Fast Reactor Knowledge Preservation Activities at the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency

Transcription

1 Technical Meeting on Status of IAEA Fast Reactor Knowledge Preservation Initiative Vienna, December 2013 Fast Reactor Knowledge Preservation Activities at the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency Ian Hill Nuclear Science Section

2 NEA member countries Russia became most recent member in January 2013 The NEA's current membership consists of 31 countries in Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region. Together they account for approximately 85% of the world's installed nuclear capacity.

3 NEA committee structure Fast reactor knowledge preservation activities primarily are carried out by expert groups from these standing committees As of 18 September 2012

4 OECD/NEA Membership and Mission Activities Supporting Preservation of Fast Reactor Experiments International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Program International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Program Primary Documentation Storage UK Fast Reactor Program Minor Actinide Management FR Knowledge Preservation: Other NEA Activities Computer Codes Heavy Liquid Metal Technologies Innovative Fuels & Materials Outline Advanced Fuel Cycle Scenarios, P&T, Recycling Technologies

5 NEA databases of integral experiments (1) Nuclear Science Working Parties WPFC WPRS WPNCS WPEC WPMM Expert Groups Expert Group on Reactor Fuel Performance Expert Group on Radiation Transport and Shielding Expert Group on Uncertainty Analysis in Modelling Expert Group on Reactor Physics and Advanced Nuclear Systems ICSBEP International Technical Review Group Expert Group on Uncertainty Analysis for Criticality Safety Assessment Expert Group on Assay Data for Spent Nuclear Fuel Expert Group on Criticality Excursions Analysis Expert Group on Burnup Credit IFPE SINBAD* IRPhE ICSBEP SFCOMPO Integral Experiments Databases Data Bank * SINBAD is developed jointly with RSICC

6 NEA databases of integral experiments (2) Nuclear Science WPFC WPRS (Reactor Systems) WPNCS (Critical Safety) WPEC WPMM Expert Group on Reactor Fuel Performance Expert Group on Radiation Transport and Shielding Expert Group on Uncertainty Analysis in Modelling Expert Group on Reactor Physics and Advanced Nuclear Systems ICSBEP International Technical Review Group Expert Group on Uncertainty Analysis for Criticality Safety Assessment Expert Group on Assay Data for Spent Nuclear Fuel Expert Group on Criticality Excursions Analysis Expert Group on Burnup Credit IFPE SINBAD IRPhE ICSBEP SFCOMPO Data Bank

7 International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (est 1992/1995) Est 1992/ Fast Critical Experiments 665 Fast Critical Configurations Rocky Flats Critical Mass Laboratory

8 International Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiment Evaluation Project (est 2000) Established in types of measurements. (Only k-eff in ICSBEP) Similar format to ICSBEP, with subsections for each measurement type 24 Liquid Metal Fast Reactor Evalautions Measurement Types IRPhEP: Mar 2013 Critical/Subcritical Kinetics Buckling Reaction Rate Distribution Spectral Characteristics Power Distributions Reactivity Effects Isotopic Composition Reactivity Coefficients Miscellaneous

9 FFTF SNEAK BFS1 ZEBRA ZPPR

10 ICSBEP & IRPhE evaluation process (1) Evaluation process entails the following steps: (1) Identification of experimental reactor physics related data (2) Verificationof data, to the extent possible, by reviewing original and subsequently revised documentation and by talking with experimenters or individuals who were associated with the experiments or the experimental facility (3) Evaluationof the data and quantification of overall uncertainties through various types of sensitivity/uncertainty analyses (4) Compilation of the data into a standardized format (5) Performance of sample calculations of each experiment with standard reactor physics neutronics codes (6) Formal documentation of the work into a single source of verified and extensively peer reviewed benchmark reactor physics data.

11 ICSBEP & IRPhE evaluation process (2) The process can be viewed as part of a broader knowledge management function, where information is gathered, organized, evaluated, linked and made accessible to a wide range of users Key is to involve experts in the field with specialist knowledge of the measurement techniques Continuity of the project allows for knowledge transfer Also aim to involve younger scientists/engineers in the evaluation process so that they can access the implicit/tacit knowledgegenerated during the evaluation process

12 ICSBEP & IRPhE evaluation process (3) I. Identify Experiment II. Evaluate Experiment/Prepare Benchmark Report III. Internal Review of Benchmark Report IV. Submit Benchmark Experiment to ICSBEP/IRPhEP V. Independent Review of Benchmark Report VI. Distribution of Benchmark Report to Technical Review Group VII. Technical Review Meeting VIII. Resolve Action Items IX. Handbook Publication

13 Relational Databases for the handbooks DICE And IDAT

14 Database International Criticality Experiments (est.2001) Relational Database Updated Yearly Made available online 2013

15 Database International Criticality Experiments (est.2001) TRENDING calculations OVER FAST SYSTEMS

16 IRPhEP Database And Analysis Tool (IDAT est. 2013) K-eff C/E Fast Reactors New Features Include: Model Mesh Plots Automatic Similarity Assessment Uncertainty Information Fast Captures BFS Uncertainty (pcm) Eval #1 Eval #2 Eval #3 Modeling Composition Geometry Experimental Evaluation ID

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18 Primary Documentation Reports are collect and grouped by experimental series Html linking is performed TAPIRO Neutron activation BERENICE Beta effective STEK Small sample reactivity worths KNK-II IAEA1415/01 preservation activity

19 Securing the UK Fast Reactor Archive In 2012 NEA initiated an investigation of what could be done to make UK Fast Reactor data available to benefit designers and assessors of future fast reactor systems. Main tasks: determine nature of data generated by the UK Fast Reactor Programme and its state of preservation preparation of plan for retrieval and preservation if valuable archived material is considered to be in vulnerable location, arrange to bring to safe-haven, prepare report on the UK Fast Reactor fuel programme including its supporting data. Much of the work described here was undertaken by Mr C.V. Gregory, formerly Director for Fast Reactors, UKAEA.

20 Overview of UK Fast Reactor Programme (1) Underpinning the Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) project was a major R&D programme construction of critical facilities and research reactors providing core physics data Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR), research power reactor, first critical in research information on behaviour of fuel and core materials in normal and extreme conditions continued in PFR and Dounreay PIE facilities until early 1990s it was in the DFR that phenomenon of neutron induced voidage in fuel and structural steels was first identified.

21 Overview of UK Fast Reactor Programme (2) UK s fast reactors cooled by liquid metal DFR - sodium/potassium eutectic alloy, PFR sodium major research programmes undertaken to understand characteristics of these coolants chemistry and metallurgy in reactor, secondary circuits and steam generators were prime topics interaction of water/steam and sodium in the event of steam generator leaks. UK project included its own reprocessing plant, initially for fuel from DFR and later for PFR fuel. experience of reprocessing and the underlying technology gained from the UK programme is of particular significance.

22 Sources of Information (1) UK National Archives located at Kew in London all formal reports of various fast reactor working groups have been archived Material > 30 years old is publicly available British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) manufacturer of PFR fuel assemblies involved in fuel design and technology working groups following the cessation of Government funding BNFL created archive of fuel data from the former UKAEA archives. National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL). NNL has inherited the R&D function technical archive from BNFL.

23 Sources of Information (2) UKAEA In the final months of the UKAEA fast reactor project a super archive was created. Archive was bequeathed to AEA (Technology), a successor to UKAEA, later to be privatised. A few years after privatisation AEAT withdrew from nuclear work. It is understood that those elements of the archive associated with fast reactor fuel technology were taken over by BNFL. North Highland College in Thurso Significant collection of old journals (e.g. Journal of the BNES, Annals of Nuclear Engineering, Annual Review of Nuclear Science, Journal of Nuclear Science, Nuclear Safety etc). No longer wishes to house the collection -steps being taken to catalogue and store these items. Private archives A number of senior staff from the FR Programme kept their private archives when realised that no formal system to be created. Three private archives have been amalgamated as part of the present project.

24 NSC Expert Group on Integral Experiments for MA Management Similar to IAEA MANREAD but for Integral Experiments Review of existing integral data (including review of MA sample amount used/required in experiment). Evaluation of target accuracy of nuclear data required for MA management (Reflection of WPEC activities). Request and priority list of nuclear reactions, their energy range and their measurement error. Establishment of route for supplying MA sample. Improvement of experimental technique Report to be published soon!

25 Reviewing existing integral data Reaction rates Few hundreds mg or less of MA samples with high purity are necessary for the measurements by using fission chambers and/or activation foils. Summary of existing reaction rates measured in fast system VENUS MASURCA FCA BFS GODIVA JEZEBEL FLATTOP ZEBRA Mass mg Some 10 mg mg mg Various mg Purity % High % % High >99 % Th-232 F U-234 F U-235 F F U-238 F F Np-237 F F F F, C F Pu-238 F F F Pu-239 F F F F F Pu-240 F F F F F Pu-241 F F F Pu-242 F F F F F Am-241 F F F F C F, C Am-243 F F F F, C Cm-244 F F F Missing experimental data No experimental data of fission reaction for Cm-245 which is one of key nuclides to largely contribute to the uncertainty. For the capture reaction, there are a few experimental results, especially in fast neutron field. F : Fission, C : Capture

26 OECD/NEA Membership and Mission Activities Supporting Preservation of Fast Reactor Experiments International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Program International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Program Primary Documentation Storage UK Fast Reactor Program Minor Actinide Management FR Knowledge Preservation: Other NEA Activities Computer Codes Heavy Liquid Metal Technologies Innovative Fuels & Materials Fast Reactor Safety Outline

27 Preservation and Distribution of Codes for FR Analysis Significant knowledge contained within the codes and documentation Difficult to preserve and maintain over decades Example Codes REBUS3/VARIANT8.0(2002) FR Fuel Cycles SOREX-1(1968) Accident Simulation SORA reactor RIBD-2(1990) Radioisotope buildup in FRs

28 WPFC Heavy Liquid Metal Technologies (HLM) Liquid Metals studied as reactor core coolants or ADS Heavy Liquid Metals proposed as target material for high neutron spallation sources - worldwide interest has led to many R&D activities in the field Understanding properties of HLMs is essential for the development of selected Gen IV reactors Objectives and activities of the EG Coordinate and guide LBE research Develop relative requirements and standards of experiments, data collection, and analysis Publish handbook version 1: - HLM properties - Key aspects of thermal-hydraulics and systems technologies - Existing test facilities, safety guidelines and perspectives on more open ended issues

29 WPFC Expert Group on Innovative Fuels (IF) Innovative fuels heterogeneous & homogeneous fuels, ADS fuels, oxides, metals, nitrides, carbides Objectives and activities Support the development of innovative fuels and cladding that can be implemented in advanced nuclear fuel cycles Innovative fuel fabrication techniques; Irradiation performance of innovative fuels (including advanced clad materials); Characterisation and post-irradiation examination methods; Predictive models/codes for the innovative fuel fabrication and performance; Phenomenological experiments in support of model development or validation State-of-the-art Report on Innovative Fuels Benchmark Study on Fuel Performance Codes focus on experiments on MA bearing fuels with different chemical forms. results will be gathered into a database

30 Materials for innovative systems and FBR TAF-ID: Thermodynamics of Advanced Fuels International Database A project to establish an international database of phase diagrams and thermodynamic properties of advanced nuclear fuels (oxide, carbide, metal) Partners involved: Canada, France, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, USA with OECD-NEA invited to act as Project Co-ordinator Application to Gen IV, Severe Accidents (Gen II-III-IV), P&T Kick-off meeting was March 2013 Structural Materials for Innovative Nuclear Systems (SMINS) Promotes exchange of information on structural materials R&D, covering fundamental studies, advanced modelling and experiments Second event was held in 2010 in Daejon (Korea) Most recently hosted by Idaho National Laboratory at Idaho Falls (USA) in October 2013

31 TAREF Objectives and Ranking Criteria CSNI Task on Advanced Reactor Experimental Facilities (TAREF) started in 2008 To identify and prioritize research needs for advanced reactors, specifically Gas Cooled and Sodium Fast Reactors Identify relevant safety issues Identify relevant facilities for safety research on identified issues Provide recommendations on strategy for facilities and international programs in support to safety assessment

32 TAREF conclusions for R&D Safety needs For new SFR projects, the most important and top tier R&D safety needs concern the technical areas with the following priority order: 1. Fuel Safety (B) and Severe Accidents (D) issues are of prime interest due to the lack of knowledge on new pin design and materials, 2. Thermo-fluids (A) and Core Physics issues are of second priority as one can live with the current knowledge when considering some margins to cover uncertainties, 3. Sodium Risks (E) and Structural Integrity (F) issues may be considered with third priority as they are more design dependent The need of fuel pin irradiation under representative SFR neutron flux is a crucial point for addressing safety issues of high priority

33 NEA is organizing significant activities are ongoing to preserve fast reactor information Integral experiments supporting fast reactors Often use it, or lose it Difficult to preserve everything, critical information is identified Organisation is a large but important task Electronic databases needed to manage the data Authoritative Handbooks and state of the art reports These tend to be the documents that last OECD/NEA will continue to support member countries in fast reactor knowledge preservation forum for exchange of information collaborative activities Concluding Remarks

34 Thank you for your attention