Advanced Proliferation Resistant, Lower Cost, Uranium-Thorium Dioxide Fuels for Light Water Reactors (Progress report for work through June 2002, 12th quarterly report)

Mac Donald, Philip Elsworth

Idaho National Laboratory

关键词: Proliferation;    Economics;    Water;    Fuel Cycle;    Nuclear Energy;   

DOI  :  10.2172/910948
RP-ID  :  INEEL/EXT-02-01411
RP-ID  :  DE-AC07-99ID-13727
RP-ID  :  910948

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

The overall objective of this NERI project is to evaluate the potential advantages and disadvantages of an optimized thorium-uranium dioxide (ThO2/UO2) fuel design for light water reactors (LWRs). The project is led by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), with the collaboration of three universities, the University of Florida, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Purdue University; Argonne National Laboratory; and all of the Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) fuel vendors in the United States (Framatome, Siemens, and Westinghouse). In addition, a number of researchers at the Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute and Professor Kwangheon Park at Kyunghee University are active collaborators with Korean Ministry of Science and Technology funding. The project has been organized into five tasks: · Task 1 consists of fuel cycle neutronics and economics analysis to determine the economic viability of various ThO2/UO2 fuel designs in PWRs, · Task 2 will determine whether or not ThO2/UO2 fuel can be manufactured economically, · Task 3 will evaluate the behavior of ThO2/UO2 fuel during normal, off-normal, and accident conditions and compare the results with the results of previous UO2 fuel evaluations and U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing standards, · Task 4 will determine the long-term stability of ThO2/UO2 high-level waste, and · Task 5 consists of the Korean work on core design, fuel performance analysis, and xenon diffusivity measurements.