COMPUTATIONAL METHOD FOR AND ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION OF GRANULAR ABSORBERS IN VVER REACTORS

摘要

Questions concerning the compensation of excess reactivity in pressurized-water reactors by using consumable granular absorbers are examined. A method of computing the spatial-energy distribution of the neutrons in cells with a granular absorber is presented. The neutron-physical and thermophysical characteristics of fuel assemblies with fuel elements based on homogenized and heterogeneous arrangements of gadolinium in them are compared. It is shown that granular absorbers have certain advantages, specifically, they decrease the gadolinium content in the fuel elements and at the same time increase the total number of gadolinium-containing fuel elements in the fuel assemblies. This decreases the maximum power released in the gadolinium-containing fuel elements and the temperature of the fuel during the entire run.