The Design of A Nuclear Reactor (Total Marks: 10)

Q T-3
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The Design of a Nuclear Reactor1 (Total Marks: 10)

235
Uranium occurs in nature as UO2 with only 0.720% of the uranium atoms being U. Neutron induced
fission occurs readily in 235U with the emission of 2-3 fission neutrons having high kinetic energy. This
fission probability will increase if the neutrons inducing fission have low kinetic energy. So by reducing the
kinetic energy of the fission neutrons, one can induce a chain of fissions in other 235U nuclei. This forms the
basis of the power generating nuclear reactor (NR).
A typical NR consists of a cylindrical tank of height H and radius R filled with a material called moderator.
Cylindrical tubes, called fuel channels, each containing a cluster of cylindrical fuel pins of natural UO2 in
solid form of height H, are kept axially in a square array. Fission neutrons, coming outward from a fuel
channel, collide with the moderator, losing energy and reach the surrounding fuel channels with low enough
energy to cause fission (Figs I-III). Heat generated from fission in the pin is transmitted to a coolant fluid
flowing along its length. In the current problem we shall study some of the physics behind the (A) Fuel Pin,
(B) Moderator and (C) NR of cylindrical geometry.
Fig-I Fig-II Fig-III Schematic sketch of the

Nuclear Reactor (NR)
Fig-I: Enlarged view of a fuel
channel (1-Fuel Pins)
Fig-II: A view of the NR
(2-Fuel Channels)
Fig-III: Top view of NR
(3-Square Arrangement of
Fuel Channels and 4-Typical
Neutron Paths).
Only components relevant to
the problem are shown (e.g.
control rods and coolant are
not shown).
A Fuel Pin
Data 1. Molecular weight Mw = 0.270 kg mol-1 2. Density ρ = 1.060×104 kg m-3
for UO2 3. Melting point Tm = 3.138×103 K 4. Thermal conductivity λ = 3.280 W m-1 K-1
Consider the following fission reaction of a stationary 235U after it absorbs a neutron of negligible kinetic
energy.
235
U + 1n → 94Zr + 140Ce + 2 1n +
A1 0.8
Estimate (in MeV) the total fission energy released. The nuclear masses are: m(235U) = 235.044 u;
m( Zr) = 93.9063 u; m(140Ce) = 139.905 u; m(1n) = 1.00867 u and 1 u = 931.502 MeV c-2. Ignore charge
94
imbalance.
A2 Estimate N the number of 235U atoms per unit volume in natural UO2. 0.5
Assume that the neutron flux density, φ = 2.000×1018 m-2 s-1 on the fuel is uniform. The fission cross-
section (effective area of the target nucleus) of a 235U nucleus is σf = 5.400×10-26 m2. If 80.00% of the
A3 1.2
fission energy is available as heat, estimate Q (in W m-3), the rate of heat production in the pin per unit
volume. 1MeV = 1.602×10-13 J
The steady-state temperature difference between the center (Tc) and the surface (Ts) of the pin can be
A4 expressed as Tc−Ts = k F(Q,a,λ), where k = 1 ∕ 4 is a dimensionless constant and a is the radius of the pin. 0.5
Obtain F(Q,a,λ) by dimensional analysis. Note that λ is the thermal conductivity of UO2.
1
Joseph Amal Nathan (BARC) and Vijay A. Singh (ex-National Coordinator, Science Olympiads) were the
principal authors of this problem. The contributions of the Academic Committee, Academic Development Group and
the International Board are gratefully acknowledged.
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The desired temperature of the coolant is 5.770×102 K. Estimate the upper limit au on the radius a of the
A5 1.0
pin.
B The Moderator
Consider the two dimensional elastic collision between a neutron of mass 1 u and a moderator atom of mass
A u. Before collision all the moderator atoms are considered at rest in the laboratory frame (LF). Let ⃗⃗⃗⃗ and
⃗⃗⃗⃗ be the velocities of the neutron before and after collision respectively in the LF. Let ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ be the velocity
of the center of mass (CM) frame relative to LF and θ be the neutron scattering angle in the CM frame. All
the particles involved in collisions are moving at nonrelativistic speeds.
The collision in LF is shown schematically, where θL is the scattering angle (Fig-IV). Sketch the collision
schematically in CM frame. Label the particle velocities for 1, 2 and 3 in terms of ⃗⃗⃗⃗ , ⃗⃗⃗⃗ and ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ . Indicate
the scattering angle θ.
⃗⃗⃗⃗
Fig-IV
2 Collision in the Laboratory Frame
B1 1.0
1-Neutron before collision
⃗⃗⃗⃗ θL 2-Neutron after collision
3-Moderator Atom before collision
1 4-Moderator Atom after collision
3
4
Obtain v and V, the speeds of the neutron and moderator atom in the CM frame after collision, in terms of A
B2 1.0
and .
Derive an expression for G(α, θ) = Ea ∕ Eb , where Eb and Ea are the kinetic energies of the neutron, in the
B3 1.0
LF, before and after the collision respectively and .
Assume that the above expression holds for D2O molecule. Calculate the maximum possible fractional
B4 energy loss of the neutron for the D2O (20 u) moderator. 0.5
C The Nuclear Reactor

To operate the NR at any constant neutron flux ψ (steady state), the leakage of neutrons has to be
compensated by an excess production of neutrons in the reactor. For a reactor in cylindrical geometry the
leakage rate is k1 [(2.405 ∕ R)2 + (π ∕ H)2] ψ and the excess production rate is k2 ψ. The constants k1 and k2
depend on the material properties of the NR.
Consider a NR with k1 = 1.021×10-2 m and k2 = 8.787×10-3 m-1. Noting that for a fixed volume the leakage
C1 1.5
rate is to be minimized for efficient fuel utilization, obtain the dimensions of the NR in the steady state.
The fuel channels are in a square arrangement (Fig-III) with the nearest neighbour distance 0.286 m. The
C2 effective radius of a fuel channel (if it were solid) is 3.617×10-2 m. Estimate the number of fuel channels Fn 1.0
in the reactor and the mass M of UO2 required to operate the NR in steady state.

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Q T-3

The Design of a Nuclear Reactor1 (Total Marks: 10)

Fig-I Fig-II Fig-III Schematic sketch of the

C The Nuclear Reactor

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