Neutronics analysis of CNPP-II loaded with 1/3rd MOX fuel

This paper performs the neutronics analysis of Chashma Nuclear Power Plant, Unit-II (CNPP-II) loaded with 1/3rd Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel employing a burnup code Linkage of ORIGEN2.2 and OpenMC (LOOP). This is a PWR type reactor employed with UO2 fuel and is selected as a benchmark. The appropriate MOX composition which can give the same cycle length as that of pure UO2 core is found using linear reactivity model. The best suitable placement of MOX fuel is found to be at the periphery of the core. The important neutronics safety parameters for 1/3rd MOX fueled core at the Beginning of Cycle (BOC), Mid of Cycle (MOC) and End of Cycle (EOC) are compared with pure UO2 core of CNPP-II. The parameters include reactivity coefficients, control rods worth, shut down margin, peaking factors and effective delayed neutron fraction. It is observed that with slight decrease in the effective delayed neutron fraction, the MOX fuel can safely be used in the PWR type SMR reactor.