PlutoniumcreditinthelowenricheduraniumfuelofPARR-1OriginalResearchArticle

Theamountofplutonium(Pu)isotopesandtheresultantsavingsof235Uduetotheirproductionwerecalculatedinthelowenricheduranium(LEU)fuel,beingutilizedinPakistanResearchReactor-1(PARR-1).FurthertheimportancemapandrelativeimportancemapfordifferentisotopesofPuwerealsodetermined.EquilibriumPARR-1corewasachievedforthesecalculations.MTR-PC26packagewasusedtogeneratethemicroscopiccross-sectionsdatafor45elementsincludingfissile/structuralmaterialsandalsothefissionproducts.FinitedifferencereactorcoreanalysiscodeCITATIONwasemployedforthefuelmanagementanalysisandstaticdepletioncalculations. TheresultsindicatedthatPARR-1corehasattaineditsequilibriumstateafterelevencycleswitheachcycleofdurationaboutfortyfullpower(10MW)days.Further,theresultsshowedthatatthebeginningofequilibriumcycle(BOEC)ofthePARR-1core,netreactivityadditionduetoallisotopesofPuwas4.86×10−3Δk/k.Amountof235Uequivalenttothisvalueofreactivitywasfoundtobe15.58±0.021g.PlotsofimportanceandrelativeimportancemapspredictedhigherisotopicconcentrationsofPuinthefuelelementslocatedinthevicinityofcentralwaterbox