Papers by Fabrizio Gabrielli
In the present paper we have attempted to associate quantified impacts with a forecasted nuclear ... more In the present paper we have attempted to associate quantified impacts with a forecasted nuclear energy development in different world regions, under a range of hypotheses on the energy demand growth. It gives results in terms of availability of uranium resources, required deployment of fuel cycle facilities and reactor types. In particular, the need to achieve short doubling times with future fast reactors is investigated and quantified in specific world regions. It has been found that a crucial feature of any world scenario study is to provide not only trends for an idealized "homogeneous" description of the global world, but also trends for different regions in the world. These regions may be selected using rather simple criteria (mostly of a geographical type), in order to apply different hypotheses for energy demand growth, fuel cycle strategies and the implementation of various reactor types for the different regions. This approach was an attempt to avoid focusing on selected countries, in particular on those where no new significant energy demand growth is expected, but instead to provide trends and conclusions that account for the features of countries that will be major players in the world energy development in the future.
In the present paper we have attempted to associate quantified impacts with a forecasted nuclear ... more In the present paper we have attempted to associate quantified impacts with a forecasted nuclear energy development in different world regions, under a range of hypotheses on the energy demand growth. It gives results in terms of availability of uranium resources, required deployment of fuel cycle facilities and reactor types. In particular, the need to achieve short doubling times with future fast reactors is investigated and quantified in specific world regions. It has been found that a crucial feature of any world scenario study is to provide not only trends for an idealized "homogeneous" description of the global world, but also trends for different regions in the world. These regions may be selected using rather simple criteria (mostly of a geographical type), in order to apply different hypotheses for energy demand growth, fuel cycle strategies and the implementation of various reactor types for the different regions. This approach was an attempt to avoid focusing on selected countries, in particular on those where no new significant energy demand growth is expected, but instead to provide trends and conclusions that account for the features of countries that will be major players in the world energy development in the future.
Massimo Salvatores’ seminal ideas and comprehensive views on nuclear fuel cycle studies
Annals of Nuclear Energy, 2021
Abstract Massimo Salvatores provided fundamental innovations to the European and international Nu... more Abstract Massimo Salvatores provided fundamental innovations to the European and international Nuclear Fuel Cycle (NFC) studies, in particular on analysis of Partitioning and Transmutation (P&T) strategies, and introduced them to KIT. His visions and guidance triggered an advanced approach to such studies, with the final aim to maximize synergies of different nuclear energy policies at local and regional levels. He recognized that several different aspects have to be taken into account in the NFC activities, ranging from national polices, to the role of Pu as resource or as a waste, up to the implementation of P&T options with innovative reactor concepts. Such huge contribution inherited from Massimo is a result of the key role he played in the main projects worldwide related to both the NFC studies and the design and assessment of ADS and Low Conversion ratio fast reactor systems. In the present paper, we provide an overview of the work performed by Massimo and his colleagues at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, emphasising the innovative elements introduced by Massimo on the back-end of the fuel cycle with focus on P&T of the spent nuclear fuel. The key innovations achieved by Massimo and his KIT team presented hereafter are the introduction of NFC regional scenario studies, the consideration of safety and transmutation assessments of innovative burner reactor concepts, and the effect of the propagation of the existing uncertainties on fuel cycle scenarios simulation results.
Massimo Salvatores’ seminal ideas and comprehensive views on nuclear fuel cycle studies
Annals of Nuclear Energy, 2021
Abstract Massimo Salvatores provided fundamental innovations to the European and international Nu... more Abstract Massimo Salvatores provided fundamental innovations to the European and international Nuclear Fuel Cycle (NFC) studies, in particular on analysis of Partitioning and Transmutation (P&T) strategies, and introduced them to KIT. His visions and guidance triggered an advanced approach to such studies, with the final aim to maximize synergies of different nuclear energy policies at local and regional levels. He recognized that several different aspects have to be taken into account in the NFC activities, ranging from national polices, to the role of Pu as resource or as a waste, up to the implementation of P&T options with innovative reactor concepts. Such huge contribution inherited from Massimo is a result of the key role he played in the main projects worldwide related to both the NFC studies and the design and assessment of ADS and Low Conversion ratio fast reactor systems. In the present paper, we provide an overview of the work performed by Massimo and his colleagues at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, emphasising the innovative elements introduced by Massimo on the back-end of the fuel cycle with focus on P&T of the spent nuclear fuel. The key innovations achieved by Massimo and his KIT team presented hereafter are the introduction of NFC regional scenario studies, the consideration of safety and transmutation assessments of innovative burner reactor concepts, and the effect of the propagation of the existing uncertainties on fuel cycle scenarios simulation results.
For the long term nuclear energy sustainability, the transition to a fast reactor (FRs) based fle... more For the long term nuclear energy sustainability, the transition to a fast reactor (FRs) based fleet and the adoption of closed fuel cycles is envisaged for answering both for resources optimization and waste reduction. The fuel cycle actually implemented is a once-through cycle based on uranium consuming reactors with thermal spectrum. In this cycle, only ~1% of the uranium extracted is used and the spent fuel is sent to disposal without reusing the fissile material (e.g. Pu239). This leads to a high demand on disposal capacities in terms of masses, radiotoxicity and heat load. Due to specific features of fast spectrum reactors, fuels containing a fraction of Minor Actinides (MAs) can be loaded into their cores and closed (or partially closed) fuel cycles can be implemented thus providing an option for MAs transmutation. However, advantages in sustainability should not lead to a lower safety level. Within the Collaborative Project on European Sodium Fast Reactor, CP-ESFR, reference ...
For the long term nuclear energy sustainability, the transition to a fast reactor (FRs) based fle... more For the long term nuclear energy sustainability, the transition to a fast reactor (FRs) based fleet and the adoption of closed fuel cycles is envisaged for answering both for resources optimization and waste reduction. The fuel cycle actually implemented is a once-through cycle based on uranium consuming reactors with thermal spectrum. In this cycle, only ~1% of the uranium extracted is used and the spent fuel is sent to disposal without reusing the fissile material (e.g. Pu239). This leads to a high demand on disposal capacities in terms of masses, radiotoxicity and heat load. Due to specific features of fast spectrum reactors, fuels containing a fraction of Minor Actinides (MAs) can be loaded into their cores and closed (or partially closed) fuel cycles can be implemented thus providing an option for MAs transmutation. However, advantages in sustainability should not lead to a lower safety level. Within the Collaborative Project on European Sodium Fast Reactor, CP-ESFR, reference ...
Interpretation of experimental measurements on the SC-1 configuration of the VENUS-F core
Within the FREYA Project, methods to interpret flux measurements in the VENUS-F core are being st... more Within the FREYA Project, methods to interpret flux measurements in the VENUS-F core are being studied in order to reconstruct the subcriticality level of the facility. In this work, after the presentation of results obtained with standard techniques such as the Area Method, we introduce an alternative approach to the experimental determination of the reactivity. This method, whose validity has been tested by computational exercises, makes use of general mathematical properties of the point kinetics system of equations and has been recently extended for subcritical system analysis. The evaluation of spatial correction factors is also carried out using deterministic transport evaluations (ERANOS code). The statistical and systematic uncertainty of the results in terms of reactivity is discussed and numerical results are presented
Interpretation of experimental measurements on the SC-1 configuration of the VENUS-F core
Within the FREYA Project, methods to interpret flux measurements in the VENUS-F core are being st... more Within the FREYA Project, methods to interpret flux measurements in the VENUS-F core are being studied in order to reconstruct the subcriticality level of the facility. In this work, after the presentation of results obtained with standard techniques such as the Area Method, we introduce an alternative approach to the experimental determination of the reactivity. This method, whose validity has been tested by computational exercises, makes use of general mathematical properties of the point kinetics system of equations and has been recently extended for subcritical system analysis. The evaluation of spatial correction factors is also carried out using deterministic transport evaluations (ERANOS code). The statistical and systematic uncertainty of the results in terms of reactivity is discussed and numerical results are presented
Energy Procedia, 2017
District heating networks are commonly addressed in the literature as one of the most effective s... more District heating networks are commonly addressed in the literature as one of the most effective solutions for decreasing the greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector. These systems require high investments which are returned through the heat sales. Due to the changed climate conditions and building renovation policies, heat demand in the future could decrease, prolonging the investment return period. The main scope of this paper is to assess the feasibility of using the heat demand -outdoor temperature function for heat demand forecast. The district of Alvalade, located in Lisbon (Portugal), was used as a case study. The district is consisted of 665 buildings that vary in both construction period and typology. Three weather scenarios (low, medium, high) and three district renovation scenarios were developed (shallow, intermediate, deep). To estimate the error, obtained heat demand values were compared with results from a dynamic heat demand model, previously developed and validated by the authors. The results showed that when only weather change is considered, the margin of error could be acceptable for some applications (the error in annual demand was lower than 20% for all weather scenarios considered). However, after introducing renovation scenarios, the error value increased up to 59.5% (depending on the weather and renovation scenarios combination considered). The value of slope coefficient increased on average within the range of 3.8% up to 8% per decade, that corresponds to the decrease in the number of heating hours of 22-139h during the heating season (depending on the combination of weather and renovation scenarios considered). On the other hand, function intercept increased for 7.8-12.7% per decade (depending on the coupled scenarios). The values suggested could be used to modify the function parameters for the scenarios considered, and improve the accuracy of heat demand estimations.
Energy Procedia, 2017
District heating networks are commonly addressed in the literature as one of the most effective s... more District heating networks are commonly addressed in the literature as one of the most effective solutions for decreasing the greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector. These systems require high investments which are returned through the heat sales. Due to the changed climate conditions and building renovation policies, heat demand in the future could decrease, prolonging the investment return period. The main scope of this paper is to assess the feasibility of using the heat demand -outdoor temperature function for heat demand forecast. The district of Alvalade, located in Lisbon (Portugal), was used as a case study. The district is consisted of 665 buildings that vary in both construction period and typology. Three weather scenarios (low, medium, high) and three district renovation scenarios were developed (shallow, intermediate, deep). To estimate the error, obtained heat demand values were compared with results from a dynamic heat demand model, previously developed and validated by the authors. The results showed that when only weather change is considered, the margin of error could be acceptable for some applications (the error in annual demand was lower than 20% for all weather scenarios considered). However, after introducing renovation scenarios, the error value increased up to 59.5% (depending on the weather and renovation scenarios combination considered). The value of slope coefficient increased on average within the range of 3.8% up to 8% per decade, that corresponds to the decrease in the number of heating hours of 22-139h during the heating season (depending on the combination of weather and renovation scenarios considered). On the other hand, function intercept increased for 7.8-12.7% per decade (depending on the coupled scenarios). The values suggested could be used to modify the function parameters for the scenarios considered, and improve the accuracy of heat demand estimations.
Fusion Science and Technology, 2012
Fusion Science and Technology, 2012
Fusion Science and Technology, 2012
Fusion Science and Technology, 2012
Fusion Science and Technology, 2012
The concept of traveling wave reactor (TWR) applies the mechanism of self sustainable and propaga... more The concept of traveling wave reactor (TWR) applies the mechanism of self sustainable and propagation nuclear fission traveling waves in fertile media of 238U and 232Th to achieve very high fuel utilization. However, the long wave length of such fission traveling wave puts a limit on the applicability of the TWR concept. The axial fuel shuffling strategy is proposed based on the mechanism of asymptotic nuclear fission traveling wave, and is applied to a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) loading metallic 238U fuel. The multi-group deterministic neutronic code ERANOS with JEFF3.1 data library is used as a basic tool to perform the neutronics and burnup calculations. The calculations are firstly performed in a 1-D case for parametric understanding, and further extended to a 2-D R-Z case. The shuffling calculations for the 1-D and 2-D SFR model described in this paper brought about some interesting results. The results indicate that k eff parabolically varies with the shuffling period, while the burn-up increases linearly. The highest burn-up achieved in 2-D case is 46at%. The power shape distortion in 2-D case is observed, and the power peaking factor is much higher than that in 1-D case, but it decreases with the shuffling period increasing.
Fusion Science and Technology, 2012
The concept of traveling wave reactor (TWR) applies the mechanism of self sustainable and propaga... more The concept of traveling wave reactor (TWR) applies the mechanism of self sustainable and propagation nuclear fission traveling waves in fertile media of 238U and 232Th to achieve very high fuel utilization. However, the long wave length of such fission traveling wave puts a limit on the applicability of the TWR concept. The axial fuel shuffling strategy is proposed based on the mechanism of asymptotic nuclear fission traveling wave, and is applied to a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) loading metallic 238U fuel. The multi-group deterministic neutronic code ERANOS with JEFF3.1 data library is used as a basic tool to perform the neutronics and burnup calculations. The calculations are firstly performed in a 1-D case for parametric understanding, and further extended to a 2-D R-Z case. The shuffling calculations for the 1-D and 2-D SFR model described in this paper brought about some interesting results. The results indicate that k eff parabolically varies with the shuffling period, while the burn-up increases linearly. The highest burn-up achieved in 2-D case is 46at%. The power shape distortion in 2-D case is observed, and the power peaking factor is much higher than that in 1-D case, but it decreases with the shuffling period increasing.
Reactor Transient Analyses with KIN3D/PARTISN
Efforts are going on at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) to extend the kinetics capabi... more Efforts are going on at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) to extend the kinetics capability of the PARTISN code in order to run in parallel two- and three-dimensional transient analyses with the quasistatic method, while taking into account delayed neutrons. In the original code version, time-dependent transport problems are solved by employing a semi-implicit direct kinetics option, the delayed neutrons being not taken into account. The PARTISN 5.97 code has been extended and then coupled with KIN3D, a time-dependent model embedded in the ERANOS code system. In the coupled code, PARTISN 5.97 is used as neutron transport solver to perform transient analyses while employing direct and quasi-static kinetics options of KIN3D. The coupled code can be also applied for first-order and exact perturbation theory calculations. In the paper, the PARTISN 5.97 extensions and coupling procedure are described and the performances of the KIN3D/PARTISN coupled code are investigated by analyzing transients induced by a source-jerk in a three-dimensional ADS model driven by an external source. (authors)
Reactor Transient Analyses with KIN3D/PARTISN
Efforts are going on at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) to extend the kinetics capabi... more Efforts are going on at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) to extend the kinetics capability of the PARTISN code in order to run in parallel two- and three-dimensional transient analyses with the quasistatic method, while taking into account delayed neutrons. In the original code version, time-dependent transport problems are solved by employing a semi-implicit direct kinetics option, the delayed neutrons being not taken into account. The PARTISN 5.97 code has been extended and then coupled with KIN3D, a time-dependent model embedded in the ERANOS code system. In the coupled code, PARTISN 5.97 is used as neutron transport solver to perform transient analyses while employing direct and quasi-static kinetics options of KIN3D. The coupled code can be also applied for first-order and exact perturbation theory calculations. In the paper, the PARTISN 5.97 extensions and coupling procedure are described and the performances of the KIN3D/PARTISN coupled code are investigated by analyzing transients induced by a source-jerk in a three-dimensional ADS model driven by an external source. (authors)
Progress in Nuclear Energy, 2008
One of the operative problems in the Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS) is to develop a strategy fo... more One of the operative problems in the Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS) is to develop a strategy for inferring the reactivity level. In this frame the zero-power MUSE experimental program, carried out at the CEA-Cadarache MASURCA facility, indicated the Pulsed Neutron Source (PNS) area method to be very reliable at large subcriticalities. All the methods used to measure the reactivity level of a system are based on the point kinetics assumption. Depending on the reactivity level and on the presence of spatial effects, inferring the subcriticality level of the actual systems generally needs at least corrective spatial factors, evaluated by means of calculations. In this paper two static calculation procedures reproducing the application of the Source-Jerk method and PNS area method are proposed in order to evaluate the corrective spatial factors to be applied to the experimental results obtained by means of the corresponding experimental techniques. In this paper a MUSE experimental configuration at a meaningful subcritical level has been analyzed. Results show that the calculation procedures seem to be capable to predict the spatial reactivity spread of the experimental results.
Progress in Nuclear Energy, 2008
One of the operative problems in the Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS) is to develop a strategy fo... more One of the operative problems in the Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS) is to develop a strategy for inferring the reactivity level. In this frame the zero-power MUSE experimental program, carried out at the CEA-Cadarache MASURCA facility, indicated the Pulsed Neutron Source (PNS) area method to be very reliable at large subcriticalities. All the methods used to measure the reactivity level of a system are based on the point kinetics assumption. Depending on the reactivity level and on the presence of spatial effects, inferring the subcriticality level of the actual systems generally needs at least corrective spatial factors, evaluated by means of calculations. In this paper two static calculation procedures reproducing the application of the Source-Jerk method and PNS area method are proposed in order to evaluate the corrective spatial factors to be applied to the experimental results obtained by means of the corresponding experimental techniques. In this paper a MUSE experimental configuration at a meaningful subcritical level has been analyzed. Results show that the calculation procedures seem to be capable to predict the spatial reactivity spread of the experimental results.
Uploads
Papers by Fabrizio Gabrielli