Assembly-level calculations for transuranics recycling in pressurized water reactors

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1993 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:6912430

Lee, J C; Du, J ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)

In this paper, we present fuel depletion calculations evaluating the feasibility and efficiency of transmuting transuranics (TRUs) from spent nuclear fuel in pressurized water reactors (PWRs). In contrast to previous studies, which focused on plutonium recycling, we consider recycling all TRUS, including neptunium, americium, and curium isotopes. Single-assembly and (2 x 2) color-set calculations have been performed with the CASMO assembly-level collision probability code to model equilibrium PWR configurations. There has been renewed interest in the separation and transmutation of TRUs for reducing the long-term radioactivity in spent-fuel repositories. With low capture-to-fission ratios for TRUs in a fast spectrum, liquid-metal reactors (LMRS) are often considered favorable for transmutation of TRUS. The TRU fission cross sections are, however, larger in a thermal spectrum, which offers the potential for thermal transmutors to operate with a smaller TRU inventory, resulting in a higher fractional depletion rate and a higher TRU inventory reduction (TIR) factor. The TIR factor is defined as the ratio of the TRU inventory, without the TRU transmutor, to the inventory that would accumulate with TRU reprocessing and recycling. We present a preliminary study on how standard PWR designs could realize these potential advantages of thermal spectrum reactors.

• OSTI ID: 6912430
• Report Number(s): CONF-931160--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Journal Volume: 69
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
210200* -- Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDES
AMERICIUM
C CODES
COMPUTER CODES
CROSS SECTIONS
CURIUM ISOTOPES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
FUEL CYCLE
FUELS
ISOTOPES
MATERIALS
METALS
NEPTUNIUM
NUCLEAR FUELS
PHYSICS
POWER REACTORS
PWR TYPE REACTORS
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTOR PHYSICS
REACTORS
SPENT FUELS
THERMAL REACTORS
TRANSMUTATION
TRANSPLUTONIUM ELEMENTS
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS