Uranium-beryllium liquid metal reactor fuel

Uranium-beryllium liquid metal reactor fuel 

This fuel is assumed to be in a ceramic form, manufactured from U-Be alloy sintered into BeO, and therefore relatively impervious to corrosive attack. Again, in the absence of data for the behavior of this material in sea water, the Group consensus was to assume a similar order of dissolution rate to that used for UOj fuel grains. Accordingly, a rate of 0.001 mm-a was modelled. As for other reactor fuels, the barrier afforded by fuel cladding is ignored because of the unknown extent of damage prior to disposal. 

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Uranium-beryllium liquid metal reactor fuel... 

The uranium-bismuth fuel system is flexible and can be u.sed in many designs. Although other types of liquid-metal systems are certainly possible, the LMFR at Brookhaven is being designed as a thermal reactor in which the fuel is di.ssolved or suspended in a liquid hea y-metal carrier. Ordinarily, the liquid metal is bismuth for highest neutron economy, but other systems such as lead or lead-bismuth eutectic may be used. The moderator is graphite, although beryllium oxide has also been considered. 

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