Ultralong cycle length for PWRs: Physics and fuel aspects

Journal Article · Tue Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1996 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:426523

Ayoub, A F.A. ^[1]; McMahon, M V; Driscoll, M J ^[2]

---

1. Univ. of Cairo, Giza (Egypt)
2. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology, Cambridge, MA (United States)

Incentives to reduce the cost of electricity by increasing reactor capacity factor have motivated increasing intrarefueling cycles to 18 to 24 months. The present work, sponsored by the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory University Research Consortium, examines the currently contemplatable extreme upper limit of 48 months as part of a project of wider scope, which also considers how and whether plants could be operated nonstop for periods this long. Elementary burnup reactivity models immediately show that only a single-batch reloading strategy might permit {ge} 40-month cycles, while respecting current or near-future fuel burnup limits. They also show that fuel cycle and reactor plant facilities would have to be relicensed to deal with fuel enriched to {approx}7% {sup 235}U (versus the typical current limit of {le}5%). Finally, back-of-the-envelope economic estimates show that a 48-month cycle batch-loaded core has a fuel cycle cost that is {approx}1.5mill/kWh ({approx}$10 million/yr) more expensive than an optimized multibatch strategy. This deficit would have to be made up from the net benefits of a higher capacity factor (e.g., less replacement energy and fewer refueling outages) levelized over plant lifetime.

• OSTI ID: 426523
• Report Number(s): CONF-961103--
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 75; ISSN TANSAO; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
BATCH LOADING
FUEL CYCLE
FUEL MANAGEMENT
OPTIMIZATION
PWR TYPE REACTORS