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Examination of the use of thorium-based fuel for burning minor actinides in European sodium cooled fast reactor

  • Amr Ibrahim ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: October 15, 2024
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Kerntechnik
From the journal Kerntechnik Volume 89 Issue 5

Abstract

To reduce the potential and volume of radiotoxicity of radioactive wastes, minor actinides (MAs) elements recovered from discharged fuel are to be recycled. In this context, the main aim of this work is to examine the possibility of using thorium-based fuel for burning extra MAs in the fourth generation European Sodium cooled Fast Reactor (ESFR). For that MCNPX transport code was used to design a representative fuel assembly of this concept. The reference uranium-based fuel was uniformly replaced by thorium mixed with different fractions of MAs and burned for 2050 effective full power days. The influence of MAs on the evolution of reactivity and fuel transmutation is being investigated to ensure the performance of the fuel. Also, different neutronic and safety parameters such as neutron yield, neutron spectrum, neutron flux, effective delayed neutron fraction, Doppler constant, sodium void reactivity coefficient, were computed and their change with MAs content was investigated. Results indicate that recycling of MAs in ESFR using thorium-based fuel has a positive effect on reactivity and transmutation evolution but on other hand has a negative effect on safety parameters.

Keywords: minor actinides; thorium; fast reactors; ESFR; safety parameters
Corresponding author: Amr Ibrahim, High Institute for Engineering and Technology at Al-Obour, Cairo, Egypt, E-mail:

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Informed consent: Not applicable.

  3. Author contributions: The author has accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  4. Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.

  5. Conflict of interest: The author declare no conflicts of interest.

  6. Research funding: None declared.

  7. Data availability: Not applicable.

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Received: 2024-07-20
Accepted: 2024-09-16
Published Online: 2024-10-15
Published in Print: 2024-10-28

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

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  3. Methodology of probabilistic safety assessment for transportation of radioactive material
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  7. Synthesis, structural transformation and magnetic properties of the Nd(III)-doped Fe3−xNd x O4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.9): an analogue for actinicles immobilization
  8. Examination of the use of thorium-based fuel for burning minor actinides in European sodium cooled fast reactor
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https://doi.org/10.1515/kern-2024-0083
Keywords for this article
minor actinides; thorium; fast reactors; ESFR; safety parameters

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Comprehensive review of surface contamination in nuclear waste waters: identification, quantification, and mitigation strategies
  3. Methodology of probabilistic safety assessment for transportation of radioactive material
  4. A new approach to determine abnormality of radioactive discharges from pressurized water reactors and to derive abnormality indicators correlated with a specific causal event
  5. A critical analysis of the role of artificial intelligence and machine learning in enhancing nuclear waste management
  6. Design study of gas-cooled fast reactor with natural uranium as fuel employing modified CANDLE shuffling strategy in the axial direction
  7. Synthesis, structural transformation and magnetic properties of the Nd(III)-doped Fe3−xNd x O4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.9): an analogue for actinicles immobilization
  8. Examination of the use of thorium-based fuel for burning minor actinides in European sodium cooled fast reactor
  9. Solitary wave form of reaction rate in graphite diffusive medium using different neutron absorbers
  10. Evaluation of the unavailability of the primary circuit of Triga SSR reactor, importance factors and risk criteria for its components
  11. Thermal-hydraulic simulation of loss of flow accident for WWR-S research reactor
  12. A quick parameter configuration tool for SCHISM’s ocean transport simulation of radioactive materials
  13. Main heat transport system configuration influence on steam drum level control and safety for a pressure tube type boiling water reactor with multiple interconnected loops
  14. Testing the thermal performance of water cooling towers
  15. Design a robust intelligent power controller for pressurized water reactor using particle swarm optimization algorithm
  16. Calendar of events
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