Nuclear data uncertainties for Swiss BWR spent nuclear fuel characteristics

The effect of nuclear data (fission yields, cross sections and emitted spectra) is quantified for spent nuclear fuel assemblies from a realistic boiling water reactor operated over 25 cycles. Nominal calculations are performed with the CASMO5, SIMULATE-3 and SNF codes and the ENDF/B-VII.0 nuclear data library. The uncertainties are calculated with the same codes, using a Monte Carlo propagation method, and the ENDF/B-VII.1 covariance matrices. The conclusions are that (1) the nuclear data have a non-negligible impact for spent fuel quantities (e.g., decay heat, neutron emission or isotopic contents); (2) the importance of varying all data together is demonstrated, showing an under- or overestimation of uncertainties if fission yields are sampled separately from the other nuclear data; and finally (3) the importance of considering the full irradiation history (multi-cycle assembly life) is also demonstrated, showing also an under- or overestimation of uncertainties when performing the nuclear data sampling for a single reactor cycle.