Enhancing Advanced Candu Proliferation Resistance Fuel with Minor Actinides

Conference · Sun May 09 00:00:00 EDT 2010

OSTI ID:983344

Chang, Gray S. ^[1]

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1. Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

The advanced nuclear system will significantly advance the science and technology of nuclear energy systems and to enhance the spent fuel proliferation resistance. Minor actinides (MA) are viewed more as a resource to be recycled, and transmuted to less hazardous and possibly more useful forms, rather than simply disposed of as a waste stream in an expensive repository facility. MAs can play a much larger part in the design of advanced systems and fuel cycles, not only as additional sources of useful energy, but also as direct contributors to the reactivity control of the systems into which they are incorporated. In this work, an Advanced CANDU Reactor (ACR) fuel unit lattice cell model with 43 UO₂ fuel rods will be used to investigate the effectiveness of a Minor Actinide Reduction Approach (MARA) for enhancing proliferation resistance and improving the fuel cycle performance. The main MARA objective is to increase the ²³⁸Pu / Pu isotope ratio by using the transuranic nuclides (²³⁷Np and ²⁴¹Am) in the high burnup fuel and thereby increase the proliferation resistance even for a very low fuel burnup. As a result, MARA is a very effective approach to enhance the proliferation resistance for the on power refueling ACR system nuclear fuel. The MA transmutation characteristics at different MA loadings were compared and their impact on neutronics criticality assessed. The concept of MARA, significantly increases the 238Pu/Pu ratio for proliferation resistance, as well as serves as a burnable absorber to hold-down the initial excess reactivity. It is believed that MARA can play an important role in atoms for peace and the intermediate term of nuclear energy reconnaissance.

• Research Organization: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
• DOE Contract Number: AC07-05ID14517
• OSTI ID: 983344
• Report Number(s): INL/CON--10-17884
• Resource Type: Conference paper
• Conference Information: PHYSOR 2010, Advances in Reactor Physics to Power the Nuclear Renaissance, Pittsburgh, PA (United States), 9-14 May 2010
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
42 ENGINEERING
ACR
ACTINIDES
ATOMS
BURNUP
CANDU
CRITICALITY
DESIGN
DOUGLAS POINT ONTARIO REACTOR
Fuel Cycle
FUEL RODS
ISOTOPE RATIO
ISOTOPES
Minor Actinide
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
NUCLEAR ENERGY
NUCLEAR FUELS
PERFORMANCE
Plutonium
PROLIFERATION
Proliferation Resistance
REACTOR PHYSICS
SPENT FUELS
Transmutation
WASTES