Preliminary FRAPCON3-3Th Steady State Fuel Analysis of ThO2 and UO2 Fuel Mixtures
Recent investigations into the performance and economics of mixed thoria-urania (ThO2/UO2) fuel cycles in light water reactors indicate that there may be advantages to using these fuels at high burnups. The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) modified FRAPCON-3, a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission-sponsored software package developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for use on mixed thoria-urania fuels. The modifications constituted the first stage of fuel performance evaluations supported by the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) project titled Advanced Proliferation Resistant, Lower Cost, Uranium-Thorium Dioxide Fuels for Light Water Reactors. The goal of this NERI project is to develop mixed ThO2/UO2 fuels that can be operated to a relatively high burnup level in current and future commercial power reactors. This paper describes in detail the INEEL's modifications to the FRAPCON-3 thermal conductivity subroutine FTHCON and the techniques used to validate the modifications. The paper presents the general fuel design criteria used to model mixed thoria-urania fuel and a steady-state analysis of a mock thoria-urania fuel using the FRAPCON-3Th code. The paper also presents the data analyses for the mock thoria-urania fuel and offers suggestions for future upgrades and improvements to the code.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC07-99ID-13727
- OSTI ID:
- 912087
- Report Number(s):
- INEEL/JOU-01-00193; NUTYBB; TRN: US0800273
- Journal Information:
- Nuclear Technology, Vol. 136, Issue 3; ISSN 0029-5450
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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