Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : The 30th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE30)
Date : May 21, 2023 - May 26, 2023
This work presents the validation of the Serpent 2 depletion calculations using experimental data from the second Advanced Gas Reactor irradiation campaign (AGR-2) performed at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). The AGR irradiation tests provide valuable experimental data in the effort to develop high-integrity TRISO particle fuel and test its performance under high-temperature irradiation conditions. This paper is part of an effort to develop accurate and computationally efficient multi-physics neutronics and thermal-hydraulics models which will feed fuel performance models for TRISO fuel particles in pebble bed reactors. The AGR-2 irradiation test contains both UCO and UO2 TRISO particles which were irradiated over 3.5 years. For this study, the AGR-2 test train is reconstructed in full detail using Serpent 2, and depletion calculations replicating the experimental irradiation conditions are performed. Using the results of these depletion calculations for all 12 irradiation cycles, the fast neutron flux is compared with the corresponding experimental data. The Serpent 2 results for the fast neutron flux (En > 0.18 MeV) differ on average by 7.30% from the experimental results. These results provide confidence in the performance of Serpent 2 depletion calculations for TRISO fuel particles.
