Minor Actinides Transmutation and <sup>233</sup>U Breeding in a Closed Th-U Cycle Based on Molten Chloride Salt Fast Reactor
Long-lived minor actinides (MAs) are one of the primary contributors to the long-term radiological hazards of nuclear waste, and the buildup of MAs is hampering the development of nuclear power. The transmutation of MAs in reactors is regarded as a potential way to replace direct disposal to reduce...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-12-01
|
| Series: | Energies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/24/9472 |
| _version_ | 1797459630617526272 |
|---|---|
| author | Liaoyuan He Liang Chen Shaopeng Xia Yang Zou |
| author_facet | Liaoyuan He Liang Chen Shaopeng Xia Yang Zou |
| author_sort | Liaoyuan He |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Long-lived minor actinides (MAs) are one of the primary contributors to the long-term radiological hazards of nuclear waste, and the buildup of MAs is hampering the development of nuclear power. The transmutation of MAs in reactors is regarded as a potential way to replace direct disposal to reduce the impact of MA on the environment and improve the utilization of fuel. Due to its superior features, such as outstanding neutron economy, no fuel assembly fabrication, high neutron flux, and especially online refueling and reprocessing, the molten chloride salt fast reactor (MCFR) is regarded as one of the potential reactors for MA incineration. In this work, MA transmutation capability and <sup>233</sup>U breeding performance for an optimized MCFR have been evaluated in different scenarios. The results show that the MA transmutation capability and <sup>233</sup>U breeding performance with online transuranic elements (TRU) and <sup>232</sup>Th feeding scenario are improved significantly compared with the case in online <sup>233</sup>U and <sup>232</sup>Th feeding, when the initial MA loading is 5 mol%, the total mass of MA transmutation and MA incineration is 7160 kg and 1759 kg during the whole 100 years operation under online TRU and <sup>232</sup>Th feeding scenario, and the corresponding average annual net production of <sup>233</sup>U is 450 kg, however, the MA transmutation amount, MA incineration amount and average annual net production of <sup>233</sup>U for online <sup>233</sup>U and <sup>232</sup>Th feeding scenario is 5298 kg, 1315 kg, and 249 kg, respectively. In addition, the research also shows that the increase in initial loading of MA has no obvious effect on the improvement of the <sup>233</sup>U breeding performance but can improve the transmutation efficiency of MA under online TRU and <sup>232</sup>Th feeding scenarios. Furthermore, if <sup>233</sup>U is continuously extracted online from the core during the operation, the <sup>233</sup>U breeding performance will be significantly improved, but it will deteriorate the safety performance, such as the fuel temperature coefficient of reactivity (TCR) and the effective delayed neutron fraction (EDNF), more importantly, it will also put forward higher requirements for the immature online reprocessing technology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:54:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c7a0454a021f4ae7b1199aeb6f842e8d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:54:08Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-c7a0454a021f4ae7b1199aeb6f842e8d2023-11-24T14:37:31ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732022-12-011524947210.3390/en15249472Minor Actinides Transmutation and <sup>233</sup>U Breeding in a Closed Th-U Cycle Based on Molten Chloride Salt Fast ReactorLiaoyuan He0Liang Chen1Shaopeng Xia2Yang Zou3Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, ChinaShanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, ChinaShanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, ChinaShanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, ChinaLong-lived minor actinides (MAs) are one of the primary contributors to the long-term radiological hazards of nuclear waste, and the buildup of MAs is hampering the development of nuclear power. The transmutation of MAs in reactors is regarded as a potential way to replace direct disposal to reduce the impact of MA on the environment and improve the utilization of fuel. Due to its superior features, such as outstanding neutron economy, no fuel assembly fabrication, high neutron flux, and especially online refueling and reprocessing, the molten chloride salt fast reactor (MCFR) is regarded as one of the potential reactors for MA incineration. In this work, MA transmutation capability and <sup>233</sup>U breeding performance for an optimized MCFR have been evaluated in different scenarios. The results show that the MA transmutation capability and <sup>233</sup>U breeding performance with online transuranic elements (TRU) and <sup>232</sup>Th feeding scenario are improved significantly compared with the case in online <sup>233</sup>U and <sup>232</sup>Th feeding, when the initial MA loading is 5 mol%, the total mass of MA transmutation and MA incineration is 7160 kg and 1759 kg during the whole 100 years operation under online TRU and <sup>232</sup>Th feeding scenario, and the corresponding average annual net production of <sup>233</sup>U is 450 kg, however, the MA transmutation amount, MA incineration amount and average annual net production of <sup>233</sup>U for online <sup>233</sup>U and <sup>232</sup>Th feeding scenario is 5298 kg, 1315 kg, and 249 kg, respectively. In addition, the research also shows that the increase in initial loading of MA has no obvious effect on the improvement of the <sup>233</sup>U breeding performance but can improve the transmutation efficiency of MA under online TRU and <sup>232</sup>Th feeding scenarios. Furthermore, if <sup>233</sup>U is continuously extracted online from the core during the operation, the <sup>233</sup>U breeding performance will be significantly improved, but it will deteriorate the safety performance, such as the fuel temperature coefficient of reactivity (TCR) and the effective delayed neutron fraction (EDNF), more importantly, it will also put forward higher requirements for the immature online reprocessing technology.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/24/9472molten chloride salt fast reactorclosed Th-U cycleMA transmutation<sup>233</sup>U breedingonline reprocessing |
| spellingShingle | Liaoyuan He Liang Chen Shaopeng Xia Yang Zou Minor Actinides Transmutation and <sup>233</sup>U Breeding in a Closed Th-U Cycle Based on Molten Chloride Salt Fast Reactor Energies molten chloride salt fast reactor closed Th-U cycle MA transmutation <sup>233</sup>U breeding online reprocessing |
| title | Minor Actinides Transmutation and <sup>233</sup>U Breeding in a Closed Th-U Cycle Based on Molten Chloride Salt Fast Reactor |
| title_full | Minor Actinides Transmutation and <sup>233</sup>U Breeding in a Closed Th-U Cycle Based on Molten Chloride Salt Fast Reactor |
| title_fullStr | Minor Actinides Transmutation and <sup>233</sup>U Breeding in a Closed Th-U Cycle Based on Molten Chloride Salt Fast Reactor |
| title_full_unstemmed | Minor Actinides Transmutation and <sup>233</sup>U Breeding in a Closed Th-U Cycle Based on Molten Chloride Salt Fast Reactor |
| title_short | Minor Actinides Transmutation and <sup>233</sup>U Breeding in a Closed Th-U Cycle Based on Molten Chloride Salt Fast Reactor |
| title_sort | minor actinides transmutation and sup 233 sup u breeding in a closed th u cycle based on molten chloride salt fast reactor |
| topic | molten chloride salt fast reactor closed Th-U cycle MA transmutation <sup>233</sup>U breeding online reprocessing |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/24/9472 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT liaoyuanhe minoractinidestransmutationandsup233supubreedinginaclosedthucyclebasedonmoltenchloridesaltfastreactor AT liangchen minoractinidestransmutationandsup233supubreedinginaclosedthucyclebasedonmoltenchloridesaltfastreactor AT shaopengxia minoractinidestransmutationandsup233supubreedinginaclosedthucyclebasedonmoltenchloridesaltfastreactor AT yangzou minoractinidestransmutationandsup233supubreedinginaclosedthucyclebasedonmoltenchloridesaltfastreactor |