Geometric and material variation of a supercritical water reactor

An exploration of the parameter space available for the supercritical water assembly is performed. Geometry and materials selection will be examined. The material selection will be limited to the structural materials because oxide fuels were assumed and enrichment was set to provide a critical assembly. Steels were found to reduce the keff of the system. Analysis of the results led to the investigation of radial density variation. It is found that a 57.3651 pcm reactivity change occured with radial density variation across 2 × 10−4 m. This implies that fully 3D thermohydraulic analysis is required for accurate modeling of supercritical water reactors.