Performance potential of (Th,U) carbide and (Th,U) nitride fuel in 1200 MWe LMFBR's

Technical Report · Sat Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1978

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5100326· OSTI ID:5100326

Caspersson, S. A.; Kulwich, M. R.

An evaluation of the performance potential of thorium-uranium carbide and nitride fuel in 1200 MW(e) homogeneous and heterogeneous LMFBR's has been completed. Comparisons were done with 9.40 mm outer diameter, 0.38 mm cladding fuel pins at a selected peak (3 sigma) linear power of 98.4 kW/m for all cores. Breeding ratios for the homogeneous (Th,U)C and (Th,U)N cores are 1.12 and 1.16, respectively. In the heterogeneous cores the breeding ratios are 0.08 to 0.09 greater. A comparative breeding ratio of 1.48 results for a sodium-bonded (U,Pu)C homogeneous LMFBR with similar design criteria. Compound inventory doubling times for the homogeneous and heterogeneous (Th,U)C cores are 82 and 53 years, respectively. Additional performance parameters have also been compared, including sodium void worths, specific inventories, fissile material gains, and equilibrium cycle reactivity losses.

• Research Organization: Combustion Engineering, Inc., Windsor, Conn. (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5100326
• Report Number(s): COO-2426-133
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
210500* -- Power Reactors
Breeding
210802 -- Nuclear Power Plants-- Economics-- Fuel Cycle
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
BREEDER REACTORS
BURNUP
CARBIDES
CARBON COMPOUNDS
ECONOMICS
EFFICIENCY
EPITHERMAL REACTORS
FAST REACTORS
FBR TYPE REACTORS
FUEL CYCLE
FUEL ELEMENTS
FUEL PINS
LIQUID METAL COOLED REACTORS
LMFBR TYPE REACTORS
NITRIDES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
PNICTIDES
POWER DISTRIBUTION
REACTIVITY WORTHS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR CORES
REACTORS
SPECIFICATIONS
THORIUM CARBIDES
THORIUM COMPOUNDS
THORIUM NITRIDES
URANIUM CARBIDES
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM NITRIDES