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

Conference · Wed Apr 01 04:00:00 EDT 2009 · Ann. Nucl. Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2008.12.021· OSTI ID:1001596

Kim, T K; Yang, W S; Grandy, C; Hill, R

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 Laboratory (ANL)
• Sponsoring Organization: NE
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 1001596
• Report Number(s): ANL/NE/CP-61708
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Ann. Nucl. Energy Journal Issue: 3 ; Apr. 2009 Journal Volume: 36
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: ENGLISH

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
ALLOYS
BURNERS
BURNUP
CONVERSION RATIO
DESIGN
FEEDBACK
MIXED OXIDE FUELS
PERFORMANCE
SAFETY
SHUTDOWN