Neutronics characteristics of a 165 MWth Xe-100 reactor

Key Nuclear Data Impacting Reactivity in Advanced Reactors

“…Reactivity control is achieved with absorber rods containing boron in the outer reflector. Burnups beyond 150 GWd/MTHM are targeted (Mulder and Boyes 2020).…”

A comparative analysis of the neutronic performance of thorium mixed with uranium or plutonium in a high‐temperature pebble‐bed reactor

“…This process is known as the multipass scheme, and it is commonly used in reactors like the HTR-10. 33,38,48 A fuel pebble in the HTR-10 core contains an average of 8335 coated particles. These coated particles are of a TRISO type and contain HALEU fuel (17 wt%) surrounded by four outer layers for structural integrity and the containment of fission products.…”

“…28 Plutonium 23,25 can be used as a fissile driver in thorium-based fuels, as well as U-233 from other reactors. The fuel element in an HTGR reactor can be cylindrical, such as in the Dragon reactor 29 ; spherical, such as in the AVR, Xe-100, and HTR-PM reactors [30][31][32][33][34] ; or block-type, as is the case with the AHTR reactor. 22 According to the literature review, studies comparing the use of thorium-based fuel with various driver materials in HTGRs have often been conducted in prismatic block-type HTRs because of the flexible core that can support a wide range of fuel cycles.…”

"Advanced" isn't Always Better: Assessing the Safety, Security, and Environmental Impacts of Non-Light-Water Nuclear Reactors

“…These designs, such as the Xe-100, are being marketed as small modular reactors. 21 However, even the reference 200 MWth (75 MWe) design for the Xe-100 could reach a temperature of over 1700°C during a depressurized loss of coolant accident and thus fails to meet the 1600°C peak temperature limit (Mulder and Boyes 2020). To meet this fundamental safety criterion, the power rating would have to be reduced to 165 MWth, a smaller and even less economical reactor (Mulder and Boyes 2020).…”