Plutonium disposition in the gas turbine modular helium reactor (GT-MHR)

Conference · Thu Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1996

OSTI ID:268098

Alberstein, D; Neylan, A J ^[1]

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1. General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)

The Gas Turbine Modular Helium Reactor (GT-MHR) can effectively destroy surplus weapons grade plutonium, consuming more than 90% of the initially charged plutonium-239 and 65% of the initial total plutonium in a once through cycle, achieving high plutonium destruction without recycle. Because the plutonium-fueled GT-MHR uses no fertile fuel, no new plutonium is created. The spent fuel discharged from the reactor has characteristics that give it unusually high resistance to diversion and proliferation. The amount of plutonium per spent fuel element is very low; the spent fuel element mass and volume are high; there is no developed process for separating the residual plutonium from the spent fuel; and the discharged plutonium isotopic mixture is severely degraded--well beyond typical reactor grade plutonium. The discharged fuel elements are suitable, with no further processing, for direct disposal in a permanent geologic repository. The plutonium-fueled GT-MHR is based on existing technology, and the capability of its fuel to achieve high levels of plutonium destruction has been successfully demonstrated by testing. Use of the direct Brayton cycle helium gas turbine for power conversion results in net plant thermal efficiency of about 47%, a level of efficiency attainable by no other reactor technology. This high efficiency results in relatively minimal environmental impact and in the potential for substantial revenues from the sale of electricity to offset the costs of development, engineering, construction, and operation. The plutonium-fueled GT-MHR has the unique safety characteristics of other MHR designs.

• OSTI ID: 268098
• Report Number(s): CONF-960306--; ISBN 0-7918-1226-X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
BRAYTON CYCLE POWER SYSTEMS
DESIGN
FUEL CYCLE
GAS TURBINES
HELIUM COOLED REACTORS
MODULAR STRUCTURES
NON-PROLIFERATION POLICY
NUCLEAR MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
PLUTONIUM
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT