Speaker
Description
The characterization of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) is a crucial step towards safe and
economical designs of transport casks, disposal canisters, and interim or long-term
storage facilities. A number of quantities are at the heart of such characterization:
isotopic compositions, decay heat, gamma/neutron emission for the SNF themselves,
and criticality for specific SNF configurations. For these quantities, the reliance on
simulations is a necessity. Among other important factors, nuclear data impact
calculations of nuclear fuel, through neutronics interactions during reactor cycle
irradiations (cross sections, fission yields), and decay during cooling periods at the
fuel end of life.
In this presentation, we will show examples of how nuclear data affects such SNF
quantities, based on existing libraries, and realistic cycle scenarios. The importance
of a full chain of calculations (from core loading to SNF storage) will be emphasized,
for correct uncertainty quantification and optimization strategy.