Reactor physics calculation of BWR fuel bundles containing gadolinia

Abstract

A technique for the calculation of the neutronic behavior of BWR fuel bundles has been developed and applied to a Vermont Yankee fuel bundle. The technique is based on a diffusion theory treatment of the bundle, with parameters for gadolinia bearing pins generated by transport theory, and converted to effective diffusion- theory values by means of blackness theory. The method has been used to examine the dependence of various bundle average parameters on control rod insertion history.