FUEL BURN-UP CALCULATION FOR WORKING CORE OF THE RSG-GAS RESEARCH REACTOR AT BATAN SERPONG

Abstract

The neutronic parameters are required in the safety analysis of the RSG-GAS research reactor. The RSG-GAS research reactor, MTR (Material Testing Reactor) type is used for research and also in radioisotope production. RSG-GAS has been operating for 30 years without experiencing significant obstacles. It is managed under strict requirements, especially fuel management and fuel burn-up calculations. The reactor is operated under the supervision of the Regulatory Body (BAPETEN) and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). In this paper, the experience of managing RSG-GAS core fuels will be discussed, there are hundred possibilities of fuel placements on the reactor core and the strategy used to operate the reactor will be crucial. However, based on strict calculation and supervision, there is no incorrect placement of the fuels in the core. The calculations were performed on working core by using the WIMSD-5B computer code with ENDFVII.0 data file to generate the macroscopic cross-section of fuel and BATAN-FUEL code were used to obtain the neutronic parameter value such as fuel burn-up fractions. The calculation of the neutronic core parameters of the RSG-GAS research reactor was carried out for U₃Si₂-Al fuel, 250 grams of mass, with an equilibrium core strategy. The calculations show that on the last three operating cores (T90, T91, T92), all fuels meet the safety criteria and the fuel burn-up does not exceed the maximum discharge burn-up of 59%. Maximum fuel burn-up always exists in the fuel which is close to the position of control rod.