Advanced Plutonium Fuel Assembly: An Advanced Concept for Using Plutonium in Pressurized Water Reactors

1997 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Puill ◽  
Jean Bergeron
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Assembly ◽  
Pressurized Water Reactors ◽  
Pressurized Water ◽  
Water Reactors ◽  
Plutonium Fuel

Neutronic Analysis of Accident-Tolerant Fuel Assemblies With Silicon Carbide Cladding in Pressurized Water Reactors

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhixiong Tan ◽  
Jiejin Cai
Keyword(s):  
Silicon Carbide ◽  
Fuel Assembly ◽  
Power Distribution ◽  
Safety Margin ◽  
Severe Accident ◽  
Pressurized Water Reactors ◽  
Fuel Pellet ◽  
Pressurized Water ◽  
Neutronic Parameters ◽  
Water Reactors

After Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, alternative fuel-design to enhance tolerance for severe accident conditions becomes particularly important. Silicon carbide (SiC) cladding fuel assembly gain more safety margin as novel accident tolerant fuel. This paper focuses on the neutron properties of SiC cladding fuel assembly in pressurized water reactors. Annular fuel pellet was adopted in this paper. Two types of silicon carbide assemblies were evaluated via using lattice calculation code “dragon”. Type one was consisted of 0.057cm SiC cladding and conventional fuel. Type two was consisted of 0.089cm SiC cladding and BeO/UO2 fuel. Compared the results of SiC cladding fuel assembly neutronic parameters with conventional Zircaloy cladding fuel assembly, this paper analyzed the safety of neutronic parameters performance. Results demonstrate that assembly-level reactivity coefficient is kept negative, meanwhile, the numerical value got a relatively decrease. Other parameters are conformed to the design-limiting requirement. SiC kinds cladding show more flat power distribution. SiC cases also show the ability of reducing the enrichment of fuel pellets even though it has higher xenon concentration. These types of assembly have broadly agreement neutron performance with the conventional cladding fuel, which confirmed the acceptability of SiC cladding in the way of neutron physics analysis.

scholarly journals Burnable Poison Selection and Neutronics Analysis of Plate Fuel Assemblies

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shikun Xu ◽  
Tao Yu ◽  
Jinsen Xie ◽  
Lei Yao ◽  
Zhulun Li
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Assembly ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Pressurized Water Reactors ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Pressurized Water ◽  
Burnable Poison ◽  
Fuel Assemblies ◽  
Long Life ◽  
Water Reactors ◽  
Selection Of

Burnable poisons play a critical role in long-life pressurized water reactors. Plate fuel elements have good application prospects in long-life pressurized water reactors. In long-life pressurized water reactors with large initial residual reactivity in the core, a reasonable selection of burnable poisons can suppress the large residual reactivity at beginning of lifetime and can achieve a long burnup depth at end of lifetime. Therefore, the selection of burnable poisons is a crucial factor to be considered in the design of long-life pressurized water reactors. In this study, the selection of burnable poisons and neutronics characteristics of long-life PWR plate fuel assembly were studied. The transport-burnup calculations of different burnable poison fuel assemblies were carried out. Some candidate BPs are selected to realize the effective control of reactivity. The results show that when the enriched isotopes 157Gd, 167Er and B4C are used as burnable poisons, there is almost no reactivity penalty; when PACS-J and 231Pa are used as burnable poisons, due to their own characteristics, not only does not cause reactivity penalty at end of lifetime, but also the fuel assembly life is extended, the fuel utilization rate is improved. The combination of PACS-J and the slow-burnup burnable poisons can obtain a better reactivity curve. The results of this article show that the plate fuel assemblies can be selected with enriched isotope 157Gd, enriched isotope 167Er, B4C, 231Pa and PACS-J as burnable poisons, and the combinations of burnable poisons can be selected with two combination schemes, PACS-Er and PACS-Pa.

Design of a gadolinia bearing mixed-oxide fuel assembly for pressurized water reactors

1997 ◽  
Vol 170 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 35-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koichi Yamate ◽  
Masaaki Mori ◽  
Tadashi Ushio ◽  
Mitsuru Kawamura
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Assembly ◽  
Mixed Oxide ◽  
Pressurized Water Reactors ◽  
Oxide Fuel ◽  
Pressurized Water ◽  
Mixed Oxide Fuel ◽  
Water Reactors

scholarly journals Non-Proliferative, Thorium-Based, Core and Fuel Cycle for Pressurized Water Reactors

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilad Raitses ◽  
Michael Todosow ◽  
Alex Galperin
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Assembly ◽  
Fuel Cycle ◽  
Nuclear Fuel Cycle ◽  
Pressurized Water Reactors ◽  
Pressurized Water Reactor ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Fuel Management ◽  
Pressurized Water ◽  
Water Reactors ◽  
Proliferation Potential

Two of the major barriers to the expansion of worldwide adoption of nuclear power are related to proliferation potential of the nuclear fuel cycle and issues associated with the final disposal of spent fuel. The Radkowsky Thorium Fuel (RTF) concept proposed by Professor A. Radkowsky offers a partial solution to these problems. The main idea of the concept is the utilization of the seed-blanket unit (SBU) fuel assembly geometry which is a direct replacement for a “conventional” assembly in either a Russian pressurized water reactor (VVER-1000) or a Western pressurized water reactor (PWR). The seed-blanket fuel assembly consists of a fissile (U) zone, known as seed, and a fertile (Th) zone known as blanket. The separation of fissile and fertile allows separate fuel management schemes for the thorium part of the fuel (a subcritical “blanket”) and the “driving” part of the core (a supercritical “seed”). The design objective for the blanket is an efficient generation and in-situ fissioning of the U233 isotope, while the design objective for the seed is to supply neutrons to the blanket in a most economic way, i.e. with minimal investment of natural uranium. The introduction of thorium as a fertile component in the nuclear fuel cycle significantly reduces the quantity of plutonium production and modifies its isotopic composition, reducing the overall proliferation potential of the fuel cycle. Thorium based spent fuel also contains fewer higher actinides, hence reducing the long-term radioactivity of the spent fuel. The analyses show that the RTF core can satisfy the requirements of fuel cycle length, and the safety margins of conventional pressurized water reactors. The coefficients of reactivity are comparable to currently operating VVER’s/PWR’s. The major feature of the RTF cycle is related to the total amount of spent fuel discharged for each cycle from the reactor core. The fuel management scheme adopted for RTF core designs allows a significant decrease in the amount of discharged spent fuel, for a given energy production, compared with standard VVER/PWR. The total Pu production rate of RTF cycles is only 30% of standard reactor. In addition, the isotopic compositions of the RTF’s and standard reactor grade Pu are markedly different due to the very high burnup accumulated by the RTF spent fuel.

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