation schemes used to compute flow variables at particle and computational grid locations. The computational speed of CGPM was shown to be similar to that of a widely used and less accurate particle in cell method (PIC). Finally, a chemical reaction mechanism based on rare earth elements (REE) leaching from coal byproducts was implemented with CGPM to study the effects of several flow and design parameters on the leaching process. A counter-current reactor was studied and optimized to maximize the mass fraction of REE in the liquid solution. As a result, the CGPM can now be employed to cheaply and accurately solve industrial-scale problems containing millions of computational parcels.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Evaluation of Thermal Neutron Scattering Cross Sections for CaH 2

Solid metal hydrides have long been considered viable moderators for nuclear reactor designs due to their moderating ratios, hydrogen densities, high dissociation temperatures, and mechanical properties. CaH 2 is an orthorhombic saline-hydride that has recently been investigated and shows promise for use as a moderator in microreactors. At present, there is no Thermal Scatting Law (TSL) evaluation for CaH 2 in the ENDF/B-VIII.0 database. An evaluation does exist in the JEFF-3.3 database, performed by Serot, however it was limited by the implemented methods and thus both drastically over-predicts the incoherent elastic contribution and completely ignores the coherent elastic contribution to scattering from the metal ions. The thermal neutron scattering cross sections of CaH 2 are evaluated in this work to establish accurate data for use in reactor design. The present evaluation corrects the inaccuracies of the JEFF-3.3 data, and yields three distinct libraries: Ca in CaH 2 , H 1 in CaH 2 , and H 2 in CaH 2 .

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Luminescent silica microagglomerates, synthesis, and environmental testing

Abstract Tracking mass through harsh environments requires surrogate particles that withstand the event and endure until sampling. Silica-covered quantum dots have been shown to withstand a range of environmental pHs from months to years; in this work they are shown to endure in anticipated local environments. Two methods of particle synthesis were employed to produce luminescent silica with particle diameters 0.1–4 μm. These tracer particles scale for mass production, tolerate harsh environments, and endure in debris. They could be deployed in places such as chemical explosions, industrial processes, geologic test beds, oil and gas fields, nuclear reactors, and geothermal plants to track mass under harsh conditions. Graphical abstract

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A System-Level Model for Estimating Residual Strain and Life of Nuclear Reactor Coolant System Components Under Connected-System-Thermal–Mechanical Boundary Conditions

Background: Environmental-assisted fatigue (EAF) is a major issue for the long-term survival of nuclear power plant fleets in the U.S. and worldwide. Multi-material welded regions (e.g., nozzles) and other high-stress regions of reactor coolant system (RCS) components are prone to EAF-related damage. Objective: The discussed work describes a system-level finite element (FE) model of RCS components of a pressurized water reactor (PWR). This is with the goal of predicting the stress hotspots, strain residuals, strain amplitudes and the resulting fatigue lives. Methods: Herein, the FE model was developed considering system-level loading conditions (under connected system thermal-mechanical boundary conditions). Thermal-mechanical stress analysis was performed considering thermal stratification and a design-basis reactor loading cycle. Based on the FE model results, the strain residuals, strain amplitudes and resulting fatigue lives of RCS components were predicted. Results: The results show that some of the RCS components can have significantly different strain amplitudes, residual strain, and fatigue lives, despite having similar geometry and material. Higher residual strain can lead to accelerated cyclic hardening of material and the associated effect of EAF. The simulated component-level strain profile (under realistic multi-axial-multi-physics loading cycle) can guide the selection of appropriate test inputs for conducting laboratory-scale EAF tests, which is a focus of future works. Conclusions: Despite similar geometry and material the RCS component can have significantly different strain profiles and resulting fatigue lives. The discussed approach can help to identify and prioritize the RCS components for conducting expensive nondestructive evaluation (NDE) inspections.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Lunar Sulfur Capture System

The Lunar Sulfur Capture System (LSCS) protects in situ resource utilization (ISRU) hardware from corrosion, and reduces contaminant levels in water condensed for electrolysis. The LSCS uses a lunar soil sorbent to trap over 98 percent of sulfur gases and about two-thirds of halide gases evolved during hydrogen reduction of lunar soils. LSCS soil sorbent is based on lunar minerals containing iron and calcium compounds that trap sulfur and halide gas contaminants in a fixed-bed reactor held at temperatures between 250 and 400 C, allowing moisture produced during reduction to pass through in vapor phase. Small amounts of Earth-based polishing sorbents consisting of zinc oxide and sodium aluminate are used to reduce contaminant concentrations to one ppm or less. The preferred LSCS configuration employs lunar soil beneficiation to boost concentrations of reactive sorbent minerals. Lunar soils contain sulfur in concentrations of about 0.1 percent, and halogen compounds including chlorine and fluorine in concentrations of about 0.01 percent. These contaminants are released as gases such as H2S, COS, CS2,HCl, and HF during thermal ISRU processing with hydrogen or other reducing gases. Removal of contaminant gases is required during ISRU processing to prevent hardware corrosion, electrolyzer damage, and catalyst poisoning. The use of Earth-supplied, single-use consumables to entirely remove contaminants at the levels existing in lunar soils would make many ISRU processes unattractive due to the large mass of consumables relative to the mass of oxygen produced. The LSCS concept of using a primary sorbent prepared from lunar soil was identified as a method by which the majority of contaminants could be removed from process gas streams, thereby substantially reducing the required mass of Earth-supplied consumables. The LSCS takes advantage of minerals containing iron and calcium compounds that are present in lunar soil to trap sulfur and halide gases in a fixedbed reactor downstream of an in-ISRU process such as hydrogen reduction. The lunar-soil-sorbent trap is held at a temperature significantly lower than the operating temperature of the hydrogen reduction or other ISRU process in order to maximize capture of contaminants, but is held at a high enough temperature to allow moisture to pass through without condensing. The lunar soil benefits from physical beneficiation to remove ultrafine particles (to reduce pressure drop through a fixed bed reactor) and to upgrade concentrations of iron and/or calcium compounds (to improve reactivity with gaseous contaminants).

Berggren, Mark↗

MOOSE Optimization Module Overview: Application to Residual Stress Inversion in Nuclear Fuel Plates

Manufacturing methods, material selections and unique plate geometries used in low enriched uranium plate fuels for the High Performance Research Reactor (HPRR) have led to concerns about the residual stresses effect on bond strength of the fuel/cladding interfaces and overall fuel performance under irradiation. The current HPRR plate fuel test program performed residual stress calculations using the contour method with experimental displacement data obtained by incrementally cutting the plate fuel. In this work, we use a gradient based inverse optimization module developed within the MOOSE framework to estimate normal and shear residual stresses within the plate fuels using displacement data taken from a cut placed in the HPRR fuel plate. These results are verified against residual stress calculations obtained from the contour method. The inversion protocol used in this work utilizes two meshes to separately discretize the physics and parameter space. This allows a fine mesh to be used to fully resolve the physics and geometry of the forward problem. A coarser mesh is used to resolve the parameter space with spatially varying mesh density determined from a sensitivity analysis. The adaptive resolution of the parameter space essentially has the effect of regularization as it is designed to achieve the bias-variance tradeoff.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Photonuclear Physics in SCALE

Radiation shielding modeling involves a wide range of applications, such as power reactors, critical experiments, portable sources, linear accelerators, and fusion systems. Particle energy ranges vary from thermal energies to fast energy spectra. MAVRIC, as the radiation shielding sequence of the SCALE code system [1] developed and maintained by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is capable of modeling both neutron and photon interactions in matter and is widely used by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration, and radiation shielding practitioners all around the world. Although most applications don’t involve highly energetic photons that can cause photonuclear reactions and create coupled chains of high energy, ionized electrons and bremsstrahlung radiation within a material medium, when present, these reactions can have a significant impact upon the downstream particle fluxes from incident photons above 20 MeV. For example, linear accelerators used for medical isotope production are examples of applications in which high-energetic photons are generated and used for driving or controlling other components of a complex facility. Radiation shielding analyses of such a facility would require accounting for any and all significant sources of radiation. Unfortunately, MAVRIC included no data and methods to model either photonuclear reactions or the bremsstrahlung photons until this work, which enabled accounting for both. Photonuclear reaction cross sections were imported from the Evaluated Nuclear Data File libraries, and corresponding methods were implemented in the SCALE code system; see Section 2 for how the nuclear data are imported and used. Bremsstrahlung photons were modeled by assuming thick-target approximation whereby all generated electrons and positrons due to photon interactions are assumed to be absorbed within the same material in which they were born, yielding a quick particle transport simulation method by using fast lookup tables for generating subsequent gammas; see Section 4 for details. A suite of verification models was used to test implemented methods and associated data. Tests yielded satisfactory results for the new features. Enhancements will be released as part of the next major SCALE release (v7.0), which is anticipated to be deployed in 2025, with beta releases available in the interim.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Molecular dynamics simulation of thermal transport in UO 2 containing uranium, oxygen, and fission-product defects

Uranium dioxide (UO 2 ) is the most commonly used fuel in light-water nuclear reactors and thermal conductivity controls the removal of heat produced by fission, thereby governing fuel temperature during normal and accident conditions. The use of fuel performance codes by the industry to predict operational behavior is widespread. A primary source of uncertainty in these codes is thermal conductivity, and optimized fuel utilization may be possible if existing empirical models are replaced with models that incorporate explicit thermal-conductivity-degradation mechanisms during fuel burn up. This approach is able to represent the degradation of thermal conductivity due to each individual defect type, rather than the overall burn-up measure typically used, which is not an accurate representation of the chemical or microstructure state of the fuel that actually governs thermal conductivity and other properties. To generate a mechanistic thermal conductivity model, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of UO 2 thermal conductivity including representative uranium and oxygen defects and fission products are carried out. These calculations employ a standard Buckingham-type interatomic potential and a potential that combines the many-body embedded-atom-method potential with Morse-Buckingham pair potentials. Potential parameters for UO 2+x and ZrO 2 are developed for the latter potential. Physical insights from the resonant phonon-spin-scattering mechanism due to spins on the magnetic uranium ions are introduced into the treatment of the MD results, with the corresponding relaxation time derived from existing experimental data. High defect scattering is predicted for Xe atoms compared to that of La and Zr ions. Uranium defects reduce the thermal conductivity more than oxygen defects. For each defect and fission product, scattering parameters are derived for application in both a Callaway model and the corresponding high-temperature model typically used in fuel-performance codes. The model is validated by comparison to low-temperature experimental measurements on single-crystal hyperstoichiometric UO 2+x samples and high-temperature literature data. Furthermore, this work will enable more accurate fuel-performance simulations and will extend to new fuel types and operating conditions, all of which improve the fuel economics of nuclear energy and maintain high fuel reliability and safety.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Modeling MTS pyrolysis and SiC deposition kinetics using principal component analysis and neural networks

Accurate chemical kinetics modeling is crucial for improving the efficiency of chemical processing and synthesis of ceramic matrix composites. Detailed kinetic models are computationally expensive due to the large number of transported chemical species, while the simplified physics-based models, such as single-step global mechanisms, are efficient but often overlook key chemical intermediates and pathways. Recent deep learning approaches promise accurate and cost-effective models. Yet, they require additional closures for the transported nonlinear latent variables, complicating integration with existing solvers. In this work, we develop a hybrid linear—nonlinear reduced model for silicon carbide deposition from methyltrichlorosilane precursor by combining principal component analysis (PCA) and autoencoder (AE) neural network (NN) approaches. PCA is used to identify a smaller set of linear transport variables, enabling direct reuse of conventional transport solvers. NNs then reconstruct the full chemical state from these reduced variables. We demonstrate the method on a chemical vapor deposition reactor—comprising a gas-phase pyrolysis plug flow reactor and a heterogeneous surface reactor—over a wide range of temperatures, pressures, and residence times. Our PCA–AE model achieves high accuracy with only five transported scalars, achieving an eightfold cost reduction compared to detailed mechanisms, in both a priori (using data from the test set only) and a posteriori (coupled with a differential equation solver). In conclusion, notable errors arise primarily near training domain boundaries and for long residence times, indicating the need for domain shift indicators and better long-horizon predictions in future reduced chemistry model development.

autoencoder neural networks↗