Isotopic discharge concentrations of Tehran research reactor using deterministic and Monte Carlo methods

Actinide concentration and activity analysis of the nuclides resulted from the burnup (depletion) process during nuclear reactor operation lifetime is an essential problem in reactor design. Inventory and the corresponding activities of the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) are evaluated using different methods and compared with each other. WIMS-CITATION, ORIGEN, and MCNP codes are used for plate type inventory calculations. The important actinides, fission products, and fissile inventory ratio of TRR have been calculated at different burnup steps. It is worth noting to mention that knowing the value of inventory helps us for safe handling of the spent fuels and to have a perfect design for transport cask of spent fuels. In this paper, the fuel isotope inventories were calculated for the first and 83rd core configuration of the Tehran Research Reactor, which is named “Core01” and “Core83” respectively. The calculations were first performed using WIMS-D5 and CITATION neutronic codes and then the results are compared with that of ORIGEN and MCNPX code. The total radioactivity of the TRR core at the end of the reactor core life (Core83) is estimated to be 6.47×105 Ci.