Sensitivity evaluations of design parameters for various thorium based epithermal reactor (TBER) concepts

In this paper, sensitivity calculations of the thorium based epithermal reactor(TBER) have been carried out by using the MCNP6 code including neutron spectra evaluations of several various conditions. The possibility of a thorium based epithermal reactor is presented through comparison with a fuel composition, a coolant impurity and boron content. The TBER models are composed of a typical pressurized water reactor (PWR) 16 × 16 fuel assembly. From several sensitivity analyses, the enhanced thorium fuel utilizations are confirmed through consideration of coolant impurity and shifted neutron energy spectrum. Also, for the best chosen TBER of 100 MWt power level, a full core neutronics analysis is performed including the control rod design.