The GUINEVERE project was launched in 2006 in order to study the feasibility of transmutation in Accelerator Driven subcritical Systems (ADS). This facility, hosted at the Belgian Nuclear Research Center SCK.CEN, couples the fast subcritical lead reactor VENUS-F with an external neutron source provided by the GENEPI-3C accelerator.In order to test on-line subcriticality monitoring techniques, an independent measurement of the reactivity of VENUS-F was achieved using the Modified Source Multiplication Method (MSM). The unknown reactivity of the subcritical configuration of interest was determined by comparing detector count rates driven by an external neutron source in this configuration with those obtained in a slightly subcritical configuration whose reactivity was determined by rod drop experiments. To account for spatial effects, MSM correction factors were calculated for all the detectors using the Monte Carlo neutron transport code MCNP. The corrected reactivity values of all the detectors were found to be consistent. This led to a final estimate of -5.28 +/- 0.13 $ for the reactivity of VENUS-F.The MSM factors calculated with MCNP were found to be insensitive to the assumptions made for modeling the reactor and the detectors. Thus the MSM method appears to be a robust technique for measuring large subcriticality values with good accuracy. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reactor physics experiments are required for the design of a Fast Spectrum Transmutation Experimental Facility MYRRHA/FASTEF working in subcritical mode and in critical mode. Reactor physics experiments aim to validate a methodology for on-line subcriticality monitoring. For this purpose, building on the former activities accomplished in the previous FP6 project GUINEVERE, investigations on the subcritical VENUS-F (lead/uranium) cores coupled with the GENEPI-3C accelerator will be extended. This activity has been planned in within the framework of the on-going FREYA (Fast Reactor Experiments for hYbrid Applications) FP7 project. This paper presents the current progress of the project and the future plans.

Accelerator-Driven Systems (ADS) could be employed to incinerate minor actinides and so partly contribute to answer the problem of nuclear waste management. An ADS consists of the coupling of a subcritical fast reactor to a particle accelerator via a heavy material spallation target. The on-line reactivity monitoring of such an ADS is a serious issue regarding its safety. In order to study the methodology of this monitoring, zero-power experimentswere undertaken at the GUINEVERE facility within the framework of the FP6-IP-EUROTRANS programme. Such experiments have been under completion within the FREYA FP7 project. The GUINEVERE facility is hosted at the SCK-CEN site in Mol (Belgium). It couples the VENUS-F subcritical fast core with the GENEPI-3C accelerator. The latter delivers a beam of deuterons, which are converted into 14-MeV neutrons via fusion reactions on a tritiated target. This paper presents one of the investigated methods for ADS on-line reactivity monitoring which has to be validated in the program of the FREYA project. It describes the results obtained when Pulsed Neutron Source experiments are analysed using the so called Area Method, in order to estimate the reactivity of a few sub-critical configurations of the VENUS-F reactor, around keff= 0.96. First the GUINEVERE facility is described. Then, following general considerations on the Area method, the results of its application to the neutron population time decrease spectra measured after a pulse by several fission chambers spread out over the whole reactor are discussed. Finally the reactivity values extracted are compared to the static reactivity values obtained using the Modified Source Multiplication (MSM) method.

The GUINEVERE (Generation of Uninterrupted Intense NEutron pulses at the lead VEnus REactor) project was launched in 2006 within the framework of FP6 EUROTRANS in order to validate online reactivity monitoring and subcriticality level determination in accelerator driven systems (ADS). Therefore, the VENUS reactor at SCK-CEN in Mol, Belgium, was modified towards a fast core (VENUS-F) and coupled to the GENEPI-3C accelerator built by CNRS. The accelerator can operate in both continuous and pulsed mode. The VENUS-F core is loaded with enriched Uranium and reflected with solid lead. A well-chosen critical reference state is indispensable for the validation of the online subcriticality monitoring methodology. Moreover, a benchmarking tool is required for nuclear data research and code validation. In this paper, the design and the importance of the critical reference state for the GUINEVERE project are motivated. The results of the first experimental phase on the critical core are presented. The control rods worth is determined by the positive period method and the application of the Modified Source Multiplication (MSM) method allows the determination of the worth of the safety rods. The results are implemented in the VENUS-F core certificate for full exploitation of the critical core.

The GUINEVERE (Generation of Uninterrupted Intense Neutrons at the lead Venus Reactor) experimental program is dedicated to the study of Accelerator Driven System reactivity monitoring. It was partly carried out within the EUROTRANS integrated project (EURATOM FP6). GUINEVERE consists in coupling the fast core of the VENUS-F reactor (SCK-CEN, Mol (Belgium)), composed of enriched uranium and solid lead, with a T(d,n) neutron source provided by the GENEPI-3C deuteron accelerator. This neutron source can be operated in several modes: pulsed mode, continuous mode and also continuous mode with short beam interruptions (the so called 'beam trips'). In the past, the key questions of the reactivity control and monitoring in a subcritical system were studied in the MUSE experiments (1998-2004). These experiments highlighted the difficulty to determine precisely the reactivity with a single technique. This led to investigate a new strategy which is based on the combination of the relative reactivity monitoring via the core power to beam current relationship with absolute reactivity cross-checks during programmed beam interruptions. Consequently, to determine the reactivity, several dynamical techniques of reactivity determination have to be compared. In addition, their accuracy for absolute reactivity determination must be evaluated using a reference reactivity determination technique (from amore » critical state: rod drop and MSM measurements). The first sub-critical configuration which was studied was around k{sub eff} = 0.96 (SCI). Pulsed Neutron Source experiments (PNS) were carried out. The neutron population decrease was measured using fission chambers in different locations inside the core and the reflector. Neutron population time decrease was analyzed using fitting techniques and the Area Method Results obtained for the SCI reactivity will be shown, discussed and compared to the reference value given by the MSM method. (authors)« less

Within the GUINEVERE project (Generation of Uninterrupted Intense Neutrons at the lead Venus Reactor) carried out at SCK-CEN in Mol, the continuous deuteron accelerator GENEPI-3C was coupled to the VENUS-F fast simulated lead-cooled reactor. Today the FREYA project (Fast Reactor Experiments for hYbrid Applications) is ongoing to study the neutronic behavior of this Accelerator Driven System (ADS) during different phases of operation. In particular the set-up of a monitoring system for the subcriticality of an ADS is envisaged to guarantee safe operation of the installation. The methodology for subcriticality monitoring in ADS takes into account the determination of the initial subcriticality level, the monitoring of reactivity variations, and interim cross-checking. At start-up, the Pulsed Neutron Source (PNS) technique is envisaged to determine the initial subcriticality level. Thanks to its reference critical state, the PNS technique can be validated on the VENUS-F core. A detector positioning methodology for the PNS technique is set up in this paper for the subcritical VENUS-F core, based on the reduction of higher harmonics in a static evaluation of the Sjoestrand area method. A first case study is provided on the VENUS-F core. This method can be generalised in order to create general rules for detectormore » positions and types for full-scale ADS. (authors)« less