Plutonium burning in pressurized water reactors via nonfertile matrices

Journal Article · Thu Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1996 · Nuclear Science and Engineering

OSTI ID:218505

Lombardi, C ^[1]; Mazzola, A ^[2]

---

1. Polytechnic of Milan (Italy). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering
2. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Halden (Norway). Halden Reactor Project

The plutonium that comes from dismantled warheads and that is already stockpiled from commercial fuel reprocessing has raised many proposals for its burning in a safe and economical manner. The utilization is examined of current pressurized water reactors (PWRs) that are partially fed with a nonfertile oxide-type fuel, while the rest of the core is still fed with standard {sup 235}U-enriched fuel. The unconventional fuel consists of PuO{sub 2} diluted in an inert matrix, which should be highly radiation resistant, scarcely neutron absorbent, and chemically stable and which allows the final disposal of the discharged fuel without any treatment. Commercial PWRs operating in a once-through cycle scheme can transmute 97 to 99% of {sup 239}Pu and 71 to 84% of total initially loaded reactor- and weapons-grade plutonium, respectively. The remnant plutonium is in a proliferation-resistant condition. The high initial reactivity of the plutonium-bearing rods causes a high initial rod power peak and continuously decreasing power generation in these rods during the irradiation. A less pronounced rod power peak in UO{sub 2} rods at end of life has to be addressed. The reactivity coefficients are, in absolute terms, slightly lower than the standard UO{sub 2} fuel ones.

• OSTI ID: 218505
• Journal Information: Nuclear Science and Engineering, Journal Name: Nuclear Science and Engineering Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 122; ISSN NSENAO; ISSN 0029-5639
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
NUCLEAR FUELS
NUCLEAR MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
NUCLEAR WEAPONS DISMANTLEMENT
PLUTONIUM
PLUTONIUM DIOXIDE
PLUTONIUM RECYCLE
PWR TYPE REACTORS
TRANSMUTATION
URANIUM 235