Fission Product Benchmarking for Burnup Credit Applications

Progress toward developing a technical basis for a cost-effective burnup credit methodology for
spent nuclear fuel with initial U-235 enrichment up to 5% is presented. 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. Progress also depends on optimizing the procedure for establishing the
burnup characteristics of spent fuel to be loaded in “burnup-credit-approved” storage and
transportation systems.