Computational models for probabilistic neutronic calculation in TADSEA

The Very High Temperature Reactor is one of the main candidates for the next generation of nuclear power plants. In pebble bed reactors, the fuel is contained within graphite pebbles in the form of TRISO particles, which form a randomly packed bed inside a graphite-walled cylindrical cavity. In previous studies, the conceptual design of a Transmutation Advanced Device for Sustainable Energy Applications (TADSEA) has been made. The TADSEA is a pebble-bed ADS cooled by helium and moderated by graphite. In order to simulate the TADSEA correctly, the double heterogeneity of the system must be considered. It consists on randomly located pebbles into the core and randomly located TRISO particles into the fuel pebbles. These features are often neglected due to the difficulty to model with MCNP code. The main reason is that there is a limited number of cells and surfaces to be defined. In this paper a computational tool, which allows to get a new geometrical model for fuel pebble to neutronic calculation with MCNPX, was presented. The heterogeneity of system is considered, and also the randomly located TRISO particles inside the pebble. There are also compared several neutronic computational models for TADSEA's fuel pebbles in order to study heterogeneity effects. On the other hand the boundary effect given by the intersection between the pebble surface and the TRISO particles could be significative in the multiplicative properties. A model to study this e ect is also presented. (author)