Preliminary results of calculations for heavy-water nuclear-power-plant reactors employing {sup 235}U, {sup 233}U, and {sup 232}Th as a fuel and meeting requirements of a nonproliferation of nuclear weapons

Journal Article · Wed Feb 15 00:00:00 EST 2012 · Physics of Atomic Nuclei

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063778812020081· OSTI ID:22043784

Ioffe, B L; Kochurov, B P ^[1]

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1. Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (Russian Federation)

A physical design is developed for a gas-cooled heavy-water nuclear reactor intended for a project of a nuclear power plant. As a fuel, the reactor would employ thorium with a small admixture of enriched uranium that contains not more than 20% of {sup 235}U. It operates in the open-cycle mode involving {sup 233}U production from thorium and its subsequent burnup. The reactor meets the conditions of a nonproliferation of nuclear weapons: the content of fissionable isotopes in uranium at all stages of the process, including the final one, is below the threshold for constructing an atomic bomb, the amount of product plutonium being extremely small.

• OSTI ID: 22043784
• Journal Information: Physics of Atomic Nuclei, Vol. 75, Issue 2; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2012 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1063-7788
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
BURNUP
DESIGN
ENRICHED URANIUM
GAS COOLED REACTORS
HEAVY WATER
HEAVY WATER MODERATED REACTORS
PLUTONIUM
PROLIFERATION
THORIUM
THORIUM 232
URANIUM 233
URANIUM 235