Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the 1999 International RERTR Meeting
FUEL DEPLETION ANALYSES FOR THE HEU
CORE OF GHARR-1;
Part I: ACTINIDE INVENTORY
S. Anim-Sampong1, E.H. K. Akaho,1 H. O. Boadu1,
J.D.K. Intsiful2, S. Osae3
1Dept. of Nuclear Eng. & Mat. Sci., NNRI, 2National Centre for Mathematical Sciences, 3Dept.
of Physics, NNRI,
Ghana Atomic Energy
Commission
P.O. Box LG 80,
Legon, Accra. Ghana
ABSTRACT
The Ghana Research Rreactor-1
(GHARR-1), a 30kW, 90.2% HEU fueled (U-Al) MNSR type reactor went critical on
December 17, 1994. Under operating conditions of 2.5hours per day for five days
a week at a peak thermal neutron flux of 1.0x1012n/cm2.s,
the estimated core life is ten years. After the fuel is depleted, the entire
spent fuel assembly will be replaced with a fresh LEU core in the spirit of the
RERTR program and in accordance with current trend. This paper presents the
results of multigroup fuel burnup and depletion analysis of the GHARR-1 fuel
lattice using the WIMSD/4 transport lattice code. The results contained in this
paper would be used as microscopic database in performing criticality safety
analysis and shielding calculations for the design of a spent fuel storage cask
for the GHARR-1 core.