Fuel rod cladding waterside corrosion is one of the phenomena that limit the life time of nuclear fuel. Corrosion performance depends on the cladding material properties as well as operating conditions during the irra...Fuel rod cladding waterside corrosion is one of the phenomena that limit the life time of nuclear fuel. Corrosion performance depends on the cladding material properties as well as operating conditions during the irradiation of the fuel. As a function of temperature, power history, water chemistry, time, etc., waterside corrosion is of great concern in fuel performance evaluation, especially for high burnup fuels. This paper is dedicated to the study of the waterside corrosion phenomenon using the IFPE database by COPERNIC, which is developed for the analysis of fuel rod behaviors in normal operation and transient conditions. Different models, MATPRO, FRAMATOME and EPRI models, for example, are adopted in the simulations. The results derived from the models are compared and the unconformities are analyzed. Based on the comparative analysis, reasonable models are chosen to simulate certain irradiated fuel rods. Our analyses indicate that potential affecting factors which are not considered in COPERNIC code, such as water chemistry and alloy composition, should be responsible for discrepancies of certain rod predictions.展开更多
A neutron-TPC (nTPC) is being developed for use as a fast neutron spectrometer in the fields of nuclear physics, nuclear reactor operation monitoring, and thermo-nuclear fusion plasma diagnostics. An nTPC prototype ...A neutron-TPC (nTPC) is being developed for use as a fast neutron spectrometer in the fields of nuclear physics, nuclear reactor operation monitoring, and thermo-nuclear fusion plasma diagnostics. An nTPC prototype based on a GEM-TPC (Time Projection Chamber with Gas Electron Multiplier amplification) has been assembled and tested using argon-hydrocarbon mixture as the working gas. By measuring the energy deposition of the recoil proton in the sensitive volume and the angle of the proton track, the incident neutron energy can be deduced. A Monte Carlo simulation was carried out to analyze the parameters affecting the energy resolution of the nTPC, and gave an optimized resolution under ideal conditions. An alpha particle experiment was performed to verify its feasibility, and to characterize its performance, including energy resolution and spatial resolution. Based on the experimental measurement and analysis, the energy resolution (FW-HM) of the nTPC prototype is predicted to be better than 3.2% for 5 MeV incident neutrons, meeting the performance requirement (FWHM〈5%) for the nTPC prototype.展开更多
Fast neutron spectrometers will play an important role in the future of the nuclear industry and nuclear physics experiments, in tasks such as fast neutron reactor monitoring, thermo-nuclear fusion plasma diagnostics,...Fast neutron spectrometers will play an important role in the future of the nuclear industry and nuclear physics experiments, in tasks such as fast neutron reactor monitoring, thermo-nuclear fusion plasma diagnostics,nuclear reaction cross-section measurement, and special nuclear material detection. Recently, a new fast neutron spectrometer based on a GEM(Gas Electron Multiplier amplification)-TPC(Time Projection Chamber), named the neutron-TPC, has been under development at Tsinghua University. It is designed to have a high energy resolution,high detection efficiency, easy access to the medium material, an outstanding n/γ suppression ratio, and a wide range of applications. This paper presents the design, test, and experimental study of the neutron-TPC. Based on the experimental results, the energy resolution(FWHM) of the neutron-TPC can reach 15.7%, 10.3% and 7.0% with detection efficiency higher than 10^-5 for 1.2 Me V, 1.81 Me V and 2.5 Me V neutrons respectively.展开更多
文摘Fuel rod cladding waterside corrosion is one of the phenomena that limit the life time of nuclear fuel. Corrosion performance depends on the cladding material properties as well as operating conditions during the irradiation of the fuel. As a function of temperature, power history, water chemistry, time, etc., waterside corrosion is of great concern in fuel performance evaluation, especially for high burnup fuels. This paper is dedicated to the study of the waterside corrosion phenomenon using the IFPE database by COPERNIC, which is developed for the analysis of fuel rod behaviors in normal operation and transient conditions. Different models, MATPRO, FRAMATOME and EPRI models, for example, are adopted in the simulations. The results derived from the models are compared and the unconformities are analyzed. Based on the comparative analysis, reasonable models are chosen to simulate certain irradiated fuel rods. Our analyses indicate that potential affecting factors which are not considered in COPERNIC code, such as water chemistry and alloy composition, should be responsible for discrepancies of certain rod predictions.
文摘A neutron-TPC (nTPC) is being developed for use as a fast neutron spectrometer in the fields of nuclear physics, nuclear reactor operation monitoring, and thermo-nuclear fusion plasma diagnostics. An nTPC prototype based on a GEM-TPC (Time Projection Chamber with Gas Electron Multiplier amplification) has been assembled and tested using argon-hydrocarbon mixture as the working gas. By measuring the energy deposition of the recoil proton in the sensitive volume and the angle of the proton track, the incident neutron energy can be deduced. A Monte Carlo simulation was carried out to analyze the parameters affecting the energy resolution of the nTPC, and gave an optimized resolution under ideal conditions. An alpha particle experiment was performed to verify its feasibility, and to characterize its performance, including energy resolution and spatial resolution. Based on the experimental measurement and analysis, the energy resolution (FW-HM) of the nTPC prototype is predicted to be better than 3.2% for 5 MeV incident neutrons, meeting the performance requirement (FWHM〈5%) for the nTPC prototype.
基金Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(11275109)
文摘Fast neutron spectrometers will play an important role in the future of the nuclear industry and nuclear physics experiments, in tasks such as fast neutron reactor monitoring, thermo-nuclear fusion plasma diagnostics,nuclear reaction cross-section measurement, and special nuclear material detection. Recently, a new fast neutron spectrometer based on a GEM(Gas Electron Multiplier amplification)-TPC(Time Projection Chamber), named the neutron-TPC, has been under development at Tsinghua University. It is designed to have a high energy resolution,high detection efficiency, easy access to the medium material, an outstanding n/γ suppression ratio, and a wide range of applications. This paper presents the design, test, and experimental study of the neutron-TPC. Based on the experimental results, the energy resolution(FWHM) of the neutron-TPC can reach 15.7%, 10.3% and 7.0% with detection efficiency higher than 10^-5 for 1.2 Me V, 1.81 Me V and 2.5 Me V neutrons respectively.