Metallic combinations of Pu-Th and /sup 233/U-Th or Pu-Th and /sup 233/U-/sup 233/U fuel cycles as possible alternatives to (Pu-U)0/sub 2/ in LMFBRS
Optimized breeding performances of three breeder strategies are compared. The first strategy is the normal mixed plutonium-uranium oxide fuel cycle, which is used as a reference case. The second is based on the use of the light water reactor generated plutonium in interim Pu-Th (metallic fuel) breeders cooled with sodium to build up /sup 233/U inventory for use in liquid-metal fast breeder reactors fueled with metallic /sup 233/U-Th. The third is based on a combination cycle involving two reactor types, Pu-Th and /sup 233/U/sup 238/U, both using metallic fuel and sodium as a coolant. These reactors will operate simultaneously; the excess /sup 233/U generated in the Pu-Th reactors is used to fuel the /sup 233/U-/sup 238/U reactors and the plutonium generated in the /sup 233/U-/sup 238/U reactors is used to fuel the Pu-Th reactors. The combination cycle has obvious antiproliferation characteristics. The breeding performance as measured by optimized compound system doubling time for nominal 1000-MW(electric) systems was 8.8 years for the combination system of Pu-Th and /sup 233/U-/sup 238/U reactors, 31.4 years for the /sup 233/U-Th reactor, and 14 years for the (Pu-U)O/sub 2/ reactor. The corresponding optimum fuel pin diameters were 0.30, 0.37, and 0.28 in., respectively. The ..delta..k/k change associated with the removal of all the sodium from the inner core (inner to outer core volume ratio is 60:40) was +0.03, +1.01, +1.23, and +2.60% for the /sup 233/U-Th, /sup 233/U-/sup 238/U, Pu-Th, and (Pu-U)O/sub 2/ reactors, respectively. Preliminary calculations indicate that it is possible to design the /sup 233/U-/sup 238/U reactors to operate on an extended cycle such that once the reactor is built, it only needs natural uranium as feed fuel for the rest of the lifetime of the reactor. Estimates of the fuel cycle costs of each reactor show that the cost of the extended burnup cycle is about35% less than the (Pu-U)O/sub 2/ cycle.
- Research Organization:
- Georgia Institute of Technology School of Nuclear Engineering, Atlanta, Georgia 30332
- OSTI ID:
- 6986842
- Journal Information:
- Nucl. Technol.; (United States), Vol. 56:3
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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