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Energies
Volume 19
Issue 1
10.3390/en19010207
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Spectrum-Dependent Burnable Poison Selection for Enhanced Safety and Neutronic Performance in an Epithermal Supercritical Carbon Dioxide-Cooled Reactor

by
Yiming Zhong
1,
Jing Wen
1,
Wenbin Wu
1,*,
Naibin Jiang
1,
Xiaoqi Zhou
1,
Di Lu
2,
Bin Zhang
2 and
Lianjie Wang
2
1
Sino-French Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai 519082, China
2
Science and Technology on Reactor System Design Technology Laboratory, Nuclear Power Institute of China, Chengdu 610041, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Energies 2026, 19(1), 207; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19010207 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 29 November 2025 / Revised: 23 December 2025 / Accepted: 29 December 2025 / Published: 30 December 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nuclear Engineering and Nuclear Fuel Safety)
Versions Notes

Abstract

This study investigates the neutronic performance of burnable poisons (BPs) in an epithermal spectrum supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO2)-cooled reactor. Twelve candidate BP materials are systematically evaluated, including rare-earth oxides (e.g., HfO2, Er2O3, Eu2O3, etc.) and boron-based compounds (B4C and PACS). The deterministic neutron transport code KYLIN-I with the ENDF/B VI 45-group cross-section library is employed for analysis. According to the calculation results, Eu2O3 effectively suppresses the initial kinf of the epithermal-spectrum fuel assembly to ~1.2 with a relatively low weight fraction (~2.6%) while maintaining a total temperature coefficient (TTC) lower than −1.4 pcm/K throughout the entire burnup period. HfO2 and Er2O3, at approximately 15% weight fraction, achieve TTC values better than −2 pcm/K. Furthermore, both Eu2O3 and HfO2 contribute to maintaining a low, stable power peaking factor (PPF) below 1.24 throughout the burnup process. This study provides a theoretical foundation and technical support for designing an efficient and safe S–CO2-cooled nuclear reactor. It highlights the importance of selecting BP materials that are well-adapted to the neutron spectrum and optimizing the fuel assembly configuration accordingly.
Keywords: burnable poisons; S–CO2-cooled reactor; KYLIN-I; neutronic performance burnable poisons; S–CO2-cooled reactor; KYLIN-I; neutronic performance

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Zhong, Y.; Wen, J.; Wu, W.; Jiang, N.; Zhou, X.; Lu, D.; Zhang, B.; Wang, L. Spectrum-Dependent Burnable Poison Selection for Enhanced Safety and Neutronic Performance in an Epithermal Supercritical Carbon Dioxide-Cooled Reactor. Energies 2026, 19, 207. https://doi.org/10.3390/en19010207

AMA Style

Zhong Y, Wen J, Wu W, Jiang N, Zhou X, Lu D, Zhang B, Wang L. Spectrum-Dependent Burnable Poison Selection for Enhanced Safety and Neutronic Performance in an Epithermal Supercritical Carbon Dioxide-Cooled Reactor. Energies. 2026; 19(1):207. https://doi.org/10.3390/en19010207

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zhong, Yiming, Jing Wen, Wenbin Wu, Naibin Jiang, Xiaoqi Zhou, Di Lu, Bin Zhang, and Lianjie Wang. 2026. "Spectrum-Dependent Burnable Poison Selection for Enhanced Safety and Neutronic Performance in an Epithermal Supercritical Carbon Dioxide-Cooled Reactor" Energies 19, no. 1: 207. https://doi.org/10.3390/en19010207

APA Style

Zhong, Y., Wen, J., Wu, W., Jiang, N., Zhou, X., Lu, D., Zhang, B., & Wang, L. (2026). Spectrum-Dependent Burnable Poison Selection for Enhanced Safety and Neutronic Performance in an Epithermal Supercritical Carbon Dioxide-Cooled Reactor. Energies, 19(1), 207. https://doi.org/10.3390/en19010207

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