|
Title:
|
|
Multiple recycling of plutonium in advanced PWRs
|
|
|
|
Author(s):
|
|
|
|
|
|
Published by:
|
Publication date:
|
|
ECN
NUCLEAIR
|
1998
|
|
|
|
ECN report number:
|
Document type:
|
|
ECN-RX--98-011
|
Article (scientific)
|
|
|
|
Number of pages:
|
|
|
10
|
|
Published in: Contribution to the 5th International conference on recycling, conditioning and disposal (RECOD 1998), 25-28 Oct. 1998, Nice, Fr (), , , Vol., p.-.
Abstract:
The influence of the moderator-to-fuel ratio in MOX fueled PWRs on themoderator void coefficient, the fuel temperature coefficient, the moderator
temperature coefficient, the boron reactivity worth, the critical boron
concentration, the mean neutron generation time and the effective delayed
neutron fraction has been assessed. Increasing the moderator-to-fuel ratio to
values larger than three, gives a moderator void coefficient sufficiently
large to recycle the plutonium at least four times. Scenario studies show
that four times recycling of plutonium in PWRs reduces the plutonium mass
produced with a factor of three compared with a reference once-through
reactor park, but that the americium and curium production triple. If the
minor actinides and the remaining plutonium after four times recycling are
disposed of, the reduction of the radiotoxicity reaches only a factor of two.
This factor increases to five at the maximum when the plutonium is further
recycled. Recycling of americium and curium is needed to further reduce the
radiotoxicity of the spent fuel. 4 refs.
Back to List