Core design and reactor physics of a breed and burn gas-cooled fast reactor

In order to fulfill the goals set forth by the Generation IV International Forum, the current NERI funded research has focused on the design of a Gas-cooled Fast Reactor (GFR) operating in a Breed and Burnm (B&B) fuel cycle mode. B&B refers to a once-through fuel cycle where low enriched uranium (less than 5 w/o 235U in U) subcritical assemblies are loaded into the core in equilibrium, yet in-situ plutonium breeding carries the fuel through a discharge burnup on the order of 150 MWD/kgHM. The B&B fuel cycle meets the GenIV goals of sustainability, economics, and proliferation resistance by increasing fuel burnup without the need for spent fuel reprocessing, recycle, or reuse of any kind. The neutronic requirements for B&B are strict and require an ultra-hard neutron spectrum. Therefore, the GFR is ideally suited for this fuel cycle. In the present work the B&B GFR concept evolved into two practical reactor designs, both of which build on extensive previous gas-cooled reactor design experience. The first version is the "demonstration" concept using highly neutronically reactive U15N fuel in a hexagonal pin fuel array that is nearly 50 v/o fuel. The core is helium cooled, with an outlet temperature of 570 °C.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Yarsky, Peter

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Michael J. Driscoll.

• Nuclear Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34650

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34650