Fuel cycle options

Several approaches to fuel cycle services including uranium, plutonium, or thorium fuels for SMRs were presented ranging from the entire indigenous fuel cycle infrastructures to services provided by the supplier and to international fuel cycle centres. The relative benefits and costs of these various approaches in terms of energy security and safeguards implementation will require an institutional as well as technical evaluation. 

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Meanwhile AECL and other Canadian departnents and agencies are participating actively in the International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Evaluation (INFCE) to study all fuel cycle options. No decisions on expansion of the present research level on thorium fuels will be taken until information from INFCE has been evaluated by the Canadian Government. 

Ko, W. I., Kim, H. D. Yang, M. S. 2002. Radioactive waste arisings from various fuel cycle options. Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 39, 200-210. 

The supercritical-water-cooled reactor (SCWR) ( Fig. 58.21) system features two fuel cycle options the first is an open cycle with a thermal neutron spectrum reactor the second is a closed cycle with a fast-neutron spectmm reactor and full actinide recycle. Both options use a high-temperature, high-pressure, water-cooled reactor that operates above the thermodynamic critical point of water (22.1 MPa, 374°C) to achieve a thermal efficiency approaching 44%. The fuel cycle for the thermal option is a once-through uranium cycle. The fast-spectrum option uses central fuel cycle facilities based on advanced aqueous processing for actinide recycle. The fast-spectrum option depends upon the materials R D success to support a fast-spectrum reactor. 

The three major back-end fuel cycle options currently under consideration by various countries are the following ... 

Table 5.5 shows some MHR parameters of all presented fuel cycle options (Ellis and Baxter 2004). 

Fuel-Cycle Option Natural U Consumption MgU/GW(e)a Uranium Utilization MW(e)d/Mg UasU,0, Equivalent Natural U Bumup MW(th)-d/kg NU Spent Fuel Arisings MgHE/GW(e)a... 

Public opinion and acceptance will also continue to influence fuel-cycle decisions. Safety is not listed as a criterion for selecting fuel-cycle options because any fuel-cycle strategy... 

Because thorium itself does not contain a fissile isotope, neutrons must be initially provided by adding a fissile material, either within or outside the Th02 itself. How the neutrons are initially provided defines a variety of thorium fuel-cycle options in HWRs that will be examined in this section. These include the following ... 

Balu, K., D.S.C. Purushotham, and A. Kakodkar. 1998. Closing the Fuel Cycle—A Superior Option for India, Proceedings of the IAEA Technical Committee Meeting on Fuel Cycle Options for LWRs and HWRs, April 28-May 1, Victoria, BC, IAEA Report. IAEA-TECDOC-1122 (1999 November). 

Fuel cycle options Flexible fuel cycle options, e.g., once-through use or recycling of U, Pu and Th fuel centralized (e.g., regional) fuel cycle services... 

For the addressed concepts of small reactors without on-site refuelling. Chapter 5 reviews the fuel cycle options and associated institutional issues, provides an assessment of material balance characteristics in once-through and closed fuel cycles, and outlines the possible role of small reactors without on-site refuelling in making a transition from open to closed nuclear fuel cycle. This chapter also summarizes the features of small reactors that could facilitate their deployment with outsourced fuel cycle services. 

Near-term versus longer term fuel cycle options... 

Alternative fuel cycle options (specify once-through, closed etc. for alternative types of fuel)... 

Major design and operating characteristics of the VBER-150 are summarized in Table IV-1. IV-1.5. Fuel cycle options... 

The fuel cycle options for the VBER-150 are the same as for the VBER-300 they include a once-through uranium fuel cycle (basic option), a uranium-thorium once-through fuel cycle to reduce specific plutonium production (Radkowsky Thorium Fuel — RTF — cycle), and a closed fuel cycle with MOX fuel, for details see [IV-1]. 

The basic fuel cycle option is a once-through fuel cycle with enriched uranium fuel. 

Both open and closed fuel cycle options are possible for the VKR-MT. Open fuel cycle scheme may be essentially the same as for the VVER and VK-300 [X-1] reactors. The specific feature of a VKR-MT closed cycle is that the SiC outer coating of micro fuel elements is resistant to nitric and sulphuric acids. Therefore, the mechanical removal of these coatings in ball mills should be added to a process chart [X-3]. The remaining layers of pyrolythic graphite are removed through the heating of micro fuel elements in air at 800 C. After that, a conventional aqueous method could be applied to reprocess the uranium dioxide fuel. 

A standard fuel cycle of high temperature gas cooled reactors could be used as basic option for the FBNR. A variety of alternative fuel cycle options could be used according to the demand. These include a plutonium burner mode using plutonium-thorium oxide fuel and a closed fuel cycle based on U-Th. 

The 4S can be configured for a variety of alternative fuel cycle options to meet actual demands of its users. These include a plutonium or TRU burner option using a metal fuel such as a U-Pu-Zr alloy or using inert materials to avoid further production of plutonium from the installed 238U [XIV-6, XIV-7]. 

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