A series of experiments has been performed on the RBMK critical stand at the National Research Center – Kurchatov Institute using assemblies which included single models of shaped fuel assemblies. The neutron fields computed with the MCNP and MCU-KNV codes over the height of a fuel assembly and reactivity effects after it is put into place are compared. It is shown that on the whole Monte-Carlo calculations secure high-quality matching to the measured neutron flux distribution. It is found that the neutron spectrum varies over the height of shaped fuel assemblies, which variation results in discrepancies of the thermal neutron flux distribution and 235U fission rate and must be taken into account when interpreting the experimental data. When a uniform fuel assembly is replaced with a shaped assembly, the computed reactivity effect is close to the experimental effect.
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Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 113, No. 4, pp. 194–198, October, 2012.
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Davydova, G.B., Degtyarev, A.M., Zhitarev, V.E. et al. Computational and experimental study of RBMK load fragment with vertically shaped fuel assembly. At Energy 113, 236–241 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-013-9623-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-013-9623-0