Publications

Accident source terms for boiling water reactors with high burnup cores

Gauntt, Randall O.; Powers, Dana A.

The primary objective of this report is to provide the technical basis for development of recommendations for updates to the NUREG-1465 Source Term for BWRs that will extend its applicability to accidents involving high burnup (HBU) cores. However, a secondary objective is to re-examine the fundamental characteristics of the prescription for fission product release to containment described by NUREG-1465. This secondary objective is motivated by an interest to understand the extent to which research into the release and behaviors of radionuclides under accident conditions has altered best-estimate calculations of the integral response of BWRs to severe core damage sequences and the resulting radiological source terms to containment. This report, therefore, documents specific results of fission product source term analyses that will form the basis for the HBU supplement to NUREG-1465. However, commentary is also provided on observed differences between the composite results of the source term calculations performed here and those reflected NUREG-1465 itself.