The miscibility, lattice parameter, and thermophysical properties of (Th_0.2U_0.8)N and (Th_0.5U_0.5)N have been investigated. It is shown that additions of thorium nitride (ThN) to uranium nitride (UN) increases the thermophysical performance of the mixed nitride fuel form in comparison to reference UN. In the more dilute limit, additions of ThN serve as a burnable neutronic poison and reduces the change in k_eff over the lifecycle of the fuel. At higher concentrations, additions of ThN serve as a significant fertile source of ²³³U. Where appropriate, comparisons to previous work on UN + PuN mixtures are made, as this is a comparable fuel form for potential fast reactor concepts, and a suitable point of contrast in the possible design space afforded by mixed (Th_xU_1 − x)N fuel forms. The data from this work are the input parameters for finite element modeling of the temperature distribution in a compact reactor. The results of modeling and simulation of this core design are shown for the case of steady-state operation and during double, adjacent heat pipe failure.

已经研究了(Th _0.2 U _0.8 )N和(Th _0.5 U _0.5 )N的混溶性、晶格参数和热物理性质。结果表明，与参考 UN 相比，向氮化铀 (UN) 中添加氮化钍 (ThN) 可提高混合氮化物燃料形式的热物理性能。在更稀的限度内，添加 ThN 作为可燃中子毒物并减少燃料生命周期中k _eff的变化。在较高浓度下，添加 ThN 是²³³的重要肥沃来源U. 在适当的情况下，与之前关于 UN + PuN 混合物的工作进行了比较，因为这是潜在快堆概念的可比燃料形式，并且是混合 (Th _x U _{1 - x} )N 燃料形式。这项工作的数据是用于对紧凑型反应器中的温度分布进行有限元建模的输入参数。该核心设计的建模和仿真结果显示为稳态运行和双相邻热管故障期间的情况。