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Title: Core design studies for a 1000 MW{sub th} advanced burner reactor.

Conference · · Ann. Nucl. Energy

This paper describes the core design and performance characteristics of 1000 MW{sub th} Advanced Burner Reactor (ABR) core concepts with a wide range of TRU conversion ratio. Using ternary metal alloy and mixed oxide fuels, reference core designs of a medium TRU conversion ratio of {approx}0.7 were developed by trade-off between burnup reactivity loss and TRU conversion ratio. Based on these reference core concepts, TRU burner cores with low and high TRU conversion ratios were developed by changing the intra-assembly design parameters and core configurations. Reactor performance characteristics were evaluated in detail, including equilibrium cycle core performances, reactivity feedback coefficients, and shutdown margins. The results showed that by employing different assembly designs, a wide range of TRU conversion ratios from {approx}0.2 to break-even can be achieved within the same core without introducing significant performance and safety penalties.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
NE
DOE Contract Number:
DE-AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1001596
Report Number(s):
ANL/NE/CP-61708; TRN: US1100422
Journal Information:
Ann. Nucl. Energy, Vol. 36, Issue 3 ; Apr. 2009; Conference: International Conference on Physical Reactors (PHYSOR'08); Sep. 14, 2008 - Sep. 19, 2008; Interlaken, Switzerland
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH