Project Deep-Burn: Development of Transuranic Fuel for High-Temperature Helium-Cooled Reactors

Versluis, R.; Venneri, Francesco; Petti, David A.; Snead, Lance Lewis; McEachern, D.W.

doi:10.1115/htr2008-58325

Cited by 19 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…The Deep Burn (DB) concept [1] is under investigation for feasibility, safety, effectiveness, and efficiency. The concept was created for the purpose of destroying the inventory of plutonium (Pu) and Minor Actinides (MA) from legacy and future used Light Water Reactor (LWR) fuel.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Material Performance of Fully-Ceramic Micro-Encapsulated Fuel under Selected LWR Design Basis Scenarios: Final Report

Boer¹,

Sen²,

Pope³

et al. 2011

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Material Performance of Fully-Ceramic Micro-Encapsulated Fuel under Selected LWR Design Basis Scenarios: Final Report

Boer¹,

Sen²,

Pope³

et al. 2011

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“…, (1) where E d is the average threshold energy for displacement and where is E on the right side is given by the Lindhard (or the Robinson) energy partition function. It is this form that is implemented in the modified NJOY99, and applied to each PKA and emitted particle from all reactions.…”

Section: Displacement Kerma Cross Sections and Nrt Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 This reduction is to be achieved by transmuting the undesirable isotopes, primarily through fissioning or "burning" them. Both pebble bed 2 and prismatic designs 3 were conceptualized and significant design activities and analyses were performed on them.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Irradiation Planning for Fully-Ceramic Micro-encsapsulated fuel in ATR at LWR-relevant conditions: year-end report on FY-2011

Ougouag¹,

Sen²,

Pope³

et al. 2011

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SUMMARYHeretofore, the principal focus of the Deep Burn Project was to plan, carry out, and evaluate the process of once-through burning of plutonium (Pu) and minor actinides (MA), i.e., residual transuranics (TRU) from used fuel in a reactor. First, transmutation or fissioning, collectively termed burning, in a high temperature reactor (HTR) was considered. This included evaluating both the pebble bed and the prismatic block HTR as a platform for deep burning of the plutonium and minor actinides. In the second half of FY-2011, the Idaho National Laboratory, along with the other project participants, started evaluating the possible use of existing, current generation, light water reactors (LWRs) as the platform for deployment of the Deep Burn concept. Therefore, starting in March 2011, the INL has been evaluating the neutronic design and feasibility of the Deep Burn concept in a LWR. This application would use a new type of fuel. The new fuel form, termed "Fully-Ceramic Micro-encapsulated" (FCM) fuel, is a concept that borrows the tri-isotropic (TRISO) fuel particle design from high-temperature reactor technology. In the Deep Burn LWR (DB-LWR) concept, these fuel particles are pressed into compacts using silicon carbide (SiC) for matrix material and are loaded into fuel pins for use in conventional LWRs. The TRU loading comes from the spent fuel of a conventional LWR after 5 years of cooling.In conjunction with designing the fuel and evaluating its neutronic performance, the INL has also been evaluating the material performance of the fuel using modeling as the means of such an evaluation. These two activities are reported upon in two companion reports [B. Boer, et. al., FCR&D-2011-000338 or INL/EXT-11-23313, and R. S. Sen et al., FCR&D-2011-00037 or INL/EXT-11-23269]. Although the fuel modeling uses a state-of-the-art code for evaluating the failure frequency of the fuel, it is still necessary for the fuel to be tested experimentally. The main reason for this is that the fuel type under consideration is new and has not been previously tested. Furthermore, the code, though verified, was never validated for this new type of fuel as the relevant experimental data were never previously generated. It is important to note, however, that although a formal validation was not carried out, the code predictions matched systematically the available experimental results for UO 2 -based TRISO fuel from the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) project. This should provide confidence that the code predictions are likely to be correct for DB fuel, provided the modifications incorporated into the code capture all the differences in artifacts between the two types of fuel. However, the only sure way to verify that this is indeed a fact is to carry out (at least some) experimental tests on the DB fuel. The modifications to the fuel modeling code are discussed in the companion report [B. Boer, et. al., FCR&D-2011-000338 or INL/EXT-11-23313].Recently, the INL Deep Burn team and its partners outside the INL have been considering the...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance of Trasuranic-Loaded Fully Ceramic Micro-Encapsulated Fuel in LWRs Interim Report, Including Void Reactivity Evaluation

Pope¹,

Boer²,

Youinou³

et al. 2011

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SUMMARYThe current focus of the Deep Burn Project is on once-through burning of transuranics (TRU) in lightwater reactors (LWRs). The fuel form is called Fully-Ceramic Micro-encapsulated (FCM) fuel, a concept that borrows the tri-isotropic (TRISO) fuel particle design from high-temperature reactor technology. In the Deep Burn LWR (DB-LWR) concept, these fuel particles are pressed into compacts using SiC matrix material and loaded into fuel pins for use in conventional LWRs. The TRU loading comes from the spent fuel of a conventional LWR after 5 years of cooling.Unit cell calculations have been performed using the DRAGON-4 code to assess the physics attributes of TRU-only FCM fuel in an LWR lattice. Depletion calculations assuming an infinite lattice condition were performed with calculations of various reactivity coefficients performed at each step. Unit cells containing typical UO 2 and mixed oxide (MOX) fuel were analyzed in the same way to provide a baseline against which to compare the TRU-only FCM fuel.The main objective of this interim report is to report progress in the following areas:x Evaluate reactivity-limited burnup of TRU-only FCM fuel cells in a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)x Calculate key reactivity coefficients, including total coolant void coefficient, of the TRU-only FCM fuel at various levels of depletion and evaluate the effects of varying the kernel size and packing fraction (PF) on these coefficientsx Compare these results to reference UO 2 and MOX unit cellsIn addition to the above mentioned goals, a companion report [B. Boer, et. al., FCR&D-2011-000064 or INL/EXT-11-21435] reports on use of the PASTA code to evaluate the integrity of FCM fuel for normal operation states at various levels of depletion and in a simulated LOCA transientIt was shown that due to the limited space available for heavy metal loading within the FCM fuel, the reactivity-limited burnup (in days) at typical LWR power densities may be short compared to ordinary LWR cycle lengths if only FCM fuel is used. Thus, even before evaluating the reactivity feedback performance of the fuel, it is recognized that the idea of using heterogeneous assemblies containing pins of TRU-only FCM alongside pins with low-enriched uranium (LEU) deserves consideration.The reactivity parameters calculated with depletion were the Moderator Temperature Coefficient (MTC), the void coefficient (assuming 10% void), the Doppler coefficient, the soluble boron worth, and the reactivity effect of complete voiding of the coolant. Several different combinations of TRISO particles packing fractions (PF) and kernel diameters were evaluated for the FCM fuel. It was found that the total heavy metal (HM) loading of the FCM fuel is the primary driver for reactivity-limited burnup and for reactivity coefficients, not how it is distributed in various kernel sizes and PF values. The MTC of the TRU-only FCM fuel was negative at beginning of life, but less so than the MTC of UO 2 and MOX reference cases. With burnup, the MTC becomes less negative, and in the c...

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Project Deep-Burn: Development of Transuranic Fuel for High-Temperature Helium-Cooled Reactors

Cited by 19 publications

References 0 publications

Material Performance of Fully-Ceramic Micro-Encapsulated Fuel under Selected LWR Design Basis Scenarios: Final Report

Material Performance of Fully-Ceramic Micro-Encapsulated Fuel under Selected LWR Design Basis Scenarios: Final Report

Irradiation Planning for Fully-Ceramic Micro-encsapsulated fuel in ATR at LWR-relevant conditions: year-end report on FY-2011

Performance of Trasuranic-Loaded Fully Ceramic Micro-Encapsulated Fuel in LWRs Interim Report, Including Void Reactivity Evaluation

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