Measured breeding in a light water breeder reactor

Conference · Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1987 · Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6947412

Tessler, G; Babyak, W J; Beaudoin, B R; Beggs, W J; Freeman, L B; Hecker, H C; Kahler, A C; Schick, W C; Simon, C J; Raab, H F

The light water breeder reactor (LWBR), a pressurized water reactor fueled with /sup 233/UO/sub 2/ and /sup 232/ThO/sub 2/ in Zircaloy-clad fuel rods, was designed and built by the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory (BAPL) under the technical direction of the US Dept. of Energy's Office of Naval Reactors. The LWBR objective was to demonstrate that breeders can be operated in existing light water reactor (LWR) plants. Following 5 yr of successful operation (1977-1982), a proof-of-breeding program was carried out to measure the end-of-life (EOL) fissile fuel content of the LWBR and to confirm that the LWBR was a breeder. Completed assay measurements of expended LWBR fuel elements confirm earlier indications based on partial measurements that breeding was achieved. These new and final results mark the successful completion of the light water breeder program. This technology provides our nation with an energy option approx. 50 times larger than existing LWRs by utilizing the plentiful fuel thorium with existing reactor plant technology.

• OSTI ID: 6947412
• Report Number(s): CONF-8711195-; TRN: 88-033405
• Journal Information: Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States), Vol. 55; Conference: American Nuclear Society winter meeting, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 15 Nov 1987
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
LWBR TYPE REACTORS
BREEDING RATIO
ACCURACY
ANL
FUEL ELEMENTS
NEUTRON SPECTRA
NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING
REACTOR CORES
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
THORIUM 232
THORIUM OXIDES
URANIUM 233
URANIUM DIOXIDE
US DOE
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BREEDER REACTORS
CHALCOGENIDES
CONVERSION RATIO
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
MATERIALS TESTING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEI
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTORS
SPECTRA
TESTING
THERMAL REACTORS
THORIUM COMPOUNDS
THORIUM ISOTOPES
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM ISOTOPES
URANIUM OXIDES
US AEC
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
210500* - Power Reactors
Breeding