TREAT Transient Modeling and Impact of Graphite Thermal Scattering

The Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) is a high enriched, graphite moderated, air cooled reactor built for experimental transient fuel testing. Recently, the reactor was returned to operation after having been shut down since 1994. Transients at TREAT are controlled largely by control/transient rod movement and temperature feedback that is attributed to the core’s graphite-fuel matrix. To date, TREAT simulations use the standard ENDF/B-VII.1 graphite thermal neutron scattering cross sections that assume an ideal crystalline form for the core’s graphite. Historically, it has been reported that the use of these cross sections may result in a −2000 pcm discrepancy when attempting to predict TREAT criticality [1]. In this work, a multi-physics simulation of a TREAT transient is performed using the standard ENDF/B-VII.1 graphite thermal scattering cross section libraries and compared with results using graphite libraries that assume a porous graphite structure and a corresponding density consistent with TREAT graphite. The transient simulation methodology couples a full-core transient Monte Carlo calculation in the Serpent code with feedback calculated from temperature estimates derived using the computational fluid dynamics code OpenFOAM. Steady state simulations show that use of the “porous” graphite libraries allows predicting TREAT criticality to within a few hundred pcm. In the current transient simulations, the reactor’s time dependent power behavior is successfully reproduced. With this model, observables such as maximum fuel temperatures and temperature-dependent flux spectra are calculated, using both the traditional ENDF/B-VII.1 and the “porous” graphite thermal scattering libraries.