Burnable poison option for reducing void reactivity of a DUPIC fuel bundle

In a Canada deuterium-uranium (CANDU) reactor, the moderator is physically separated from the coolant and behaves as a thermal neutron source even after a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA). The diminished neutron scattering reaction upon coolant voiding indeed introduces both the thermal ( 1 MeV) flux increases in the bundle center region, which is a positive contribution to the coolant void reactivity. Compared with the natural uranium fuel, the void reactivity is higher for DUPIC fuel because of higher fissile content (1.56 wt%). At the new fuel design stage, the goal was to maintain the void reactivity of DUPIC fuel to the level of natural uranium fuel for reactor safety under LOCA.