Studying The Effect of Using the Burnable Absorber on Plutonium nuclides Production in a typical VVER-1000 fuel rod

Abstract

This paper presents comparison results for the performance of gadolinium burnable absorber (GdBA) on infinite multiplication factor in UO2 fuels and its impact on the concentration of plutonium isotopes in spent fuel. The result obtained through burnup simulating for (398GO) TVSA+ fuel Assemblies in VVER1000 nuclear reactor environment using VVERHGMLC Program. The study compares results for two fuel assemblies; one without GdBA in the fuel pins, and the other with 6 fuel rods with 5% weight percentage of GdBA.

The infinite multiplication factor behaviour and isotopic concentrations of major isotopes are compared and discussed, the study showed clearly the required effect for GdBA in curbing the infinite multiplication factor for fresh UO2 fuel, without any significantly effect on the concentration of plutonium isotopes at the end of cycle for spent fuel.