Depletion and inventory calculation for the new fuel of IEN's Argonauta reactor

Authors

  • Iago Gomes PPGIEN
  • Victor Lassance IEN
  • Maria de Lourdes Moreira IEN

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15392/2319-0612.2024.2772

Keywords:

Argonauta reactor, MCNP, Actinides, Fission products yields

Abstract

This paper presents fuel depletion simulations for the Argonauta research reactor using the MCNP6® 1.0 code. The actinide fission yield inventory for the reactor's current U3O8 fuel was conducted from 1965 to 2018 using operating parameters obtained from a previous study. Inventories were also generated for hypothetical scenarios involving the reactor's new fuel under development (U3Si2). The U3Si2 analysis indicated a mass increase for all highlighted actinides across the hypothetical scenarios. Regarding fission product yields, results showed that after 20 years of operation at 1000 W (the new estimated operating power), the mass of all highlighted isotopes was higher than for the same period at 340 W (the current power). These findings are relevant for licensing procedures of the new fuel and for assessing potential accident scenarios, since transitioning to U3Si2 fuel and increasing reactor power may impact the isotopic inventory.

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References

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[4] AGHINA, L. O. B. O Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear e o Reator Argonauta: uma breve história [The Institute of Nuclear Engineering and the Argonauta Reactor: a brief history]. [S.l.]: [s.n.], [s.d.]. Disponível em: http://hamello.com/PDF/breve_historia.pdf. Accesso em: 5 maio 2025.

[5] Reator Agonauta. Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear – IEN. Disponível em: https://www.gov.br/ien/pt-br/central-de-conteudos/fotos/9c6b8048.jpg/view. Acesso em 10 ago. 2024.

[6] X-5 MONTE CARLO TEAM. MCNP - A General Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code, Version 5. Volume I: Overview and Theory. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Los Alamos, USA. April 24, 2003 (Revised 2/1/2008).

[7] LASSANCE, C. L. V. Simulation of the Argonauta/IEN reactor using the MCNPX code. 2010. 61 p. Thesis (Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering) – Instituto Militar de Engenharia (IME). Rio de Janeiro, 2010.

[8] HEIMLICH, A.; LAPA, C. M. F.; GUIMARÃES, A. C. F.; MOREIRA, M. L. Calculation of the inventory of fission products in the Argonauta reactor. Rio de Janeiro: Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear (IEN), Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear (CNEN), 2018. Relatório técnico. Disponível em: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324058611_Calculo_do_Inventario_dos_Produtos_de_Fissao_no_Reator_Argonauta. Acesso em: 5 maio 2025.

[9] LASSANCE, C. L. V.; FERREIRA, O. J. F.; NUNES, C. F. Specification of new fuel load (U₃Si₂) for the Argonauta reactor-IEN using MCNP6 code (Revision 1). In: International Nuclear Atlantic Conference – INAC 2019, 2019, Santos. Proceedings... Rio de Janeiro: Associação Brasileira de Energia Nuclear (ABEN), 2019. v. 8. Nuclear New Horizons: Fueling Our Future.

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Published

2025-06-11

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 4B (Suppl.) (2024): ENFIR / INAC 2024

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Articles

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Copyright (c) 2025 Iago Gomes, Victor Lassance, Maria de Lourdes Moreira

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How to Cite

Depletion and inventory calculation for the new fuel of IEN’s Argonauta reactor. Brazilian Journal of Radiation Sciences, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, v. 12, n. 4B (Suppl.), p. e2772, 2025. DOI: 10.15392/2319-0612.2024.2772. Disponível em: https://bjrs.org.br/revista/index.php/REVISTA/article/view/2772. Acesso em: 17 jul. 2025.