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Analysis of the Cobalt-60 Production in the AP1000-Like Pressurized Water Reactor Using SERPENT2

  • RESEARCH ARTICLE - Special Issue - Challenges and Recent Advancements in Nuclear Energy Systems
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Abstract

In recent years, the demand for the radioactive isotope of Cobalt-60 has grown, mostly because of its extensive applications in sterilization of medical equipment and treatment of tumors. Its production for now is mostly carried out in CANDU or RMBK reactors. However, this work analyzed the pressurized water reactor based on the Westinghouse AP1000 design, as PWRs are now considered a possible new Co-60 supplier. Specifically, three different fuel assemblies were investigated, with varying types and number of neutron burnable absorbers used and five fuel enrichments. The Co-59 was inserted as a rod with thin aluminum coating into 4, 6 or 8 guide tubes in the assembly. All calculations were performed using the SERPENT2 Monte Carlo Neutron Transport code with fuel depletion capability. The results have shown that the increased number of cobalt rods indeed led to a greater amount of Co-60 produced, however, did not affect an average per rod but reduced available reactivity. A dependence on the fuel enrichment of the mass of Co-60 produced was observed, while neutron absorbers, on the other hand, did not significantly change the production rate, which implies that the rods could possibly be inserted into various types of assemblies.

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Acknowledgements

This work is based on the Bachelor’s Thesis ”Study of the production processes of selected medical isotopes in the core of a nuclear reactor” defended by the first Author at Warsaw University of Technology in 2023.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Physics, Warsaw University of Technology, Koszykowa 58, Warsaw, Poland

    Julia Świa̧tkowska

  2. Institute of Heat Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Nowowiejska 21/25, Warsaw, Poland

    Piotr Darnowski

Authors
  1. Julia Świa̧tkowska
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  2. Piotr Darnowski
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Julia Świa̧tkowska.

Appendix

Appendix

This appendix includes results, which were not presented with details in the paper.

1.1 #1 Assembly

See Figs. 12, 13, 14, 15.

Fig. 12
figure 12

Multiplication factor as a function of burnup for #1 assembly with 1.58%wt of U-235 with varying number of Co-59 rods

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Fig. 13
figure 13

Multiplication factor as a function of burnup for #1 assembly with 3.2%wt of U-235 with varying number of Co-59 rods

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Fig. 14
figure 14

Multiplication factor as a function of burnup for #1 assembly with 3.4%wt of U-235 with varying number of Co-59 rods

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Fig. 15
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Multiplication factor as a function of burnup for #1 assembly with 4.45%wt of U-235 with varying number of Co-59 rods

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1.2 #2 and #3 Assemblies

See Figs. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23.

Fig. 16
figure 16

Co-60 mass for #1 geometry with fuel with 1.58%wt of U-235 for different number of cobalt rods inserted

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Fig. 17
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Co-60 mass for #1 geometry with fuel with 3.2%wt of U-235 for different number of cobalt rods inserted

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Fig. 18
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Co-60 mass for #1 geometry with fuel with 3.4%wt of U-235 for different number of cobalt rods inserted

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Fig. 19
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Co-60 mass for #1 geometry with fuel with 4.45%wt of U-235 for different number of cobalt rods inserted

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Fig. 20
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Co-60 mass for #2 geometry with fuel with 2.35%wt of U-235 for different number of cobalt rods inserted

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Fig. 21
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Co-60 mass for #2 geometry with fuel with 3.4%wt of U-235 for different number of cobalt rods inserted

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Fig. 22
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Co-60 mass for #3 geometry with fuel with 2.35%wt of U-235 for different number of cobalt rods inserted

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Fig. 23
figure 23

Co-60 mass for #3 geometry with fuel with 3.4%wt of U-235 for different number of cobalt rods inserted

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Świa̧tkowska, J., Darnowski, P. Analysis of the Cobalt-60 Production in the AP1000-Like Pressurized Water Reactor Using SERPENT2. Arab J Sci Eng (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-023-08646-3

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