Minor actinides represent the long-term radiotoxicity of nuclear wastes. As one
of their potential incineration options, partitioning and transmutation in fission reactors
are seriously considered worldwide. If implemented, these technologies could also be a
source of nuclear fuel materials required for sustainability of nuclear energy.
The objective of this research was to evaluate performance characteristics of Very
High Temperature Reactors (VHTRs) and their variations due to configuration
adjustments targeting achievability of spectral variations. The development of realistic
whole-core 3D VHTR models and their benchmarking against experimental data was an
inherent part of the research effort. Although the performance analysis was primarily
focused on prismatic core configurations, 3D pebble-bed core models were also created
and analyzed.
The whole-core 3D models representing the prismatic block and pebble-bed cores
were created for use with the SCALE 5.0 code system. Each of the models required the
Dancoff correction factor to be externally calculated. The code system DANCOFF-MCThe whole-core/system 3D models with multi-heterogeneity treatments were
validated by the benchmark problems. Obtained results are in agreement with the
available High Temperature Test Reactor data. Preliminary analyses of actinide-fueled
VHTR configurations have indicated promising performance characteristics. Utilization
of minor actinides as a fuel component would facilitate development of new fuel cycles
and support sustainability of a fuel source for nuclear energy assuring future operation of
Generation IV nuclear energy systems.
was utilized to perform the Dancoff factor calculations.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/4382 |
| Date | 30 October 2006 |
| Creators | Ames, David E, II |
| Contributors | Tsvetkov, Pavel V. |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | 1380669 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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