Activation Calculations

Gabriel Farkas
Institute of Nuclear and Physical Engineering, FEI STU Bratislava

Training Course on Decommissioning Planning and Costing

17 - 21 September, 2018; Bratislava, Slovakia
Activation Calculations (1) - Objective

Decommissioning planning

Proper estimation of radioactive nuclide inventory

Numerical determination of specific activities and total activity of

internal (steel) and external (mainly concrete) reactor components

Radioactive waste characterization

Determining the radioactive waste radiological characteristics
(mass/specific activity/waste index)

Estimating the repository requirements and related costs

Estimation of the possible sources of uncertainties

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Activation Calculations (2)

About 99% of the waste activity to be handled during

decommissioning originates from the → neutron
induced activation

Induced activity of i-th RA nuclide after reactor shutdown:

Activity (Bq)
( )
A V = λ N i = φ σ act N 1 − e − λ t OPER e − λ t SHUT
ASAT

tOPER tSHUT

Reactor shutdown
Time (year)
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Activation calculations (3)
1. Calculations of neutron flux spatial and energy distribution:
a) Deterministic codes: ANISN (1D), DOT/DORT (2D), TORT (3D), …
b) Stochastic codes based on Monte Carlo method: MCNP, Serpent, KENO
(SCALE), MCBEND, TRIPOLI, …
2. Calculation of spatial distribution of induced activity in reactor materials:
CINDER’90, DARWIN/PEPIN, FISPIN, ORIGEN S module within the SCALE
system, EASY(FISPACT), …
Calculation results & their validation/verifications:
1. Neutron flux core measurements, e.g. by Rh self-powered
detectors evaluated each reactor campaign
2. RPV irradiation sample program – prediction of activation
3. Dose rate monitoring
4. Remote sampling
5. Radiological monitoring of replaced components during operation
6. Dose rate calculations using Mercurad or Microshield software

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Activation calculations (4) – Flowchart
INPUT

detailed geometry determination of precise

description fission source distribution –
SOURCE TERM
development
material of the
characterization computational Sensitivity
(composition, densities) reactor model analysis
(f. e. in MCNP)
fuel
loading practices
operational history validation
activation calculation in
- sampling volumes
comparison
measured data in
sampling points
with sampling
data

+ OUTPUT
activation calculation in segments of
reactor components activities in segments
total activities 5
nuclide inventory
decay calculation
 Activation calculations (5) – MCNP modelling of the VVER-440

Detailed MCNP model can be set up according to the provided parameters:

1. Reactor core model → components of the fuel assembly, control

assembly, shielding assembly
2. Model of internal reactor components → core basket, core barrel
(cylindrical tank), bottom of the core barrel, protecting tube
unit, reactor pressure vessel, ...
3. Model of external reactor components → thermal isolation, water/dry
biological shielding, concrete shielding structure, ...

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 Activation calculations (6) – MCNP model of the VVER-440/V230

Air
Concrete
Thermal shielding
shielding
structure
Water biological
shielding

Part of the
complex
External reactor whole -core
components VVER-440/V230
model

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Activation calculations (7) – MCNP model of the VVER-440/V230

Internal reactor
components

Reactor core:
FAs, CAs, SAs
Axial
nodalization
(20 nodes)

Core basket

Barrel

RPV

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Activation calculations (8) – Fuel Assembly Model in MCNP5

head

mixing grid

spacer grid

fuel pins

casing
supporting grid

bottom

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Activation calculations (9) – Control Assembly (Absorber Part) Model

head

casing

boron inserts

central tube

bottom

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Activation calculations (9) - Control Assembly (Fuel Part) Model in MCNP5

head with the

joining structure

steel column

fuel pins

spacer grid

casing

supporting grid

bottom part

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Source term calculation
(Example – NPP Bohunice V1)

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 V1 NPP diverse core characteristics – Unit 1
Positions /
Campaigns 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59
U1C01
U1C02
U1C03
U1C04
U1C05
U1C06
U1C07
U1C08
U1C09
U1C10
U1C11
U1C12
U1C12
U1C13
U1C14
U1C15
U1C16
U1C16
U1C17
U1C18
U1C19
U1C20
U1C21
U1C21
U1C22
U1C23
U1C24
U1C25
U1C26
U1C27

- Non-profiled FA 1.6%, 2.4%, 3.6% 2.1 mm shroud; Fe spacer

- Shielding Asemblies 36 pc - reduced core for 15 campaigns
- Non-profiled FA 2.4%, 3.6% 1.5 mm shroud Fe spacer + SAs
- Non-profiled FA 2.4%, 3.6% 1.5 mm shroud Zr spacer + SAs
- Profiled FA 3.82% 1.5 mm shroud Zr spacer + SAs

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 V1 NPP diverse core characteristics – Unit 2
Positions /
Campaigns
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59
U2C01
U2C02
U2C03
U2C04
U2C05
U2C06
U2C07
U2C08
U2C09
U2C10
U2C11
U2C12
U2C13
U2C14
U2C15
U2C16
U2C17
U2C18
U2C19
U2C20
U2C21
U2C22
U2C23
U2C24
U2C25
U2C26
U2C27
U2C28
U2C28

- Non-profiled FA 1.6%, 2.4%, 3.6% 2.1 mm shroud; Fe spacer

- Shielding Asemblies 36 pc; reduced core for 23 campaigns
- Non-profiled FA 2.4%, 3.6% 1.5 mm shroud Fe spacer + SAs
- Non-profiled FA 2.4%, 3.6% 1.5 mm shroud Zr spacer + SAs
- Profiled FA 3.82% 1.5 mm shroud Zr spacer + SAs

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V1 NPP representative campaigns
SAs FA shroud Spacer
Campaign FA type Enrichment
loaded thickness grids
U1C12 non-profiled No 1.6%, 2.4%, 3.6% 2.1 mm Fe
U1C16 non-profiled Yes 2.4%, 3.6% 1.5 mm Fe
U1C21 non-profiled Yes 2.4%, 3.6% 1.5 mm Zr
U2C28 profiled Yes average 3.82 % 1.5 mm Zr

Parameters for the mid of campaign: cB, axial position of CAs (group VI),
burn-up distr., coolant temperature distr.
Nodalization approach: 20 axial nodes/FA (59 FAs in 1/6 of the core) ->
used for coolant temperature and fuel burn-up profile modelling

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Outlet core coolant temperature distribution

Radial coolant temperature

profile based on:
different radial coolant
heat-up for each assembly
position considering
non-uniform radial
power distribution
coefficient - kq

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 Axial core coolant temperature profile

• Based on non-uniform volume power distribution coefficient - kv

• 12 groups of temperature with step of 3 °C
node \
assembly 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1 285 285 285 285 282 282 282 279 279 279 276 276 273 273 273 270 270 270 267 267
13 300 300 297 297 294 291 291 288 288 285 282 282 279 276 276 273 273 270 270 267
34 291 291 291 288 288 285 285 282 282 279 279 279 276 276 273 273 270 270 267 267
47 288 288 285 285 285 285 282 282 279 279 276 276 276 273 273 270 270 270 267 267
59 273 273 273 273 273 273 273 270 270 270 270 270 270 270 267 267 267 267 267 267

Description Location (angular position)

1 Control rod (6th group) Center (0°)
13 Fuel assembly Central part of 1/6 core model (<30°)
34 Fuel assembly Periphery (<30°)
47 Fuel assembly Periphery (30°)
59 Fuel assembly Periphery (60°)
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Burnup groups used in calculations

Burnup group Reactor campaign

(MWd/tU) U1C12 U1C16 U1C21 U2C28
B1 4 000 4 000 4 000 4 000 Axial burnup profile
B2 6 000 6 000 6 000 6 000 (20 nodes) based on:
B3 9 000 10 000 10 000 10 000
B4 12 000 12 000 12 000 12 000 average burnup per
B5 15 000 15 000 15 000 15 000 assembly in the mid of
B6 18 000 18 000 18 000 18 000 campaign
B7 21 000 21 000 21 000 21 000
B8 24 000 24 000 24 000 24 000
B9 27 000 27 000 27 000 27 000
B10 30 000 30 000 30 000 30 000
B11 33 000 33 000 33 000 33 000
B12 - 36 000 36 000 36 000
B13 - 38 000 38 000 38 000
B14 - - - 42 000
B15 - - - 45 000
BMIN 1 521 1 939 2 307 2 786
BMAX 34 711 39 039 38 757 44 089
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Burn-up profile

Burn-up profile of fuel in mid of

campaign U1C12
Burn-up [MWd/tU]

21000

19300

17600

15900

14200

12500

10800

9100

7400

5700

4000

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MCNP source term calculation

• The 1st calculation mode: KCODE (keff + fission source

distribution)
– Important KCODE parameters:
• Number of histories per cycle: reduction of statistical noise between iterations
• Number of cycles: reduction of uncertainty

• Nuclear data library: ENDF/B-VII.1, JENDL, JEFF, …

- Thermal adjustment of XS libraries: f.e.:900 K (fuel), 530 K (coolant, steels)

• KCODE calculation results: keff + Source Term (surface

or volumetric written to source term file)

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Convergence behaviors

Convergence
Convergence of fission
of keff source
distribution

Uncertainity
vs. cycles

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Outcomes (1)
Neutron flux density energy spectra for core boundary surface

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Outcomes (2)
Total radial neutron flux density distribution

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MCNP Fix Source Calculation

• Source Term (surface or volumetric): used for

calculation of nuclear reaction rates for all relevant
isotopes and predefined cells (reactor components
segments) – by FM cards

• Necessary to apply: variance reduction methods

(importance functions, weight windows, …)

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Variance reduction
cut-off energy Neutron
importance
En > 0,01 MeV functions

En ∑W i

Core N
Ecut = 0,01 MeV
Ecut

Collisions
Negative
discrimination

Not important direction Important direction

Positive
discrimination
I A = 0 ,5 IB = 1 IC = 2
A B C
?

WB WB 1
WA = =2 WB = 1 WC = =
r n 2
IA I
r = = 0 ,5 n=1 n= C =2
IB IB
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1 − r = 0 ,5
Variance reduction

ID = 1100000 IOKSO7 = 1000

IOKSO8 = 900
IOKSO5 = 2000
IOKSO 6= 2000, 2500,...,
985000

IOKSO9 = 800
IOKSO4 = 1000

ITI = 550, 600, 650

IOKSO3 = 900
IVZD = 500
ITNR = 56, 112, 224, 448
IMVP = 6, 12, 24
INV = 2,5; 3
IKAZ = 1,5
IOKSO2 = 800

IAZ=1

IOKSO 1= 700

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Important nuclear reactions

Steels

Additional isotopes for

concrete

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Outcomes (3):
Taken from: Babcsány, B., Czifrus, Sz., Fehér, S.: Methodologies for Determination of Activation of Steel Components and
Concrete Structures of WWER-440 type Nuclear Power Plants. In: The 23rd Symposium of AER, Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia,
October 30 – November 4, 2013.

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Summary
• Modelling – building up the geometric model and the material model
(proper material composition is very important)

• The 1st step of activation calculation – determination of the surface or

volumetric source term (fission/neutron density distribution in the core)

• The 2nd step of activation calculation – Fix Source calculation –

determination of nuclear reaction rates – calculation of specific activity

• Pre-estimation of radioactive waste characteristics – activity, mass and

volume

• The most important isotopes: internal steel components (55Fe, 60Co, 63Ni),

external concrete shielding structure (55Fe, 60Co, 152Eu, 45Ca)

• Source term variations – not big influence on calculated reaction rates

results

• Material composition and density (steels, concrete) – strong influence on

results 29
Thank you for your attention!

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