scholarly journals HETEROGENEOUS SEED–BLANKET CORES IN PRESSURE-TUBE HEAVY WATER REACTORS FOR EXTRACTING THE ENERGY POTENTIAL FROM PLUTONIUM/THORIUM FUELS

2016 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Blair Patrick Bromley
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Water ◽  
Pressure Tube ◽  
Energy Potential ◽  
Water Reactors

Effects and Modeling of Power History in Thorium-Based Fuels in Pressure-Tube Heavy Water Reactors

2016 ◽  
Vol 182 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blair P. Bromley ◽  
Geoffrey W. R. Edwards ◽  
Pranavan Sambavalingam
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Water ◽  
Pressure Tube ◽  
Water Reactors

scholarly journals POWER LEVEL EFFECTS ON THORIUM-BASED FUELS IN PRESSURE-TUBE HEAVY WATER REACTORS

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blair Patrick Bromley ◽  
Geoffrey W.R. Edwards ◽  
Pranavan Sambavalingam
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Water ◽  
Power Level ◽  
Pressure Tube ◽  
Specific Power ◽  
Power Flux ◽  
Heavy Water Reactor ◽  
Water Reactors ◽  
Physics Modeling ◽  
Reactor Operating ◽  
The Impact

Lattice and core physics modeling and calculations have been performed to quantify the impact of power/flux levels on the reactivity and achievable burnup for 35-element fuel bundles made with Pu/Th or U-233/Th. The fissile content in these bundles has been adjusted to produce on the order of 20 MWd/kg burnup in homogeneous cores in a 700 MWe-class pressure-tube heavy water reactor, operating on a once-through thorium cycle. Results demonstrate that the impact of the power/flux level is modest for Pu/Th fuels but significant for U-233/Th fuels. In particular, high power/flux reduces the breeding and burnup potential of U-233/Th fuels. Thus, there may be an incentive to operate reactors with U-233/Th fuels at a lower power density or to develop alternative refueling schemes that will lower the time-average specific power, thereby increasing burnup.

scholarly journals ON THE USE OF A CENTRAL THORIUM FUEL ELEMENT IN PRESSURE-TUBE HEAVY-WATER REACTOR FUEL BUNDLES

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael McDonald ◽  
Megan Moore ◽  
Dan Wojtaszek ◽  
Nicholas Chornoboy ◽  
Geoffrey Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Element ◽  
Heavy Water ◽  
Fuel Cycle ◽  
Natural Uranium ◽  
Pressure Tube ◽  
Slight Reduction ◽  
Energy Potential ◽  
Thorium Dioxide ◽  
Water Reactor ◽  
Heavy Water Reactor

An incremental approach to introducing thorium to the conventional pressure-tube heavy-water reactor natural uranium fuel cycle is investigated. The approach involves the replacement of the centre fuel element of the bundle with an element of thorium dioxide. Increasing the operating margin of a key safety parameter, the coolant void reactivity, is a prime motivating factor. The analyses showed that the simple use of a single pin of thorium is unlikely to be economically advantageous due to a large burnup penalty and increased fuel costs. However, a slight reduction in the void reactivity is observed, and this approach does allow the exploitation of the energy potential available in thorium as an alternative nuclear fuel resource through the development of a U-233 resource. This bundle concept may also be advantageous from a fuel disposal point of view, as the fuel requires less time in storage before emplacement in a deep geological repository.

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