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Título del libro: International Conference On Physics Of Reactors, Physor 2018: Reactor Physics Paving The Way Towards More Efficient Systems
Título del capítulo: Analysis of the use of thorium fuel in the european 2400 MWth gas-cooled fast reactor

Autores UNAM:
JUAN LUIS FRANCOIS LACOUTURE;
Autores externos:

Idioma:

Año de publicación:
2018
Palabras clave:

Fast reactors; Fuels; Gas fuel analysis; Pavements; Plutonium compounds; Thorium compounds; Uranium carbide; Axial distribution; Cross-section library; Doppler constant; Fissile isotopes; Gas cooled fast reactors; Monte Carlo codes; Neutron multiplication; Reference designs; Gas cooled reactors


Resumen:

The Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (GFR) is one of six systems selected for viability assessment in the Generation IV program. In this work the use of Thorium as fuel in the GFR is investigated. The study corresponds to the European 2400 MWth GFR concept, proposed by the French Commisariat á l'Energie Atomique. First, the calculations are performed for the reference design with Uranium Plutonium Carbide (U,Pu)C fuel and compared to published results to validate the developed model. Subsequently, the 232Th in the form of Thorium Carbide is considered as fertile fuel, replacing the natural Uranium vector. The effective neutron multiplication factor (k-eff), the Doppler constant and the shutdown margin for the proposed fuel configurations are calculated. The neutron spectrum characterization and the radial and axial distributions of neutron flux and power are also performed. The variation of k-eff and the atomic density of the fissile isotopes, mainly 239Pu and 233U for 1450 EFPD (Effective Full Power Days) are analyzed. The k-eff decreases initially in the first days of the operating cycle and later increases with the production of 233U; this contributes to enlarge the cycle with respect to the reference design. For the calculations the Serpent Monte Carlo code version 2.27 and the IEFF-3.1 cross section library were used. Copyright © (2018) by PHYSOR 2018.


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