A CANDU fuel bundle enters the reactor and resides in a first location for a cer

Question

A CANDU fuel bundle enters the reactor and resides in a first location for a certain number of days. It is then moved to a second position, where it resides 50% longer than at its first location. Finally it is moved to a third position, where it resides 20% longer than at its second location. The fission power of the bundle at its first, second and third locations was 240 kW, 730 kW, and 510 kW respectively. The bundle contains 19.1 kg(U). When the bundle is discharged from the core, it is found to have an exit fuel burnup of 176 WMh/kg(U) How long in total did the bundle reside in core?

Explanation / Answer

Given: Mass of fuel- 19.1 kg,

Fuel burnup- 176 MW.h/kg,

fission power at first, second and third locations are 240 kW, 730 kW, and 510 kW respectively.

Burnup is thermal energy output per mass of fuel.

Let the total time be Y in h.

Fuel burnup = total power output x Y/ mass of fuel ........(1) ....Units (MW.h/kg)

Total pwer output= 240kW+730kW+510kW =1780 kW= 1.78 MW

From eqn (1),

176 MW.h/kg= (1.78 MW x Y)/19.1 kg

Y= ((176 MW.h/kg) x (19.1 kg))/ 1.78 MW

Y= 1888.5 h

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