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Consider the Maine-Yankee Reactor, a Combustion Engineering PWR rated at 2440 MWt. The fuel pins are characterized by:

UO₂ pellet diameter
Zr clad inside diameter
Zr clad outside diameter
Active fuel length

The core contains 217 fuel assemblies each with a 14 x 14 lattice of fuel pins (less 20 per 0.964 cm 0.986 cm 1.118 cm 3.66 m assembly for control element insertion). Assuming all fission energy is deposited uniformly in the fuel pellet, calculate the following core-averaged parameters:
a. heat rate per fuel pin q [kW]
b. near heat rate q [kW/m and kW/ft]
c. e flux from fuel pellet q" [kW/cm²]
d. volumetric heat rate in fuel pellet q" [W/cm³]

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Final answer:

To calculate the core-averaged parameters for the Maine-Yankee Reactor, we need to use the given information. The reactor is a Combustion Engineering PWR rated at 2440 MWt. It has 217 fuel assemblies, each with a 14 x 14 lattice of fuel pins. The fuel pins are characterized by their dimensions: UO₂ pellet diameter, Zr clad inside diameter, Zr clad outside diameter, and active fuel length.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the core-averaged parameters for the Maine-Yankee Reactor, we need to use the given information. The reactor is a Combustion Engineering PWR rated at 2440 MWt. It has 217 fuel assemblies, each with a 14 x 14 lattice of fuel pins. The fuel pins are characterized by their dimensions: UO₂ pellet diameter, Zr clad inside diameter, Zr clad outside diameter, and active fuel length.

a. To calculate the heat rate per fuel pin (q), we can divide the total thermal power of the reactor (2440 MWt) by the number of fuel pins. This would be q = 2440 MWt / (217 fuel assemblies x 14 x 14 fuel pins).

b. The near heat rate (q) can be calculated by dividing the heat rate per fuel pin (q) by the active fuel length. This would be q = q / 3.66 m.

c. The heat flux from the fuel pellet (q") can be calculated by dividing the heat rate per fuel pin (q) by the area of the fuel pellet. The area can be calculated using the UO₂ pellet diameter and the active fuel length. This would be q" = q / (π x (UO₂ pellet diameter/2)^2).

d. The volumetric heat rate in the fuel pellet (q") can be calculated by dividing the heat rate per fuel pin (q) by the volume of the fuel pellet. The volume can be calculated using the UO₂ pellet diameter and the active fuel length. This would be q" = q / (π x (UO₂ pellet diameter/2)^2 x active fuel length).

User Aonan Zhang
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