Study of reactor core loading monitoring within the SALMON program

A. Bailly; Annick Billebaud; S. Chabod; Anatoly Kochetkov; Antonin Krása; F.-R. Lecolley; Gregory Lehaut; Nathalie Marie; Nadia Messaoudi; Guido Vittiglio; Jan Wagemans

Study of reactor core loading monitoring within the SALMON program

A. Bailly, Annick Billebaud, S. Chabod, Anatoly Kochetkov, Antonin Krása, F.-R. Lecolley, Gregory Lehaut, Nathalie Marie, Nadia Messaoudi, Guido Vittiglio, Jan Wagemans

Nuclear Systems Measurements

Research output › peer-review

Abstract

The use of the Area method to analyze Pulsed Neutron Source (PNS) experiments as a means of measuring the reactivity during the reactor loading in order to prevent loading error was studied in the phase 1 of the SALMON project. This paper presents the experiments carried out at the GUINEVERE facility, using the GENEPI-3C accelerator to generate neutron pulses in the VENUS-F fast neutron reactor at different steps of its unloading. The evolution of the neutron flux during these PNS experiments was measured by several 235 U Fission chambers in various positions in the inner and outer reflector. The results show that, despite strong spatial effects observed in the least reactive configurations, a strong correlation between the reactivity value given by the Area Method and the true reactivity remains. Furthermore the responses to all detectors to PNS experiments could be reproduced and corrected using Monte Carlo simulations.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	PHYSOR 2022: Making Virtual a Reality
Subtitle of host publication	Advancements in Reactor Physics To Leap Forward Reactor Operation and Deployment
Place of Publication	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Number of pages	11
State	Published - 25 Nov 2022
Event	2022 - PHYSOR - International Conference on Physics of Reactors: Making Virtual a Reality: Advancements in Reactor Physics to Leap Forward Reactor Operation and Deployment - Sheraton Pittsburgh Hotel, Pittsburgh, PA Duration: 15 May 2022 → 20 May 2022

Conference

Conference	2022 - PHYSOR - International Conference on Physics of Reactors
Country/Territory	United States
City	Pittsburgh, PA
Period	2022-05-15 → 2022-05-20

Access to Document

https://hal.science/hal-04483940License: Unspecified

Cite this

Bailly, A., Billebaud, A., Chabod, S., Kochetkov, A., Krása, A., Lecolley, F.-R., Lehaut, G., Marie, N., Messaoudi, N., Vittiglio, G., & Wagemans, J. (2022). Study of reactor core loading monitoring within the SALMON program. In PHYSOR 2022: Making Virtual a Reality: Advancements in Reactor Physics To Leap Forward Reactor Operation and Deployment Article hal-03872211. https://hal.science/hal-04483940

@inproceedings{de90a2bb4338413b9172f7e5dabe04b1,

title = "Study of reactor core loading monitoring within the SALMON program",

abstract = "The use of the Area method to analyze Pulsed Neutron Source (PNS) experiments as a means of measuring the reactivity during the reactor loading in order to prevent loading error was studied in the phase 1 of the SALMON project. This paper presents the experiments carried out at the GUINEVERE facility, using the GENEPI-3C accelerator to generate neutron pulses in the VENUS-F fast neutron reactor at different steps of its unloading. The evolution of the neutron flux during these PNS experiments was measured by several 235 U Fission chambers in various positions in the inner and outer reflector. The results show that, despite strong spatial effects observed in the least reactive configurations, a strong correlation between the reactivity value given by the Area Method and the true reactivity remains. Furthermore the responses to all detectors to PNS experiments could be reproduced and corrected using Monte Carlo simulations. ",

keywords = "Core loading safety, Reactivity monitoring, Subcriticality, Monte Carlo simulations",

author = "A. Bailly and Annick Billebaud and S. Chabod and Anatoly Kochetkov and Antonin Kr{\'a}sa and F.-R. Lecolley and Gregory Lehaut and Nathalie Marie and Nadia Messaoudi and Guido Vittiglio and Jan Wagemans",

note = "Score=3; 2022 - PHYSOR - International Conference on Physics of Reactors : Making Virtual a Reality: Advancements in Reactor Physics to Leap Forward Reactor Operation and Deployment ; Conference date: 15-05-2022 Through 20-05-2022",

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booktitle = "PHYSOR 2022: Making Virtual a Reality",

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Bailly, A, Billebaud, A, Chabod, S, Kochetkov, A , Krása, A, Lecolley, F-R, Lehaut, G, Marie, N, Messaoudi, N , Vittiglio, G & Wagemans, J 2022, Study of reactor core loading monitoring within the SALMON program. in PHYSOR 2022: Making Virtual a Reality: Advancements in Reactor Physics To Leap Forward Reactor Operation and Deployment., hal-03872211, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2022 - PHYSOR - International Conference on Physics of Reactors, Pittsburgh, PA, Pennsylvania, United States, 2022-05-15. <https://hal.science/hal-04483940>

TY - GEN

T1 - Study of reactor core loading monitoring within the SALMON program

AU - Bailly, A.

AU - Billebaud, Annick

AU - Chabod, S.

AU - Kochetkov, Anatoly

AU - Krása, Antonin

AU - Lecolley, F.-R.

AU - Lehaut, Gregory

AU - Marie, Nathalie

AU - Messaoudi, Nadia

AU - Vittiglio, Guido

AU - Wagemans, Jan

N1 - Score=3

PY - 2022/11/25

Y1 - 2022/11/25

N2 - The use of the Area method to analyze Pulsed Neutron Source (PNS) experiments as a means of measuring the reactivity during the reactor loading in order to prevent loading error was studied in the phase 1 of the SALMON project. This paper presents the experiments carried out at the GUINEVERE facility, using the GENEPI-3C accelerator to generate neutron pulses in the VENUS-F fast neutron reactor at different steps of its unloading. The evolution of the neutron flux during these PNS experiments was measured by several 235 U Fission chambers in various positions in the inner and outer reflector. The results show that, despite strong spatial effects observed in the least reactive configurations, a strong correlation between the reactivity value given by the Area Method and the true reactivity remains. Furthermore the responses to all detectors to PNS experiments could be reproduced and corrected using Monte Carlo simulations.

AB - The use of the Area method to analyze Pulsed Neutron Source (PNS) experiments as a means of measuring the reactivity during the reactor loading in order to prevent loading error was studied in the phase 1 of the SALMON project. This paper presents the experiments carried out at the GUINEVERE facility, using the GENEPI-3C accelerator to generate neutron pulses in the VENUS-F fast neutron reactor at different steps of its unloading. The evolution of the neutron flux during these PNS experiments was measured by several 235 U Fission chambers in various positions in the inner and outer reflector. The results show that, despite strong spatial effects observed in the least reactive configurations, a strong correlation between the reactivity value given by the Area Method and the true reactivity remains. Furthermore the responses to all detectors to PNS experiments could be reproduced and corrected using Monte Carlo simulations.

KW - Core loading safety

KW - Reactivity monitoring

KW - Subcriticality

KW - Monte Carlo simulations

M3 - In-proceedings paper

BT - PHYSOR 2022: Making Virtual a Reality

CY - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

T2 - 2022 - PHYSOR - International Conference on Physics of Reactors

Y2 - 15 May 2022 through 20 May 2022

ER -