A moderated target design for minor actinide transmutation in sodium-cooled fast reactor

Park, Tongkyu; Lin, Ching Sheng; Yang, Won Sik

doi:10.1016/j.anucene.2016.08.003

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 14 publications

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“…Besides thermal reactors, research about MA transmutation had also been carried out for fast reactors such as the sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) [ 10 ], supercritical water-cooled fast reactor (Super FR) [ 11 ], and lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR) [ 12 ] because of their larger ratio of fission–capture cross-section, a higher neutron flux, and a negative neutron consumption. The research results show that although loading MAs in fast reactors would slightly weaken the fuel’s negative feedback effect, the MA transmutation performance is significantly improved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Minor Actinides Transmutation Performance in a Closed Th–U Cycle Based on Molten Chloride Salt Fast Reactor

Chen

Cui

et al. 2022

Materials

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The molten chloride salt fast reactor (MCFR) with a closed Th–U fuel cycle is receiving more and more attention due to its excellent performance, such as high solubility of actinides, superior breeding capacity, and good inherent safety. In this work, the neutronics performances for different minor actinides (MA) loadings and operation modes are analyzed and discussed based on an optimized MCFR. The results indicate that online continuous reprocessing can significantly increase the transmutation performance of MAs. In addition, MA loadings have an obvious effect on the neutronics characteristics of the MCFR, and it is helpful for improving the MA transmutation capability and 233U breeding performance, simultaneously. When MA = 5 mol%, the average annual MA transmutation mass and incineration mass can achieve about 53 kg and 13 kg, respectively, and the corresponding annual net production of 233U is 250 kg. When MA = 33.5 mol%, the annual MA transmutation mass and incineration mass can be about 310 kg and 77 kg, respectively, and the corresponding annual net production of 233U is 349 kg. However, when the MA loadings exceed 10%, the corresponding keff will exceed 1.1 for decades, even if only Th is continuously fed online. The results also indicate that the transmutation ratio (TR) and incineration ratio (IR) of MA increase and reach maximum values in the first decades for all the different MA loadings, which means MA may be fed into the fuel salt to improve its transmutation capability. Moreover, though MA loading will increase the level of radiotoxicity of the core in the early stage of burnup, the radiotoxicity of MA will drop rapidly after a brief rise during the operation. It can also be found that the temperature coefficient of reactivity (TCR) of all different MA loadings can be negative enough to maintain the safety of the MCFR during the whole operation, although it decreases in the beginning of life (BOL) with the increasing MA loading. Furthermore, the evolution of an effective delayed neutron fraction (EDNF) is also researched and discussed, and the EDNF varies most significantly when loading MA = 35.5 mol%, with a range of 273 to 310 pcm over the entire 100 years of operation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%