Uranium production in thorium/denatured uranium fueled PWRs

Technical Report · Tue Oct 18 04:00:00 UTC 1977

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5412741· OSTI ID:5412741

Arthur, W B

Uranium-232 buildup in a thorium/denatured uranium fueled pressurized water reactor, PWR(Th), was studied using a modified version of the spectrum-dependent zero dimensional depletion code, LEOPARD. The generic Combustion Engineering System 80 reactor design was selected as the reactor model for the calculations. Reactors fueled with either enriched natural uranium and self-generated recycled uranium or uranium from a thorium breeder and self-generated recycled uranium were considered. For enriched natural uranium, concentrations of /sup 232/U varied from about 135 ppM (/sup 232/U/U weight basis) in the zeroth generation to about 260 ppM (/sup 232/U/U weight basis) at the end of the fifth generation. For the case in which thorium breeder fuel (with its relatively high /sup 232/U concentration) was used as reactor makeup fuel, concentrations of /sup 232/U varied from 441 ppM (/sup 232/U/U weight basis) at discharge from the first generation to about 512 ppM (/sup 232/U/U weight basis) at the end of the fifth generation. Concentrations in freshly fabricated fuel for this later case were 20 to 35% higher than the discharge concentration. These concentrations are low when compared to those of other thorium fueled reactor types (HTGR and MSBR) because of the relatively high /sup 238/U concentration added to the fuel as a denaturant. Excellent agreement was found between calculated and existing experimental values. Nevertheless, caution is urged in the use of these values because experimental results are very limited, and the relevant nuclear data, especially for /sup 231/Pa and /sup 232/U, are not of high quality.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Tenn. (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 5412741
• Report Number(s): K/OP-241
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
210200* -- Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ACTINIDES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BUILDUP
COMPUTER CALCULATIONS
DENATURED FUEL
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FUEL CYCLE
FUEL ELEMENTS
FUELS
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOTOPE RATIO
ISOTOPES
METALS
NUCLEAR FUELS
NUCLEI
PWR TYPE REACTORS
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTORS
THORIUM
URANIUM 232
URANIUM ISOTOPES
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES