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Thesis
Home   /   Thesis   /   Influence of delayed neutron precursors losses resulting from fission gas evacuation on molten salt reactors dynamics

Influence of delayed neutron precursors losses resulting from fission gas evacuation on molten salt reactors dynamics

Engineering sciences Numerical simulation Technological challenges Thermal energy, combustion, flows

Abstract

Over the past twenty years, molten salt reactors (MSRs) have been the focus of renewed interest in the international nuclear community (national programs, start-ups, including one from the CEA). Modern MSR concepts feature a system for evacuating fission gases, which accumulate in the expansion tank. Some of these gases will consist of radionuclides that are delayed neutron precursors, which will therefore be lost for the fission chain reaction. This should further reduce the effective fraction of delayed neutrons in these reactors, already reduced by the circulation of the fuel salt outside the critical zone. The aim of this thesis is to assess the extent of this reduction, and its influence on reactor dynamics.
Such an assessment may involve numerical simulations that take into account 1) a differentiation of delayed neutron precursor groups into “liquid phase groups” and “gas phase groups”, and 2) two-phase flow models (where each type of group joins its corresponding phase). In order to differentiate the groups, we need to evaluate the “liquid” and “gas” fractions for each of them, based for example on the branching ratios of the nuclear evaluations and knowledge of the chemical elements joining each of the phases. Once this has been done, simulations can be carried out with the CATHARE “system” code (already able to use two-phase models) and the TRUST-NK “core” code (whose two-phase calculation functions may require further development) to assess the influence of precursor loss on reactor dynamics.

Laboratory

Département de Modélisation des Systèmes et Structures
Service des Réacteurs et de Mathématiques Appliquées
Laboratoire de Protection d’Etudes et de Conception
Paris-Saclay
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