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Minor actinide burning in a CANDU thorium reactor

  • S. Şahin , K. Yıldız , H. M. Şahin , A. Acır , N. Şahin und T. Altınok
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 26. März 2013
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Kerntechnik
Aus der Zeitschrift Kerntechnik Band 71 Heft 5-6

Abstract

Nuclear waste actinides can be used as a booster fissile fuel material in form of mixed fuel with thorium in a CANDU reactor in order to assure the initial criticality at startup. Two different fuel compositions have been found useful to provide sufficient reactor criticality over a long operation period: 1) 95% thoria (ThO2)+5% minor actinides MAO2 and 2) 90% ThO2+5% MAO2+5% UO2. The latter allows a higher degree of nuclear safeguarding through denaturing the new 233U fuel with 238U. The temporal variation of the criticality k∞ and the burn-up values of the reactor have been calculated by full power operation for a period of 10 years. The criticality starts by k∞>1.3 for both fuel compositions. A sharp decrease of the criticality has been observed in the first year as a consequence of rapid plutonium burnout in the actinide fuel. The criticality becomes quasi constant after the 2nd year and remains close to k∞ = ∼1.06 for ∼10 years. After the 2nd year, the CANDU reactor begins to operate practically as a thorium burner. Very high burn up could be achieved with the same fuel material (up to 200000 MW.D/MT), provided that the fuel rod claddings would be replaced periodically (after every 50000 or 100000 MW.D/MT). The reactor criticality can be maintained until a great fraction of the thorium fuel is burnt up. This would reduce fuel fabrication costs and nuclear waste mass for final disposal per unit energy drastically.

Kurzfassung

Aktiniden aus abgebranntem Kernbrennstoff können nach Mischung mit Thorium als nuklearer Spaltstoff in einem CANDU Reaktor eingesetzt werden, um die Überschußreaktivität beim Anfahren sicherzustellen. Zwei verschiedene Brennstoffzusammensetzungen wurden als wirksam gefunden, um für eine längere Betriebsdauer ausreichend Reaktivität bereitzustellen: 1) 95% Thoriumoxid+5% Minore Aktiniden und 2) 90% Thoriumoxid+5% Minore Aktiniden+5% Uranoxid. Der letztere Brennstoff ermöglicht einen höheren Grad an Schutz gegen Missbrauch durch die Verschlechterung des Uran-233 durch Uran-238. Die zeitliche Änderung der Kritikalität kunendl. und des Brennstoffabbrandes wurden für einen Leistungsbetrieb von 10Jahren berechnet. Die Kritikalität beginnt mit kunendl. >1,3 für beide Brennstoffzusammensetzungen. Eine starke Abnahme der Kritikalität wurde im ersten Betriebsjahr infolge des schnellen Plutoniumausbrandes im Aktinidenbrennstoff festgestellt. Die Kritikalität wird nach dem zweiten Jahr nahezu konstant und bleibt nahe bei kunendl. = 1,06 für etwa 10 Jahre. Nach dem zweiten Betriebsjahr wirkt der CANDU-Reaktor als Thorium-Brenner. Mit dem Brennstoff können sehr hohe Abbrandwerte von bis zu 200000 MWd/t erreicht werden, wenn das Hüllrohr regelmäßig ausgetauscht wird. Der Reaktor kann kritisch gehalten werden bis ein großer Teil des Thoriums verbrannt wurde. Damit könnten die Brennstoffkosten verringert und gleichzeitig die nuklearen Abfallmengen für die Endlagerung pro Energieerzeugung drastisch verringert werden.

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Received: 2006-5-2
Published Online: 2013-03-26
Published in Print: 2006-11-01

© 2006, Carl Hanser Verlag, München

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Contents/Inhalt
  2. Contents
  3. Summaries/Kurzfassungen
  4. Summaries
  5. Technical Contributions/Fachbeiträge
  6. Minor actinide burning in a CANDU thorium reactor
  7. Modeling of the TOSQAN test facility with the lumped parameter code COCOSYS
  8. Thermal-hydraulic modeling of the onset of flow instability in MTR reactors
  9. 10.3139/124.100302
  10. 10.3139/124.100304
  11. Radiation transfer in inhomogeneous exponential media
  12. Neutron transport problems for extremely anisotropic scattering
  13. Milne problem for isotropic and linearly anisotropic scattering for specular and diffuse reflecting boundary conditions solved with the HN method
  14. ICDE-results on complete common cause failures in the light of results obtained with the POS model
  15. Modelling of the cumulative behaviour of Caesium and Strontium activities in nuclear fuel
  16. Analytical study of the closure flow inside the ETRR-2 core chimney
  17. Minimizing radiation exposure for the reactor staff during the dismantling of a TRIGA research reactor
https://doi.org/10.3139/124.100299

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Contents/Inhalt
  2. Contents
  3. Summaries/Kurzfassungen
  4. Summaries
  5. Technical Contributions/Fachbeiträge
  6. Minor actinide burning in a CANDU thorium reactor
  7. Modeling of the TOSQAN test facility with the lumped parameter code COCOSYS
  8. Thermal-hydraulic modeling of the onset of flow instability in MTR reactors
  9. 10.3139/124.100302
  10. 10.3139/124.100304
  11. Radiation transfer in inhomogeneous exponential media
  12. Neutron transport problems for extremely anisotropic scattering
  13. Milne problem for isotropic and linearly anisotropic scattering for specular and diffuse reflecting boundary conditions solved with the HN method
  14. ICDE-results on complete common cause failures in the light of results obtained with the POS model
  15. Modelling of the cumulative behaviour of Caesium and Strontium activities in nuclear fuel
  16. Analytical study of the closure flow inside the ETRR-2 core chimney
  17. Minimizing radiation exposure for the reactor staff during the dismantling of a TRIGA research reactor
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