Light Water Breeding with Nitride Fuel

This scoping study proposes using mixed nitride fuel in Pu-based high conversion LWR designs in order to increase the breeding ratio. The higher density fuel reduces the hydrogen-to-heavy metal ratio in the reactor which results in a harder spectrum in which breeding is more effective. A Resource-re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Progress in nuclear energy (New series) 2011-09, Vol.53 (7), p.862-866
Main Authors: Feng, Bo, Shwageraus, Eugene, Forget, Benoit, Kazimi, Mujid S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Assembly
Breeding
Conversion
Density
Energy
Energy. Thermal use of fuels
Exact sciences and technology
Fission nuclear power plants
Fuels
Installations for energy generation and conversion: thermal and electrical energy
Light water reactor
Nitride fuel
Nuclear engineering
Nuclear fuels
Nuclear reactor components
Nuclear reactors
Plutonium
RBWR
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Summary:This scoping study proposes using mixed nitride fuel in Pu-based high conversion LWR designs in order to increase the breeding ratio. The higher density fuel reduces the hydrogen-to-heavy metal ratio in the reactor which results in a harder spectrum in which breeding is more effective. A Resource-renewable Boiling Water Reactor (RBWR) assembly was modeled in MCNP to demonstrate this effect in a typical high conversion LWR design. It was determined that changing the fuel from (U,TRU)O 2 to (U,TRU)N in the assembly can increase its fissile inventory ratio (fissile Pu mass divided by initial fissile Pu mass) from 1.04 to up to 1.17. ► RBWR assembly modeled in MCNP/MCODE with oxide and nitride fuels to calculate breeding ratios. ► Using high density nitride fuel can increase the breeding ratio from 1.04 to 1.14. ► Results should encourage further investigations to overcome materials challenges of nitrides.
ISSN:0149-1970
DOI:10.1016/j.pnucene.2011.06.001