A Methodology Used in Calculating Nuclear Heat Balance

Abstract

In this paper, a methodology to calculate the heat balance of a reactor core has been formulated. The methodology is generic and can be used for all CANDU reactor designs including the Advanced CANDU Reactor (ACR). Hitherto the calculation of the heat balance of a CANDU reactor relies on results generated by different computer codes. The methodology developed in this paper aims at using one code to derive all parameters used in the heat balance. The code of choice is MCNP5 [1], which is also used in deriving many of the reactor-physics parameters. The methodology allows the heat balance to be calculated using the same computer code and cross-section data that are used in reactor-physics calculations.