Impact of Reactor Operating Parameters on Cask Reactivity in BWR Burnup Credit

This paper discusses the effect of reactor operating parameters used in fuel depletion calculations on spent fuel cask reactivity, with relevance for boiling-water reactor (BWR) burnup credit (BUC) applications. Assessments that used generic BWR fuel assembly and spent fuel cask configurations are presented. The considered operating parameters, which were independently varied in the depletion simulations for the assembly, included fuel temperature, bypass water density, specific power, and operating history. Different operating history scenarios were considered for the assembly depletion to determine the effect of relative power distribution during the irradiation cycles, as well as the downtime between cycles. Depletion, decay, and criticality simulations were performed using computer codes and associated nuclear data within the SCALE code system. Results quantifying the dependence of cask reactivity on the assembly depletion parameters are presented herein.