{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/106275"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/106275","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Modeling special nuclear material diversion from a pyroprocessing facility","abstract":"As a result of the once-through fuel cycle implemented in the US, used nuclear fuel (UNF) steadily increases. One proposed solution is the transition to a closed nuclear fuel cycle, in which reprocessing reduces build up of UNF. Pyroprocessing is an attractive method for this transition for its capabilities separating both light water reactor (LWR) and metallic fuels, and inherent proliferation resistance. However, unlike aqueous reprocessing plants, industrial pyroprocessing plants do not yet exist. Similar to safety-by-design in next-generation reactors, reprocessing facilities could be designed with safeguards in mind via safeguards-by-design. Without operational experience, these safeguards-by-design need to be derived through modeling and simulation. This thesis develops a medium fidelity generic model, Pyre, capable of simulating a variety of pyroprocessing facility configurations. Pyre also simulates diversion via a diverter class capable of tracking signatures and observables. Rather than only tracking exact material production, we use signatures and observables such as operating temperature, pressure, and current to mimic the capabilities of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections and aid identification of nefarious fuel cycles, or shadow fuel cycles. These capabilities are verified in a transition scenario of the current US fuel cycle to a sodium fast reactor (SFR) based closed fuel cycle. Key operating parameters are determined through sensitivity analysis of this scenario, monitoring isotopic changes in material unaccounted for. This work concludes that facility parameters which increase interaction between the salt and waste have more impact on material unaccounted for (MUF). This work also expands the state of the art by exploring the use of sub-facility modeling to increase fuel cycle fidelity.","abstract_html":"As a result of the once-through fuel cycle implemented in the US, used nuclear fuel (UNF) steadily increases. One proposed solution is the transition to a closed nuclear fuel cycle, in which reprocessing reduces build up of UNF. Pyroprocessing is an attractive method for this transition for its capabilities separating both light water reactor (LWR) and metallic fuels, and inherent proliferation resistance. However, unlike aqueous reprocessing plants, industrial pyroprocessing plants do not yet exist. Similar to safety-by-design in next-generation reactors, reprocessing facilities could be designed with safeguards in mind via safeguards-by-design. Without operational experience, these safeguards-by-design need to be derived through modeling and simulation. This thesis develops a medium fidelity generic model, Pyre, capable of simulating a variety of pyroprocessing facility configurations. Pyre also simulates diversion via a diverter class capable of tracking signatures and observables. Rather than only tracking exact material production, we use signatures and observables such as operating temperature, pressure, and current to mimic the capabilities of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections and aid identification of nefarious fuel cycles, or shadow fuel cycles. These capabilities are verified in a transition scenario of the current US fuel cycle to a sodium fast reactor (SFR) based closed fuel cycle. Key operating parameters are determined through sensitivity analysis of this scenario, monitoring isotopic changes in material unaccounted for. This work concludes that facility parameters which increase interaction between the salt and waste have more impact on material unaccounted for (MUF). This work also expands the state of the art by exploring the use of sub-facility modeling to increase fuel cycle fidelity.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Westphal, Greg T."],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.S.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Nuclear, Plasma, Radiolgc Engr","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Huff, Kathryn D.","Stubbins, James"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-03-02T21:58:33Z","date_published":"2020-03-02T21:58:33Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:45Z","subjects":["pyroprocessing, diversion, facility, simulation, safeguards"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2019 Greg Westphal"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/106275","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Huff, Kathryn D.","Stubbins, James"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Westphal, Greg T."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2020-03-02T21:58:33Z","2019-12-11","2019-12"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Nuclear, Plasma, Radiolgc Engr"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["pyroprocessing, diversion, facility, simulation, safeguards"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2019 Greg Westphal"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/106275"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["As a result of the once-through fuel cycle implemented in the US, used nuclear fuel (UNF) steadily increases. One proposed solution is the transition to a closed nuclear fuel cycle, in which reprocessing reduces build up of UNF. Pyroprocessing is an attractive method for this transition for its capabilities separating both light water reactor (LWR) and metallic fuels, and inherent proliferation resistance. However, unlike aqueous reprocessing plants, industrial pyroprocessing plants do not yet exist. Similar to safety-by-design in next-generation reactors, reprocessing facilities could be designed with safeguards in mind via safeguards-by-design. Without operational experience, these safeguards-by-design need to be derived through modeling and simulation. This thesis develops a medium fidelity generic model, Pyre, capable of simulating a variety of pyroprocessing facility configurations. Pyre also simulates diversion via a diverter class capable of tracking signatures and observables. Rather than only tracking exact material production, we use signatures and observables such as operating temperature, pressure, and current to mimic the capabilities of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections and aid identification of nefarious fuel cycles, or shadow fuel cycles. These capabilities are verified in a transition scenario of the current US fuel cycle to a sodium fast reactor (SFR) based closed fuel cycle. Key operating parameters are determined through sensitivity analysis of this scenario, monitoring isotopic changes in material unaccounted for. This work concludes that facility parameters which increase interaction between the salt and waste have more impact on material unaccounted for (MUF). This work also expands the state of the art by exploring the use of sub-facility modeling to increase fuel cycle fidelity.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2020-02-28 without embargo terms","The student, Greg Westphal, accepted the attached license on 2019-12-10 at 14:45.","The student, Greg Westphal, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2019-12-10 at 14:52.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2019-12-11 at 12:33.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #14775 on 2020-02-28 at 17:16:30","Made available in DSpace on 2020-03-02T21:58:33Z (GMT). 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Pyroprocessing is an attractive method for this transition for its capabilities separating both light water reactor (LWR) and metallic fuels, and inherent proliferation resistance. However, unlike aqueous reprocessing plants, industrial pyroprocessing plants do not yet exist. Similar to safety-by-design in next-generation reactors, reprocessing facilities could be designed with safeguards in mind via safeguards-by-design. Without operational experience, these safeguards-by-design need to be derived through modeling and simulation. This thesis develops a medium fidelity generic model, Pyre, capable of simulating a variety of pyroprocessing facility configurations. Pyre also simulates diversion via a diverter class capable of tracking signatures and observables. Rather than only tracking exact material production, we use signatures and observables such as operating temperature, pressure, and current to mimic the capabilities of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections and aid identification of nefarious fuel cycles, or shadow fuel cycles. These capabilities are verified in a transition scenario of the current US fuel cycle to a sodium fast reactor (SFR) based closed fuel cycle. Key operating parameters are determined through sensitivity analysis of this scenario, monitoring isotopic changes in material unaccounted for. This work concludes that facility parameters which increase interaction between the salt and waste have more impact on material unaccounted for (MUF). This work also expands the state of the art by exploring the use of sub-facility modeling to increase fuel cycle fidelity.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2020-02-28 without embargo terms","The student, Greg Westphal, accepted the attached license on 2019-12-10 at 14:45.","The student, Greg Westphal, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2019-12-10 at 14:52.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2019-12-11 at 12:33.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #14775 on 2020-02-28 at 17:16:30","Made available in DSpace on 2020-03-02T21:58:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 WESTPHAL-THESIS-2019.pdf: 2008732 bytes, checksum: cebdf801bb4fcea038dcc3de2b908f0b (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4210 bytes, checksum: d55f4a9290283a926f4e00bd9665827f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2019-12-11"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/106275"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2019 Greg Westphal"],"dc:subject":["pyroprocessing, diversion, facility, simulation, safeguards"],"dc:title":["Modeling special nuclear material diversion from a pyroprocessing facility"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Nuclear, Plasma, Radiolgc Engr"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:45Z"}