Neutronic analysis of a superheat BWR using high performance fuel rod technique

In this study, the neutronic analysis of conceptual design of a superheat BWR with annular fuel rods in steady state conditions is discussed. The purpose of this design, is to increase the superheated steam temperature to about 540 °C and plant efficiency to 40%. Neutronic calculations are carried out for a fuel assembly using MCNPX.2.7 Code. COBRA-EN code, based on Drift-flux two phase flow model, has been used to obtain thermal-hydraulic parameters. The proposed design for the fuel assembly includes the evaporator and superheater regions. The fuel assembly consists of sixty annular fuel elements in an 8 × 8 square array. Each annular fuel element is cooled externally by water and internally by steam. Finally, the neutronic results such as radial and axial power peaking factors, thermal and fast neutron flux distribution, fuel cycle estimation and void reactivity coefficient are investigated in the present article.