Mononitride Fuel for Fast Reactors

Rogozkin, B. D.; Stepennova, N. M.; Proshkin, A. A.

doi:10.1023/b:aten.0000007886.86817.32

Cited by 54 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Yet, irradiation experiments have been conducted in fast and thermal reactors, from which thermal and radiation creep was measured as a function of temperature, burnup, and porosity 10,11 . From these results, it was demonstrated that the presence of carbon (C) and oxygen (O) impurities strongly increase the swelling, and can lead to carbonization of the inner surface of the cladding 11 . For this reason, the maximum amount of these impurities was set to 0.1-0.15 wt% for reliable operation of fuel elements 11 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From these results, it was demonstrated that the presence of carbon (C) and oxygen (O) impurities strongly increase the swelling, and can lead to carbonization of the inner surface of the cladding 11 . For this reason, the maximum amount of these impurities was set to 0.1-0.15 wt% for reliable operation of fuel elements 11 . Understanding the underlying mechanisms governing the diffusion and segregation of C and O in UN is thus highly motivated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Transport properties of C and O in UN fuels

et al. 2017

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Uranium nitride fuel is considered for fast reactors (GEN-IV generation and space reactors) and for light water reactors as a high-density fuel option. Despite this large interest, there is a lack of information about its behavior for in-pile and out-of-pile conditions. From the present literature, it is known that C and O impurities have significant influence on the fuel performance. Here, we perform a systematic study of these impurities in the UN matrix using electronic-structure calculations of solute-defect interactions and microscopic jump frequencies. These quantities were calculated in the DFT+U approximation combined with the occupation matrix control scheme, to avoid convergence to metastable states for the 5f levels. The transport coefficients of the system were evaluated with the self-consistent mean-field theory. It is demonstrated that carbon and oxygen impurities have different diffusion properties in the UN matrix, with O atoms having a higher mobility, and C atoms showing a strong flux coupling anisotropy. The kinetic interplay between solutes and vacancies is expected to be the main cause for surface segregation, as incorporation energies show no strong thermodynamic segregation preference for (001)-surfaces compared with the bulk.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transport properties of C and O in UN fuels

et al. 2017

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“…According to a compatibility study between the mono-nitride fuel with structural materials such as SS304 and SS316 in accident conditions, mono-nitride fuel is highly compatible with austenitic and ferrite-martensitic steel [19]. Based on these observations, oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) steel is adopted as the cladding and structural material.…”

Section: Concepts Of the Korea Advanced Institute Of Science And Techmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Conceptual Study of a Supercritical CO2-Cooled Micro Modular Reactor

Hartanto

Moon

et al. 2015

Energies

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A neutronics conceptual study of a supercritical CO 2 -cooled micro modular reactor (MMR) has been performed in this work. The suggested MMR is an extremely compact and truck-transportable nuclear reactor. The thermal power of the MMR is 36.2 MWth and it is designed to have a 20-year lifetime without refueling. A salient feature of the MMR is that all the components including the generator are integrated in a small reactor vessel. For a minimal volume and long lifetime of the MMR core, a fast neutron spectrum is utilized in this work. To enhance neutron economy and maximize the fuel volume fraction in the core, a high-density uranium mono-nitride U 15 N fuel is used in the fast-spectrum MMR. Unlike the conventional supercritical CO 2 -cooled fast reactors, a replaceable fixed absorber (RFA) is introduced in a unique way to minimize the excess reactivity and the power peaking factor of the core. For a compact core design, the drum-type control absorber is adopted as the primary reactivity control mechanism. In this study, the neutronics analyses and depletions have been performed by using the continuous energy Monte Carlo Serpent code with the evaluated nuclear data file ENDF/B-VII.1 Library. The MMR core is characterized in view of several important safety parameters such as control system worth, fuel temperature coefficient (FTC) and coolant void reactivity (CVR), etc. In addition, a preliminary thermal-hydraulic analysis has also been performed for the hottest channel of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) MMR.

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“…The fuel elements with mononitride or monocarbide fuel fabricated using weapons plutonium showed high operating properties when irradiated in BOR-60 and BR-10 with lineal power density 450-1045 and 350-1200 W/cm, respectively [13][14][15].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Facilities for pyrochemical regeneration of mixed oxide fuel as well as salvaging weapons plutonium have been operation for a long time in our country [2]. Computational studies have shown that for this technology the radiation fields are weakest, the equipment arrangement is compact, all operations can be performed in a single apparatus without special biological protection, and the pipelines are short and not highly branched [15]. The concept of a closed fuel cycle based on compact pyrochemical processes has now been examined.…”

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confidence: 99%

Pyrochemical conversion of weapons plutonium into plutonium mononitride, monocarbide and mixed uranium-plutonium fuel for fast reactors

et al. 2011

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The main directions and results of research on pyrochemical reprocessing of weapons plutonium in fuel for fast reactors are presented. It is shown that this technology is economical and ecologically validated, compact, fire and explosion safe, especially for reprocessing in carbide-nitride as well as oxide fuel for fast reactors. It satisfies the principle of nonproliferation. For reprocessing weapons plutonium in oxide fuel with deep removal of 241 Am and Ga, a combined process which combines pyrochemical conversion of plutonium into oxide or nitride powder, and dissolution in acids and extraction of impurities. It is shown that the fuel kernels made from nitride, carbide, and oxide powers both from individual PuN, PuC 0.86 , and PuO 2 powders as well as mixed plutonium compounds with uranium are fabricated by means of the conventional regime and provide the required density and content of gallium of <0.001 wt. %.Weapons plutonium is considered to be a very important initial energy material for fabricating fuel for future commercial nuclear power facilities. A necessary condition for converting weapons plutonium into nuclear fuel is it regeneration from irradiated fuel and re-fabrication, i.e., the development of a closed nuclear fuel cycle. In the absence of a closed fuel cycle the use of weapons plutonium becomes its actual destruction, and the enormous renewable source of energy is lost.Fast reactors with liquid-metal coolant are most promising and cost-effective for use of weapons plutonium, and they give the required breeding ratio (BRC ≥ 1.05). They make it possible to realize an inexhaustible resource for obtaining energy and to decrease the ecological load as a result of the closed fuel cycle and burning of long-lived fission products. Only fast reactors can use most effectively the enormous stores of waste uranium, including in combination with weapons and power plutonium.Thermal reactors are also being considered to salvage weapons plutonium. Salvaging of weapons plutonium in lightwater reactors will result in substantial losses (to 60%) of the energy potential and a three-fold increase in the radiotoxicity index as compared with fast reactors.An increase of the scientific-technical interest noted at beginning in the 1960s to develop a liquid-salt reactor which uses nuclear fuel in a form admitting continuous adjustment of the composition and control of the nuclear-physical, chemical, and thermophysical processes during operation. The investigations showed that such reactors can find application in electric power production for transmutation of long-lived transuranium actinides, burning spent power plutonium as well as weapons plutonium, and solving other problems.

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Mononitride Fuel for Fast Reactors

Cited by 54 publications

References 22 publications

Transport properties of C and O in UN fuels

Transport properties of C and O in UN fuels

A Conceptual Study of a Supercritical CO2-Cooled Micro Modular Reactor

Pyrochemical conversion of weapons plutonium into plutonium mononitride, monocarbide and mixed uranium-plutonium fuel for fast reactors

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