Year
2008
Abstract
The next-generation nuclear fuel cycle will require the inclusion of innovative features such as environmental friendliness, fuel recycling efficiency, and nuclear proliferation resistance, etc. In 2006, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) proposed a new research plan for the future fuel cycle. One of the goals of the plan is to develop pyroprocessing technologies to reduce the volume, heat load, and toxicity of spent fuel and to recycle it in a next-generation reactor system. The Korean Advanced Pyroprocessing Facility (KAPF) is one of the key facilities for developing the plan, in conjunction with a sodium fast reactor. In a safeguards research and development collaboration, a joint study is underway by the Los Alamos National Laboratory and KAERI on the safeguards system for the KAPF. In this study, a series of MCNPX (Monte Carlo N-Particle extended) simulations were performed to develop a prototype passive neutron albedo reactivity (PNAR) counter for a physics demonstration. The singles, doubles, and triples count rates and cadmium ratios were calculated with the latest coincidence counting capability of the MCNPX code. Then, the precision of the measurements was evaluated on process materials from the KAPF. It was determined that the performance of the PNAR counter would meet the design requirements for physics verification.