The purpose of this scientific analysis report, CSNF Loading Curve Sensitivity Analysis, is to establish the required minimum burnup as a function of initial enrichment for both pressurized water reactor (PWR) and boiling water reactor (BWR) commercial spent nuclear fuel (CSNF) that would allow permanent disposal of these waste forms in the geologic repository at Yucca Mountain. The relationship between the required minimum burnup and fuel assembly initial enrichment forms a loading curve.

There are more than 250 forms of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)­owned spent nuclear fuel (SNF). Due to the variety of the spent nuclear fuel, the National Spent Nuclear Fuel Program (NSNFP) has designated nine representative fuel groups for disposal criticality analyses based on fuel matrix, primary fissile isotope, and enrichment. For each fuel group, a fuel type that represents the characteristics of all fuels in that group has been selected for detailed analysis.

The report describes the final results of the Phase IIIB Benchmark conducted by the
Expert Group on Burnup Credit Criticality Safety under the auspices of the Nuclear Energy
Agency (NEA) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The Benchmark was intended to compare the predictability of current computer code and
data library combinations for the atomic number densities of an irradiated BWR fuel
assembly model. The fuel assembly was irradiated under specific power of 25.6 MW/tHM

The "Summary Report of Commercial Reactor Criticality Data for Davis-Besse Unit 1" contains the detailed information necessary to perform commercial reactor criticality (CRC) analyses for the Davis-Besse Unit 1 reactor.

The preclosure criticality analysis process described in this technical report provides a systematic approach for determining the need for criticality controls and for evaluating their effectiveness during the preclosure period of the Monitored Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

The purpose of this calculation is to document the LaSalle Unit 1 boiling water reactor (BWR) fuel depletion calculations performed as part of the commercial reactor critical (CRC) evaluation program. The CRC evaluations constitute benchmark calculations that support the development and validation of the neutronics models used for criticality analyses involving commercial spent nuclear fuel in a geologic repository. This calculation incorporates control blade effects and minor variations in the SAS2H assembly modeling.

The purpose of this calculation is to perform the same reactivity calculations as performed in Reference 7.1 and Reference 7.2 for a set of Laboratory Critical Experiments (LCE) except to change some of the cross section libraries as specified here, and to perform sixteen additional calculations for U233 LCEs.

The purpose of this engineering calculation is to document the MCNP4B2LVevaluations of Laboratory Critical Experiments (LCEs) performed as part of the Disposal Criticality Analysis Methodology program. LCE evaluations documented in this report were performed for 22 different cases with varied design parameters. Some of these LCEs (10) are documented in existing references (Ref. 7.1 and 7.2), but were re-run for this calculation file using more neutron histories.

This report presents the results of computer code benchmark simulations against spent fuel radiochemical assay
measurements from the Kansai Electric Ltd. Takahama-3 reactor published by the Japan Atomic Energy
Research Institute. Takahama-3 is a pressurized-water reactor that operates with a 17 × 17 fuel-assembly design.
Spent fuel samples were obtained from assemblies operated for 2 and 3 cycles and achieved a maximum burnup
of 47 GWd/MTU. Radiochemical analyses were performed on two rods having an initial enrichment of

The purpose of this document is to present the methodology to be used for development of the Subcritical Limit (SL) for post closure conditions for the Yucca Mountain repository. The SL is a value based on a set of benchmark criticality multiplier, keff> results that are outputs of the MCNP calculation method. This SL accounts for calculational biases and associated uncertainties resulting from the use of MCNP as the method of assessing kerr·

The purpose of the material degradation and release (MDR) model is to predict the fate of the waste package materials, specifically the retention or mobilization of the radionuclides and the neutron-absorbing material as a function of time after the breach of a waste package during the 10,000 years after repository closure. The output of this model is used directly to assess the potential for a criticality event inside the waste package due to the retention of the radionuclides combined with a loss of the neutron-absorbing material.

The purpose of this calculation is to document the McGuire Unit 1 pressurized water reactor (PWR) reactivity calculations performed as part of the commercial reactor critical (CRC) evaluation program. CRC evaluation reactivity calculations are performed at a number of statepoints, representing reactor start-up critical conditions at either beginning of life (BOL), beginning of cycle (BOC), or mid-cycle when the reactor resumed operation after a shutdown.

This analysis is prepared by the Mined Geologic Disposal System (MGDS) Waste Package Development Department (WPDD) to provide an assessment of the present waste package design from a criticality risk standpoint. The specific objectives of this initial analysis are to:
1. Establish a process for determining the probability of waste package criticality as a function of time (in terms of a cumulative distribution function, probability distribution function, or expected number of criticalities in a specified time interval) for various waste package concepts;

The "Summary Report of Commercial Reactor Criticality Data for Catawba Unit 1" contains the detailed information necessary to perform commercial reactor criticality (CRC) analyses for the Catawba Unit 1 reactor.

The purpose of this calculation is to document the Quad Cities Unit 2 boiling water reactor (BWR) fuel depletion calculations performed as part of the commercial reactor critical (CRC) evaluation program. The CRC evaluations constitute benchmark calculations that support the development and validation of the neutronics models used for criticality analyses involving commercial spent nuclear fuel in a geologic repository. The revision of this calculation incorporates control blade effects and minor variations in the SAS2H assembly modeling.

The purpose of this calculation is to document the McGuire Unit 1 pressurized water reactor (PWR) fuel depletion calculations performed as part of the commercial reactor critical (CRC) evaluation program. The CRC evaluations support the development and validation of the neutronics models used for criticality analyses involving commercial spent nuclear fuel in a geologic repository.

Presented at the NEI Used Fuel Management Conference, St. Petersburg, FL, May 7-9, 2013

Present regulatory practices provide as much burnup credit flexibility as can be currently
expected. Further progress is achievable by incorporating the negative reactivity effects of a
subset of neutron-absorbing fission-product isotopes, and by optimizing the procedural approach
for establishing the burnup characteristics of the spent fuel to be loaded in burnup-creditdesigned
storage and transportation systems. This report describes progress toward developing a

From 1998 to 2004, a series of critical experiments referred to as the fission product (FP) experimental program was performed at the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique Valduc research facility. The experiments were designed by Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN) and funded by AREVA NC and IRSN within the French program supporting development of a technical basis for burnup credit validation.