Fusion-Fission Blanket Options for the LIFE Engine

Kramer, Kevin J.; Fratoni, Massimiliano; Latkowski, Jeffery F.; Abbott, R P; Anklam, T.M.; Beckett, Elizabeth M.; Bayramian, A.; DeMuth, James; Deri, Robert J.; Rubia, T. Dı́az de la; Dunne, A. M.; El-Dasher, Bassem S.; Farmer, Joseph C.; Lafuente, Antonio; Meier, W.R.; Moir, R.W.; Morris, Kevin L.; Moses, E. I.; Powers, Jeffrey J.; Reyes, S.; Sawicki, Richard H.; Seifried, Jeffrey E.; Storm, E.; Taylor, J M

doi:10.13182/fst10-295

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Zhang et al Progress in Nuclear Energy 106 (2018) 440-454 initiated by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and active until few years ago (Kramer, 2011;Morses et al, 2009), was to use fusion neutrons to drive a subcritical blanket fueled with pebbles containing TRistructural-ISOtropic (TRISO) particles in a breed-andburn mode of operation. The rationale for this fuel option is the experimental evidence that TRISO fuel particles can withstand very high burnup without releasing fission products.…”

Section: Fcm Fuelmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Improved resource utilization by advanced burner reactors with breed-and-burn blankets

Zhang

Fratoni

Greenspan

2018

Progress in Nuclear Energy

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A B S T R A C TPrevious studies assessed the feasibility of designing Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors (SFR) in a novel Seed-andBlanket (S&B) configuration in which a significant fraction of the core power is generated by a radial metallic thorium-fueled blanket that operates in the Breed-and-Burn (B&B) mode. The radiation damage on the cladding material in both seed and blanket does not exceed the presently acceptable constraint of 200 Displacements per Atom (DPA). This paper investigates a number of blanket fuel options other than metallic thorium fuel, including thorium dioxide fuel, thorium hydride fuel, thorium nitride Fully Ceramic Encapsulated (FCM) fuel, and Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Used Nuclear Fuel (UNF) after limited reprocessing. Since the neutron spectrum of the oxide fueled blanket is softer than that of the reference metallic thorium fueled blanket, it can discharge its fuel at an average burnup of around 110 MWd/kg versus 65 MWd/kg of the metallic thorium. The two thorium hydride fueled blankets feature an even softer neutron spectrum than the oxide fueled blanket and, therefore, a higher average discharge burnup -192 MWd/kg and 245 MWd/kg when the H-to-Th ratio is, respectively, 0.5 and 2.0. The FCM fuel is composed of SiC matrix and cladding that is expected to self-anneal the neutrons induced damage. With the assumption that the FCM fuel will indeed be proven not limited by radiation damage, its discharge burnup could be up to 482 MWd/kg. As a result, the corresponding thorium utilization is the highest of all options examined -close to 80 times the utilization of natural uranium in present Light Water Reactors (LWRs). The amount of Trans-Th isotopes accumulated in the thorium blanket per unit of generated electricity decreases as the blanket fuel is discharged at a higher burnup. Therefore, a higher discharge blanket burnup results in lower long-term radioactivity and radiotoxicity. It is also found that the 232 U/ 233 U ratio in the discharged thorium fuel is over 3 times higher in the thorium hydride than in the other blankets thus improving the thorium-hydride blanket's proliferation resistance. Softening of the blanket spectrum leads to softening of the seed spectrum region interfacing with the blanket and this enables to discharge the seed fuel at a higher average burnup. The higher discharge burnup of the seed fuel reduces the required reprocessing and fuel fabrication capacities per unit of generated electricity. The cores having softer neutron spectrum blankets also feature less positive feedback to sodium voiding and much more negative Doppler coefficient. When PWR UNF is used after limited reprocessing to fuel the blanket, the subcritical blanket driven by the excess neutrons from the seed can discharge this fuel at an average burnup of ∼120 MWd/kg. Combined with the burnup in the first stage PWRs, this two-stage energy system can achieve an accumulated uranium burnup of ∼170 MWd/kg. This increases the fuel utilization of natural uranium by a factor of three relative to oncethroug...

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Section: Fcm Fuelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, it is proposed to use the previously described S&B core configuration for this application. Instead of pebbles used in the LIFE project (Kramer, 2011;Morses et al, 2009), it is proposed to use Fully Ceramic Microencapsulated (FCM) fuel (Powers and Wirth, 2010).…”

Section: Fcm Fuelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improved resource utilization by advanced burner reactors with breed-and-burn blankets

Zhang

Fratoni

Greenspan

2018

Progress in Nuclear Energy

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“…15 The FFH employs an ICF system based on a National Ignition Facility (NIF)-like illumination geometry and hot-spot ignition. 16 The fusion neutron point source is located at the center of a 250-cm-radius chamber filled with low-pressure gas that protects the first wall from ions and X-rays. The chamber is enclosed by a spherical oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) ferritic steel first wall coated with tungsten.…”

Section: Breed-and-burn Ffhmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Schematic cross section of an FFH based on NIF configuration. 16 controlling the level of 6 Li enrichment in the blanket coolant. The entire fuel in the blanket is replaced with fresh fuel when the accumulated tritium to drive the ICF is exhausted (most common situation) or the blanket multiplication factor is too low to maintain an adequate blanket gain.…”

Section: Breed-and-burn Ffhmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thorium Fuel Cycles with Externally Driven Systems

Brown¹,

Powers²,

Todosow³

et al. 2016

Nuclear Technology

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“…For example, laser inertial fusion energy designers, particularly those outside of the United States, have considered hybrid fusion-fission designs that incorporate fertile or fissionable material into the lithium blanket. 112 The hybrid design can be composed of either a fertile or fissionable fuel in either a solid form cooled by a liquid lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride mixture, or a molten form dissolved in a similar molten salt mixture. 113 The fuel blanket could be uranium or thorium; the fissionable element could derive from mixed oxide fuel.…”

Section: Fission-fusion Powermentioning

confidence: 99%