Neutronic analysis for light water breeder reactor

The main objective of this study is to perform the neutronic analysis of the Light Water Breeder Reactor, which operated between 1977 and 1982 at the Shippingport Atomic Power Station, while employing a Thorium fuel cycle. Modelling has been realized using the Serpent Monte Carlo code. To realize an accurate 3-D modelling of the reactor, a computer aided design software FreeCAD has been used together with Serpent. Upon performing the burnup calculations, fissile isotope breeding parameters have been evaluated. Because the reactivity control mechanism of the reactor relies on the axial relocation of seed regions, the appropriate locations need to be determined at the end of each burnup step. To this end, a Python based code has been developed to perform the necessary iterations in Serpent. The complexity of the core geometry necessitated the trial of various input forms and burnup steps, to obtain an accurate performance prediction. It has been verified that the proposed reactor core can reach a conversion ratio larger than unity; hence, breeding is a possibility with the use light water reactors. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that when necessary computational power can be provided, Serpent Monte Carlo code may be employed for simulations involving very complex geometries, as in the case of the Light Water Breeder Reactor.