Abstract

Since nuclear power plants were first developed over 80 years ago, most have had thermal reactors with enriched uranium as the main fuel. As a result, huge amounts of depleted uranium must be stockpiled and stored. Fast reactors operating in breed-and-burn (B&B) conditions are one potential approach to reducing the need for storage facilities to hold spent nuclear fuel and maximize the effective use of uranium resources. Sustaining B&B operating conditions depends on the choice of core materials. Here, we perform neutron balance analyses to determine the best combination of fuel and coolant material. We identify the features of the reactor core needed to maintain B&B operating mode by the amount of neutron loss from the core and coolant heat removal capability. Finally, we demonstrate that a large or small sodium-cooled fast reactor core with metallic or enriched nitride fuel, respectively, can sustain the chain reaction and B&B operation mode.

摘要

自 80 多年前首次开发核电站以来，大多数核电站都拥有以浓缩铀为主要燃料的热反应堆。因此，必须储存和储存大量贫化铀。在增殖与燃烧 (B&B) 条件下运行的快堆是一种潜在的方法，可减少对储存设施的需求以容纳乏核燃料并最大限度地有效利用铀资源。维持 B&B 运营条件取决于核心材料的选择。在这里，我们进行中子平衡分析以确定燃料和冷却剂材料的最佳组合。我们通过堆芯的中子损失量和冷却剂散热能力来确定维持 B&B 运行模式所需的反应堆堆芯特征。最后，