Whole core analysis of molten salt breeder reactor with online fuel reprocessing

Abstract

The simulation of whole core depletion and continuous reprocessing of a molten salt breeder reactor (MSBR) was performed. The MSBR model was built using MCNP6, and the depletion and reprocessing simulations were modeled using CINDER90 and a Python script. The Python script was introduced to implement online reprocessing of molten salt fuel and the feeding of new fertile material with 3-day depletion intervals during the simulations. The simulation started with the reference composition from the original Oak Ridge National Laboratory MSBR design. Equilibrium compositions were obtained from depletion and reprocessing simulations 7000days worth of data. The MSBR whole core analysis was performed at the initial and equilibrium core conditions, for various reactor design parameters such as multiplication factors, neutron flux distributions, temperature coefficients, rod worths, and power distributions. The neutronic core characteristics were analyzed using a four-factor formula applied to the two zones of the core separately.