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Title: Enhancing VVER Annular Proliferation Resistance Fuel with Minor Actinides

Abstract

Key aspects of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) are to significantly advance the science and technology of nuclear energy systems and the Advanced Fuel Cycle (AFC) program. The merits of nuclear energy are the high-density energy, and low environmental impacts i.e. almost zero greenhouse gas emission. Planned efforts involve near-term and intermediate-term improvements in fuel utilization and recycling in current LWR as well as the longer-term development of new nuclear energy systems that offer much improved fuel utilization and proliferation resistance, along with continued advances in operational safety. The challenges are solving the energy needs of the world, protection against nuclear proliferation, the problem of nuclear waste, and the global environmental problem. To reduce the spent fuel for storage and enhance the proliferation resistance for the intermediate-term, there are two major approaches (a) increase the discharged spent fuel burnup in the advanced LWR (Gen-III Plus), which not only can reduce the spent fuel for storage, but also increase the 238Pu and 240Pu isotopes ratio to enhance the proliferation resistance, (b) use of transuranic nuclides (237Np and 241Am) in the high burnup fuel, which can drastically increase the proliferation resistance isotope 238Pu /Pu ratio. For future advanced nuclear systems, themore » minor actinides are viewed more as a resource to be recycled, or transmuted to less hazardous and possibly more useful forms, rather than simply as a waste stream to be disposed of in expensive repository facilities. In this paper, a typical pressurized water reactor (PWR) VVER-1000 annular fuel unit lattice cell model with UO2 fuel pins will be used to investigate the effectiveness of minor actinide reduction approach (MARA) for enhancing proliferation resistance and improving the fuel cycle performance. We concluded that the concept of MARA, involves the use of transuranic nuclides (237Np and/or 241Am), can not only drastically increase the 238Pu/Pu ratio for proliferation resistance, but also can serve as a burnable absorber to hold-down the initial excess reactivity. It is believed that MARA can play an important role in atoms for peace and the intermediate term of nuclear energy reconnaissance.« less

Authors:
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
DOE - NE
OSTI Identifier:
912899
Report Number(s):
INL/CON-07-12465
TRN: US0800604
DOE Contract Number:  
DE-AC07-99ID-13727
Resource Type:
Conference
Resource Relation:
Conference: 13th International Conference on Emerging Nuclear Energy Systems,Istanbul, Turkey,06/03/2007,06/08/2007
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
99 - GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE; ACTINIDES; ATOMS; BURNUP; ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS; FUEL CYCLE; FUEL PINS; GREENHOUSE GASES; ISOTOPES; NUCLEAR ENERGY; PROLIFERATION; PWR TYPE REACTORS; RADIOACTIVE WASTES; RECYCLING; SAFETY; SPENT FUELS; STORAGE; WASTES; minor actinides

Citation Formats

Chang, G S. Enhancing VVER Annular Proliferation Resistance Fuel with Minor Actinides. United States: N. p., 2007. Web.
Chang, G S. Enhancing VVER Annular Proliferation Resistance Fuel with Minor Actinides. United States.
Chang, G S. 2007. "Enhancing VVER Annular Proliferation Resistance Fuel with Minor Actinides". United States. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/912899.
@article{osti_912899,
title = {Enhancing VVER Annular Proliferation Resistance Fuel with Minor Actinides},
author = {Chang, G S},
abstractNote = {Key aspects of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) are to significantly advance the science and technology of nuclear energy systems and the Advanced Fuel Cycle (AFC) program. The merits of nuclear energy are the high-density energy, and low environmental impacts i.e. almost zero greenhouse gas emission. Planned efforts involve near-term and intermediate-term improvements in fuel utilization and recycling in current LWR as well as the longer-term development of new nuclear energy systems that offer much improved fuel utilization and proliferation resistance, along with continued advances in operational safety. The challenges are solving the energy needs of the world, protection against nuclear proliferation, the problem of nuclear waste, and the global environmental problem. To reduce the spent fuel for storage and enhance the proliferation resistance for the intermediate-term, there are two major approaches (a) increase the discharged spent fuel burnup in the advanced LWR (Gen-III Plus), which not only can reduce the spent fuel for storage, but also increase the 238Pu and 240Pu isotopes ratio to enhance the proliferation resistance, (b) use of transuranic nuclides (237Np and 241Am) in the high burnup fuel, which can drastically increase the proliferation resistance isotope 238Pu /Pu ratio. For future advanced nuclear systems, the minor actinides are viewed more as a resource to be recycled, or transmuted to less hazardous and possibly more useful forms, rather than simply as a waste stream to be disposed of in expensive repository facilities. In this paper, a typical pressurized water reactor (PWR) VVER-1000 annular fuel unit lattice cell model with UO2 fuel pins will be used to investigate the effectiveness of minor actinide reduction approach (MARA) for enhancing proliferation resistance and improving the fuel cycle performance. We concluded that the concept of MARA, involves the use of transuranic nuclides (237Np and/or 241Am), can not only drastically increase the 238Pu/Pu ratio for proliferation resistance, but also can serve as a burnable absorber to hold-down the initial excess reactivity. It is believed that MARA can play an important role in atoms for peace and the intermediate term of nuclear energy reconnaissance.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/912899}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2007},
month = {Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2007}
}

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