https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202124704025
AN ASSESSMENT OF THE SPATIAL VARIATION OF ISOTOPIC RATIOS IN A CANDU REACTOR FOR NUCLEAR TREATY MONITORING
Air Force Institute of Technology 2950 Hobson Way, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433
Aaron.Burkhardt@afit.edu
James.Bevins@afit.edu
Stephen.Baxter@afit.edu
Published online: 22 February 2021
A 3-D Quarter-Core CANDU-6 is modeled using Serpent 2 for nuclear treaty monitoring. The spatial variation of flux spectra and isotopic concentrations is analyzed to determine the potential isotopic distribution of key radionuclides from standard reactor operations relevant to non-proliferation. The initial results of the model show a 46% difference in overall flux magnitude throughout the core as well as a 2-30% difference in discrete energy flux. The coupled production rate (magnitude) and spectral differences can contribute to significant spatial variations in isotope ratios throughout the core. Initial results indicate 239Pu/240Pu ratios vary by as much as 51% across a single CANDU-6 fuel bundle at final burnup. The model is currently being used to develop an accurate representation of spent fuel to perform spatial isotopic analysis across the entire CANDU-6 core.
Key words: CANDU / Isotopic Variance / Monte-Carlo Transport / Non-Proliferation / Nuclear Forensics
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2021
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
