Xenon transient analysis for direct use of spent pressurized water reactorfuel in CANDU reactors (DUPIC)

The xenon transient in a CANDU-6 reactor loaded with DUPIC fuel has been st udied. This study utilized WIMS-AECL to generate xenon properties for the R FSP code to calculate the xenon load. The xenon property generation method by WIMS-AECL was validated for a natural uranium CANDU-6 core. The validati on calculation has shown that the xenon load predicted by WIMS-AECL and RFS P is within 2% of the reference value obtained by the design codes POWDERPU FS-V and RFSP. The xenon load of the DUPIC fuel core was calculated for var ious reactor conditions such as shutdown, startup and power level change; a nd the results were compared with those of a natural uranium core. This stu dy has shown that the xenon load of CANDU-6 reactor loaded with DUPIC fuel is much lower than that of the natural uranium core; however, the xenon tra nsients are stabilized in both cores. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All ri ghts reserved.