Core geometry for recriticality prevention against CDA in sodium-cooled fast reactor

In core disruptive accident (CDA) of sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs), fuel and steel can melt to form a molten pool. The objective of the present work is to investigate design measures for core of SFR to prevent recriticality. This paper studied core geometry of convex cross-section shape to increase neutron leakage from core surface in case of core compaction. In order to evaluate effective neutron multiplication factor, 70-group neutron diffusion calculations were performed by changing parameters related to the convex core geometry (i.e. ratio of inner height to inner diameter). Neutron diffusion code and nuclear data library employed in those calculations are CITATION and JENDL-3.3, respectively. By optimizing core configuration, the compaction reactivity of the convex shaped core showed drastic reduction from 2.07 % of reference cylindrical core (Japan Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor) to -3.28 %. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.