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Estimate of the Possibility of a Self-Sustaining Nuclear Chain Reaction Accompanying Core Meltdown in a Research Reactor with IRT-M Type Fuel Assemblies

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Computational estimates are made of the possibility of a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in beyond design basis accidents with core meltdown in a research reactor, where IRT-3M or IRT-4M fuel assemblies with high- and low-enrichment fuel are used. The certified MCU-PTR Monte Carlo code is used for the computational estimates. A conservative approach (estimaticphon from above) is used. It is shown that a selfsustaining nuclear chain reaction is impossible during core meltdown.

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References

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Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 121, No. 2, pp. 63–65, August, 2016.

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Nasonov, V.A., Pesnya, Y.E. & Sidorenko, A.V. Estimate of the Possibility of a Self-Sustaining Nuclear Chain Reaction Accompanying Core Meltdown in a Research Reactor with IRT-M Type Fuel Assemblies. At Energy 121, 79–83 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-016-0165-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-016-0165-0

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