scholarly journals System Studies on the Fusion-Fission Hybrid Systems and Its Fuel Cycle

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (23) ◽  
pp. 8417
Author(s):  
Mikhail Shlenskii ◽  
Boris Kuteev
Keyword(s):  
Power System ◽  
Hybrid Systems ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Fuel Cycle ◽  
Neutron Transport ◽  
Metallic Fuel ◽  
System A ◽  
Partitioning And Transmutation

This paper is devoted to applications of fusion-fission hybrid systems (FFHS) as a powerful neutron source implementing transmutation of minor actinides (MA: Np, Am, Cm) extracted from the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) of nuclear reactors. Calculations which simulated nuclide kinetics for the metallic fuel containing MA and neutron transport were performed for particular facilities. Three FFHS with fusion power equal to 40 MW are considered in this study: demo, pilot-industrial and industrial reactors. In addition, needs for a fleet of such reactors are assessed as well as future FFHSs’ impact on Russian Nuclear Power System. A system analysis of nuclear energy development in Russia was also performed with the participation of the FFHSs, with the help of the model created at AO “Proryv”. The quantity of MA that would be produced and transmuted in this scenario is estimated. This research shows that by the means of only one hybrid facility it is possible to reduce by 2130 the mass of MA in the Russian power system by about 28%. In the case of the absence of partitioning and transmutation of MA from SNF, 287 t of MA will accumulate in the Russian power system by 2130.

scholarly journals Nuclear Fuel Cycle with Minimized Waste

2019 ◽  
pp. 30-35
Author(s):  
V. Moiseenko ◽  
S. Chernitskiy
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Fuel Cycle ◽  
Fission Products ◽  
Nuclear Fuel Cycle ◽  
Fission Neutron ◽  
Fuel Composition ◽  
Monte Carlo Code ◽  
Metallic Fuel

A uranium-based nuclear fuel and fuel cycle are proposed for energy production. The fuel composition is chosen so that during reactor operation the amount of each transuranic component remains unchanged since the production rate and nuclear reaction rate are balanced. In such a ‘balanced’ fuel only uranium-238 content has a tendency to decrease and, to be kept constant, must be sustained by continuous supply. The major fissionable component of the fuel is plutonium is chosen. This makes it possible to abandon the use of uranium-235, whose reserves are quickly exhausted. The spent nuclear fuel of such a reactor should be reprocessed and used again after separation of fission products and adding depleted uranium. This feature simplifies maintaining the closed nuclear fuel cycle and provides its periodicity. In the fuel balance calculations, nine isotopes of uranium, neptunium, plutonium and americium are used. This number of elements is not complete, but is quite sufficient for calculations which are used for conceptual analysis. For more detailed consideration, this set may be substantially expanded. The variation of the fuel composition depending on the reactor size is not too big. The model accounts for fission, neutron capture and decays. Using MCNPX numerical Monte-Carlo code, the neutron calculations are performed for the reactor of industrial nuclear power plant size with MOX fuel and for a small reactor with metallic fuel. The calculation results indicate that it is possible to achieve criticality of the reactor in both cases and that production and consuming rates are balanced for the transuranic fuel components. In this way, it can be assumed that transuranic elements will constantly return to such a reactor, and only fission products will be sent to storage. This will significantly reduce the radioactivity of spent nuclear fuel. It is important that the storage time for the fission products is much less than for the spent nuclear fuel, just about 300 years.

scholarly journals Partitioning and transmutation contribution of MYRRHA to an EU strategy for HLW management and main achievements of MYRRHA related FP7 and H2020 projects: MYRTE, MARISA, MAXSIMA, SEARCH, MAX, FREYA, ARCAS

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Hamid Aït Abderrahim ◽  
Peter Baeten ◽  
Alain Sneyers ◽  
Marc Schyns ◽  
Paul Schuurmans ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Fuel Cycle ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Geological Disposal ◽  
Deep Geological Disposal ◽  
Partitioning And Transmutation

Today, nuclear power produces 11% of the world's electricity. Nuclear power plants produce virtually no greenhouse gases or air pollutants during their operation. Emissions over their entire life cycle are very low. Nuclear energy's potential is essential to achieving a deeply decarbonized energy future in many regions of the world as of today and for decades to come, the main value of nuclear energy lies in its potential contribution to decarbonizing the power sector. Nuclear energy's future role, however, is highly uncertain for several reasons: chiefly, escalating costs and, the persistence of historical challenges such as spent fuel and radioactive waste management. Advanced nuclear fuel recycling technologies can enable full use of natural energy resources while minimizing proliferation concerns as well as the volume and longevity of nuclear waste. Partitioning and Transmutation (P&T) has been pointed out in numerous studies as the strategy that can relax constraints on geological disposal, e.g. by reducing the waste radiotoxicity and the footprint of the underground facility. Therefore, a special effort has been made to investigate the potential role of P&T and the related options for waste management all along the fuel cycle. Transmutation based on critical or sub-critical fast spectrum transmuters should be evaluated in order to assess its technical and economic feasibility and capacity, which could ease deep geological disposal implementation.

scholarly journals Feasibility Studies on Pyro-SFR Closed Fuel Cycle and Direct Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel in Line with the Latest National Policy and Strategy of Korea

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Muhammad Minhaj Khan ◽  
Jae Min Lee ◽  
Jae Hak Cheong ◽  
Joo Ho Whang
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Cost Estimation ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Fuel Cycle ◽  
Energy Systems ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Closed Fuel Cycle

With a view to providing supportive information for the decision-making on the direction of the future nuclear energy systems in Korea (i.e., direct disposal or recycling of spent nuclear fuel) to be made around 2020, quantitative studies on the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) including transuranic elements (TRUs) and a series of economic analyses were conducted. At first, the total isotopic inventory of TRUs in the SNF to be generated from all thirty-six units of nuclear power plants in operation or under planning is estimated based on the Korean government’s official plan for nuclear power development. Secondly, the optimized deployment strategies are proposed considering the minimum number of sodium cooled-fast reactors (SFRs) needed to transmute all TRUs. Finally, direct disposal and Pyro-SFR closed nuclear energy systems were compared using equilibrium economic model and considering reduction of TRUs and electricity generation as benefits. Probabilistic economic analysis shows that the assumed total generation cost for direct disposal and Pyro-SFR closed nuclear energy systems resides within the range of 13.60~33.94 mills/kWh and 11.40~25.91 mills/kWh, respectively. Dominant cost elements and the range of SFR overnight cost which guarantees the economic feasibility of the Pyro-SFR closed nuclear energy system over the direct disposal option were also identified through sensitivity analysis and break-even cost estimation.

Detailed Nuclear Power Plant Model for Power System Analysis Based on Matlab-Simulink

2013 ◽  
Vol 291-294 ◽  
pp. 561-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Tan ◽  
Yue Feng Huang ◽  
Zheng Xu
Keyword(s):  
Power Systems ◽  
Power System ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
Pressurized Water Reactor ◽  
Pressurized Water ◽  
Power Generating Unit ◽  
Long Term Stability ◽  
Load Following ◽  
Single Machine Infinite Bus

To research the load-following capability of the nuclear power generating unit, this paper proposed a detailed mathematical model of the pressurized water reactor (PWR) which is suitable for medium- and long-term stability analysis of power systems. Analyzed the interactions between the nuclear power generating unit and the power system, through the simulations of a single machine infinite bus (SMIB) system. The results show that PWR nuclear power generating unit can meet load following requirements to some degree.

Transport of MOX Fuel: A Continuous Challenge

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Je´roˆme Galtier
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Fuel Cycle ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Radioactive Materials ◽  
Mox Fuel ◽  
Increasing Demand

For 45 years TN International has been involved in the radioactive materials transportation field. Since the beginning the spent nuclear fuel transportation has been its core business. During all these years TN International, now part of AREVA, has been able to anticipate and fulfill the needs for new transport or storage casks designed to fit the nuclear industry evolutions. A whole fleet of casks able to transport all the materials of the nuclear fuel cycle has been developed. In this presentation we will focus on the casks used to transport the fresh and used MOX fuel. To transport the fresh MOX BWR and PWR fuel, TN International has developed two designs of casks: the MX 6 and the MX 8. These casks are and have been used to transport MOX fuel for French, German, Swiss and in a near future Japanese nuclear power plants. A complete set of baskets have been developed to optimize the loading in terms of integrated dose and also of course capacity. MOX used fuel has now its dedicated cask: the TN112 which certificate of approval has been obtained in July 2008. This cask is able to transport 12 MOX spent fuel elements with a short cooling time. The first loading of the cask has been performed in September 2008 in the EDF nuclear power plant of Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux. By its continuous involvement in the nuclear transportation field, TN International has been able to face the many challenges linked to the radioactive materials transportation especially talking of MOX fuel. TN International will also have to face the increasing demand linked to the nuclear renaissance.

scholarly journals Assessment of the Radiotoxicity of Spent Nuclear Fuel from a Fleet of PWR Reactors

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3094
Author(s):  
Mikołaj Oettingen
Keyword(s):  
Isotopic Composition ◽  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Fuel Cycle ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Pressurized Water ◽  
Hybrid Energy ◽  
Cycle Simulation ◽  
Water Reactors

The paper presents the methodology for the estimation of the long-term actinides radiotoxicity and isotopic composition of spent nuclear fuel from a fleet of Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR). The methodology was developed using three independent numerical tools: the Spent Fuel Isotopic Composition database, the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Simulation System and the Monte Carlo Continuous Energy Burnup Code. The validation of spent fuel isotopic compositions obtained in the numerical modeling was performed using the available experimental data. A nuclear power embarking country benchmark was implemented for the verification and testing of the methodology. The obtained radiotoxicity reaches the reference levels at about 1.3 × 105 years, which is common for the PWR spent nuclear fuel. The presented methodology may be incorporated into a more versatile numerical tool for the modeling of hybrid energy systems.

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