Preliminary FRAPCON-3Th Steady-State Fuel Analysis of ThO{sub 2} and UO{sub 2} Fuel Mixtures

Journal Article · Sat Dec 15 04:00:00 EST 2001 · Nuclear Technology

OSTI ID:20826713

Loewen, Eric P ^[1]; Wilson, Rodrick D ^[2]; Hohorst, Judith K ^[1]; Kumar, Arvind S ^[3]

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1. Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (United States)
2. Cooper Nuclear Station (Nebraska Public Power District) (United States)
3. University of Missouri-Rolla (United States)

Recent investigations into the performance and economics of mixed thoria-urania (ThO{sub 2}/UO{sub 2}) fuel cycles in light water reactors indicate that there may be advantages to using these fuels at high burnups. The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) modified FRAPCON-3, a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission-sponsored software package developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for use on mixed thoria-urania fuels. The modifications constituted the first stage of fuel performance evaluations supported by the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) project titled Advanced Proliferation Resistant, Lower Cost, Uranium-Thorium Dioxide Fuels for Light Water Reactors. The goal of this NERI project is to develop mixed ThO{sub 2}/UO{sub 2} fuels that can be operated to a relatively high burnup level in current and future commercial power reactors.This paper describes in detail the INEEL's modifications to the FRAPCON-3 thermal conductivity subroutine FTHCON and the techniques used to validate the modifications. The paper presents the general fuel design criteria used to model mixed thoria-urania fuel and a steady-state analysis of a mock thoria-urania fuel using the FRAPCON-3Th code. The paper also presents the data analyses for the mock thoria-urania fuel and offers suggestions for future upgrades and improvements to the code.

• OSTI ID: 20826713
• Journal Information: Nuclear Technology, Journal Name: Nuclear Technology Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 136; ISSN 0029-5450; ISSN NUTYBB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
BURNUP
COMPUTER CODES
DATA ANALYSIS
DESIGN
ECONOMICS
FUEL CYCLE
FUELS
INEEL
MIXTURES
MODIFICATIONS
PERFORMANCE
POWER REACTORS
STEADY-STATE CONDITIONS
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
THORIUM
THORIUM OXIDES
URANIUM
URANIUM DIOXIDE
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS