Validation of a cross-section interface for PARCS

Paper in proceeding, 2006

This paper deals with the validation of a cross-section interface for the PARCS code. Such an interface, of which the development is reported in [C. Demazière, “Development of a cross-section interface for PARCS,” Proc. Int. Topl. Mtg. Advances in Nuclear Analysis and Simulation (PHYSOR2006), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, September 10-14, 2004 (2004)], allows providing realistic sets of material constants to PARCS, so that the full dependence of these data on history variables, instantaneous variables, and exposure can be accounted for. In order to check the proper implementation of this interface, the PARCS code was benchmarked against actual plant data (relative power distribution throughout the core and criticality condition). For that purpose, the Swedish Ringhals-3 Pressurized Water Reactor was considered. Different fuel cycles and within each cycle different core exposures were investigated. The cross-section data for each fuel/reflector assembly constituting the considered cores were created accordingly. The spatial distributions of the instantaneous conditions, of the history effects, as well as of the burnup, were taken from the results of SIMULATE-3 calculations. It was found that PARCS was able to reproduce the relative distribution of the power within the core. Both the measured axial and radial power profiles were correctly calculated by PARCS. On the average, the deviation between the calculated and measured power distributions is within acceptable limits. Concerning the determination of the core criticality, the deviation of the effective multiplication factor from unity is typically within ±200 pcm.