High-level assessment of LANL ABC Design

Technical Report · Fri Apr 15 00:00:00 EDT 1994

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10190523· OSTI ID:10190523

An annual weapon`s grade Pu disposition goal should be stated and related to the amount of Pu that needs to be disposed of. It needs to be determined to what extent it is possible to destroy Pu without building up any new Pu, i.e., how realistic this goal is. The strong positive Doppler coefficient for a Pu core might require the addition of some fertile material to ensure a negative Doppler coefficient. This in turn will affect the net Pu disposition rate. If a fertile material is required throughout the life of the ABC to ensure a negative Doppler coefficient, the difference between the molten salt ABC and other reactors in regard to Pu disposition is not a principled difference anymore but one of degree. A rationale has then to be developed that explains why {open_quotes}x{close_quotes} kg production of fissile material are acceptable but {open_quotes}y{close_quotes} kg are not. It is important to determine how a requirement for electricity production will impact on the ABC design choices. It is conceivable that DOE will not insist on electricity generation. In this case advantage has to be taken in terms of design simplifications and relaxed operating conditions.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Barthold Associates, Inc., Knoxville, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: Department of Defense, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 10190523
• Report Number(s): LA-SUB-94-143; ON: DE95001392; TRN: 94:009643
• Resource Relation: Other Information: PBD: 15 Apr 1994
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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