Dresden 2013 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

AGA: Arbeitsgruppe Physik und Abrüstung

AGA 3: Non-Proliferation und Safeguards

AGA 3.3: Talk

Wednesday, March 6, 2013, 18:00–18:30, HSZ-04

Plutonium Production - Back of the Envelope Calculations — •Moritz Kütt, Matthias Englert, and Friederike Fassnacht — IANUS, TU Darmstadt, Germany

Knowledge of the amount of plutonium that has been or could be produced in specific reactors is one of the main facts necessary to assess risks of nuclear proliferation. For different projects, we have been using our own complex computer code (MCMATH) and third-party tools to calculate reactor burnup. They allow for very broad and sophisticated studies of plutonium production, but at the same time require access to fast computers, knowledge of the used software as well as of many physical details.

There exist approaches to estimate plutonium production figures by simpler means. We present simplified models for the calculation of plutonium production, based on extensive burnup calculations. Included are models for typical commercial reactors (PWR, BWR, CANDU) as well as special plutonium production reactors (Hanford-Type, Calder Hall). Besides presenting the models, we analyze the errors made by their application.