Calculational Benchmark Problems for VVER-1000 Mixed Oxide Fuel Cycle

Standard problems were created to test the ability of American and Russian computational methods and data regarding the analysis of the storage and handling of Russian pressurized water reactor (VVER) mixed oxide fuel. Criticality safety and radiation shielding problems were analyzed. Analysis of American and Russian multiplication factors for fresh fuel storage for low-enriched uranium (UOX), weapons- (MOX-W) and reactor-grade (MOX-R) MOX differ by less than 2% for all variations of water density. For shielding calculations for fresh fuel, the ORNL results for the neutron source differ from the Russian results by less than 1% for UOX and MOX-R and by approximately 3% for MOX-W. For shielding calculations for fresh fuel assemblies, neutron dose rates at the surface of the assemblies differ from the Russian results by 5% to 9%; the level of agreement for gamma dose varies depending on the type of fuel, with UOX differing by the largest amount. The use of different gamma group structures and instantaneous versus asymptotic decay assumptions also complicate the comparison. For the calculation of dose rates from spent fuel in a shipping cask, the neutron source for UOX after 3-year cooling is within 1% and for MOX-W within 5% of one of the Russian results while the MOX-R difference is the largest at over 10%. These studies are a portion of the documentation required by the Russian nuclear regulatory authority, GAN, in order to certify Russian programs and data as being acceptably accurate for the analysis of mixed oxide fuels.