SCENIC can calculate and predict the assembly wise and batch wise burn-up distributions and isotopic inventories for the current and future fuel cycles from the input values of total cycle energy and the local assembly axial power fractions.
The local axial power fractions are computed by the INCOR£(2) code — an experimental data processing code. In INCORE, the measured neutron flux data (by Aeroball thimbles located in the reactor core) is used in conjunction with the analytic power to flux ratios (calculated by a two-dimensional, few group diffusion calculation using PDQ7(5)) to obtain the local axial power fractions.
SCENIC mathematically treats the local power fractions as energy production rate data, integrating them with respect to the total cycle energy to obtain the local energy production distribution at four axial segments. The local energy production distribution is then summed axially to obtain the fuel assembly and fuel batch energy production distribution. The energy production distributions are used in the code to calculate the respective fuel burnup distributions.