Fuel management simulations for 0.9% SEU in CANDU 6 reactors

Slightly Enriched Uranium (SEU) of 0.9 weight % 235U enrichment is a promising fuel cycle option for CANDU reactors. An important component of the investigation of this option is the demonstration of the feasibility of on-line refuelling with this fuel type in reactor physics fuel-management simulations. Two fuel-management schemes have been investigated in detail during 500-day core-follow simulations, these were a 2-bundle-shift and a 4-bundle-shift axial refuelling scheme. The 43-element CANFLEX fuel design has been used in these studies because of its improved fuel performance characteristics in this application. The results of the studies are discussed in detail in this paper. The most significant conclusion of this study was that both 2- and 4-bundle-shift refuelling schemes with CANFLEX fuel result in bundle power and bundle power boost envelopes that meet current fuel-performance requirements. (author)