Validation of a methodology for fuel management analysis of Laguna Verde nuclear power plant

This paper shows the validation of the fuel management methodology based on the state of the art lattice physics code HELIOS and the CM-PRESTO code, f or the fuel management analysis of the Laguna Verde nuclear power plant (LV NPP). The validation of these codes is performed with data from the first f ive operating cycles of LVNPP Unit 1. HELIOS calculations were performed fo r three different BWR standard type assemblies and compared with Monte Cart e, RECORD and fuel vendors' results. The CR I-PRESTO results are compared a gainst plant information, such as K-effective at hot and cold conditions, t hermal limits cal culated by the process computer and instruments readings from the traveling in-core probes (TIP) and the local power range monitor ( LPRM). Results show an improvement compared with those obtained with the pr evious methodology based on RECOR D/PRESTO-B. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd . All rights reserved.