Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Assessment of PWR plutonium burners for nuclear energy centers

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7121692· OSTI ID:7121692
The purpose of the study was to explore the performance and safety characteristics of PWR plutonium burners, to identify modifications to current PWR designs to enhance plutonium utilization, to study the problems of deploying plutonium burners at Nuclear Energy Centers, and to assess current industrial capability of the design and licensing of such reactors. A plutonium burner is defined to be a reactor which utilizes plutonium as the sole fissile addition to the natural or depleted uranium which comprises the greater part of the fuel mass. The results of the study and the design analyses performed during the development of C-E's System 80 plant indicate that the use of suitably designed plutonium burners at Nuclear Energy Centers is technically feasible.
Research Organization:
Combustion Engineering, Inc., Windsor, CT (USA)
Sponsoring Organization:
US Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA)
OSTI ID:
7121692
Report Number(s):
COO-2786-1
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English