| Issue |
2014
SNA + MC 2013 - Joint International Conference on Supercomputing in Nuclear Applications + Monte Carlo
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | 01501 | |
| Number of page(s) | 7 | |
| Section | 1. Computational Nuclear Applications: e. Technological Design and Analysis | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/snamc/201401501 | |
| Published online | 06 June 2014 | |
Monte Carlo Modeling of Minor Actinide Burning in Fissile Spallation Targets
1 Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, J.-W. Goethe University, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2 Institute for Nuclear Research, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117312 Moscow, Russia
3 Kurchatov Institute, Russian Research Center, 123182 Moscow, Russia
Minor actinides (MA) present a harmful part of spent nuclear fuel due to their long half-lives and high radio-toxicity. Neutrons produced in spallation targets of Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS) can be used to transmute and burn MA. Non-fissile targets are commonly considered in ADS design. However, additional neutrons from fission reactions can be used in targets made of fissile materials. We developed a Geant4-based code MCADS (Monte Carlo model for Accelerator Driven Systems) for simulating neutron production and transport in different spallation targets. MCADS is suitable for calculating spatial distributions of neutron flux and energy deposition, neutron multiplication factors and other characteristics of produced neutrons and residual nuclei. Several modifications of the Geant4 source code described in this work were made in order to simulate targets containing MA. Results of MCADS simulations are reported for several cylindrical targets made of U+Am, Am or Am2O3 including more complicated design options with a neutron booster and a reflector. Estimations of Am burning rates are given for the considered cases.
Key words: nuclear waste / spallation / fission / Accelerator Driven Systems / Monte Carlo
© Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2014