Effect of void-fraction on characteristics of several thorium fuel cycles in BWR

Study on effect of void-fraction on characteristics of several thorium fuel cycles in boiling water reactor (BWR) has been carried out. Four fuel cycle scenarios are evaluated and the comparison with once-through-cycle BWR was also conducted. The 1367 nuclides have been employed in the time independent burnup calculation scheme where 129 of them are heavy metals (HMs). The burnup code was facilitated with the calculation method for determining the required 233U concentration for criticality of the system inherently. The code was coupled with SRAC 2002 cell calculation code to compose a time independent-cell burnup code. In the cell calculation, 26 HMs, 66 fission products (FPs) and one pseudo FP have been utilized. The JENDL 3.2 library has been employed in this study. The results show that the profile of the required 233U concentration for criticality depends on the neutron spectra and the microscopic cross-section. However, the profile of the conversion ratio likely depends on the number density of heavy nuclides.

► We study effect of void-fraction on characteristics of several thorium fuel cycles in boiling water reactor.
► Five fuel cycle scenarios were evaluated.
► The SRAC 2002 code and JENDL 3.2 library have been employed in this study.
► The 233U concentration depends on the neutron spectra and the microscopic cross-section.
► However, the conversion ratio depends on the number density of heavy nuclides.