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The tri-isotropic (TRISO) fuel developed for High Temperature reactors is known for its extraordinary fission product retention capabilities [1]. Recently, the possibility of extending the use of TRISO particle fuel to Light Water Reactor (LWR) technology, and perhaps other reactor concepts, has received significant attention [2]. The Deep Burn project [3] currently focuses on once-through burning of transuranic fissile and fissionable isotopes (TRU) in LWRs. The fuel form for this purpose is called Fully-Ceramic Micro-encapsulated (FCM) fuel, a concept that borrows the TRISO fuel particle design from high temperature reactor technology, but uses SiC as a matrix material rather than graphite. In addition, FCM fuel may also use a cladding made of a variety of possible material, again including SiC as an admissible choice. The FCM fuel used in the Deep Burn (DB) project showed promising results in terms of fission product retention at high burnup values and during high-temperature transients. In the case of DB applications, the fuel loading within a TRISO particle is constituted entirely of fissile or fissionable isotopes. Consequently, the fuel was shown to be capable of achieving reasonable burnup levels and cycle lengths, especially in the case of mixed cores (with coexisting DB and regular LWR UO2 fuels). In contrast, as shown below, the use of UO2-only FCM fuel in a LWR results in considerably shorter cycle length when compared to current-generation ordinary LWR designs. Indeed, the constraint of limited space availability for heavy metal loading within the TRISO particles of FCM fuel and the constraint of low (i.e., below 20 w/0) 235U enrichment combine to result in shorter cycle lengths compared to ordinary LWRs if typical LWR power densities are also assumed and if typical TRISO particle dimensions and UO2 kernels are specified. The primary focus of this summary is on using TRISO particles with up to 20 w/0 enriched uranium kernels loaded in Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) assemblies. In addition to consideration of this 'naive' use of TRISO fuel in LWRs, several refined options are briefly examined and others are identified for further consideration including the use of advanced, high density fuel forms and larger kernel diameters and TRISO packing fractions. The combination of 800 {micro}m diameter kernels of 20% enriched UN and 50% TRISO packing fraction yielded reactivity sufficient to achieve comparable burnup to present-day PWR fuel.
The charm of Mathematical Physics resides in the conceptual difficulty of understanding why the language of Mathematics is so appropriate to formulate the laws of Physics and to make precise predictions. Citing Eugene Wigner, this “unreasonable appropriateness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences” emerged soon at the beginning of the scientific thought and was splendidly depicted by the words of Galileo: “The grand book, the Universe, is written in the language of Mathematics.” In this marriage, what Bertrand Russell called the supreme beauty, cold and austere, of Mathematics complements the supreme beauty, warm and engaging, of Physics. This book, which consists of nine articles, gives a flavor of these beauties and covers an ample range of mathematical subjects that play a relevant role in the study of physics and engineering. This range includes the study of free probability measures associated with p-adic number fields, non-commutative measures of quantum discord, non-linear Schrödinger equation analysis, spectral operators related to holomorphic extensions of series expansions, Gibbs phenomenon, deformed wave equation analysis, and optimization methods in the numerical study of material properties.
This is the first in a series of three volumes of proceedings of the 23rd Pacific Basin Nuclear Conference (PBNC 2022) which was held by Chinese Nuclear Society. As one in the most important and influential conference series of nuclear science and technology, the 23rd PBNC was held in Beijing and Chengdu, China in 2022 with the theme “Nuclear Innovation for Zero-carbon Future”. For taking solid steps toward the goals of achieving peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality, future-oriented nuclear energy should be developed in an innovative way for meeting global energy demands and coordinating the deployment mechanism. It brought together outstanding nuclear scientists and technical experts, senior industry executives, senior government officials and international energy organization leaders from all across the world. The proceedings highlight the latest scientific, technological and industrial advances in Nuclear Safety and Security, Operations and Maintenance, New Builds, Waste Management, Spent Fuel, Decommissioning, Supply Capability and Quality Management, Fuel Cycles, Digital Reactor and New Technology, Innovative Reactors and New Applications, Irradiation Effects, Public Acceptance and Education, Economics, Medical and Biological Applications, and also the student program that intends to raise students’ awareness in fully engaging in this career and keep them updated on the current situation and future trends. These proceedings are not only a good summary of the new developments in the field, but also a useful guideline for the researchers, engineers and graduate students. This is an open access book.
The 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident highlighted the weakness of the current nuclear fuel and motivated R&D of accident tolerant fuels. Accident tolerant fuels (ATF) are fuels that can tolerate loss of active cooling in the core of light water reactors (LWRs) for a considerably longer period of time while maintaining or improving the fuel performance during normal operations. Fully Ceramic Microencapsulated (FCM) fuel is an ATF concept aimed at significantly increasing the fission product retention capability of nuclear fuel at high temperatures. The FCM concept is made up of fuel particles surrounded by multilayers of ceramic material similar to the TRISO fuel concept. The fuel particles are embedded in a SiC matrix in cylindrical pellet geometry which gives the fuel its high temperature corrosion resistance. However, when implementing the FCM concept in a conventional PWR fuel geometry, it is not possible to maintain an 18 month fuel cycle length and remain below the proliferation enrichment limit of 20 w/o U235. This is a critical challenge that needs to be overcome in order to benefit from the high temperature fission product retention capability of FCM-type ATF concepts. Therefore, this work aims at investigating the potential benefits of a new accident tolerant fuel, Fuel-in-Fibers (F-in-F) concept. The Fuel-in-Fibers concept was created by Free Form Fibers, a laser chemical vapor deposition direct manufacturing company. It aims to combine the same robust fission product retention and high temperature stability as the FCM fuel concept while drastically decreasing the necessary fuel enrichment. This is done by designing a fuel fiber in cylindrical geometry as opposed to spherical particles to increase the packing fraction within a cylindrical pellet. The direct manufacturing allows for minimization of the volume occupied by the SiC matrix as well as direct deposition of high density fuels like uranium nitride (UN). Assembly level calculations in the Monte Carlo code SERPENT determined that the Fuel-in-Fibers concept could maintain a typical PWR cycle length with less than 20 w/o U235 (LEU) enrichment. The fibers in the fuel pellet were then homogenized for use in lattice physics code CASMO and core simulator code SIMULATE3. The SIMUALTE full core simulation showed that the Fuel-in- Fibers design required enrichments of 8% and 6% for UO2 and UN as fuels, respectively. Overall, the full core analysis of a standard 4-loop Westinghouse PWR showed Fuel-in-Fibers concept has similar behavior as the conventional fuel. Due to the high fissile enrichments, the calculated radial power peaking factors were higher in Fuel-in-Fibers concept. This may result in decrease of the coolant outlet temperature by 5 K in order to maintain safety margins. The shutdown margin analysis showed that using B4C instead AgInCd control rods is needed. A design optimization was also performed to calculate the ideal geometry for Fuel-in-Fibers concept. An in-house MATLAB single channel code, built to evaluate PWR Thermal Hydraulic and Structural performance, was used to vary the fuel pin Pitch and Pitch-to-Diameter ratio (P/D Ratio). The results showed that a smaller pitch and larger diameter of 13.2 mm and 12 mm, respectively will improve the Fuel-in-Fibers concept enrichment requirements. A simplified economic analysis based on highly uncertain fabrication cost estimates was performed. The economics analysis determined that the fuel in fiber design is estimated to cost more than current UO2 fuel by 1.25x – 15x due to the increased enrichment and fabrication costs but may be offset by the additional safety margins provided by the Fuel-in-Fibers concept.
Provides a critical review of the thorium fuel cycle: potential benefits and challenges in the thorium fuel cycle, mainly based on the latest developments at the front end of the fuel cycle, applying thorium fuel cycle options, and at the back end of the thorium fuel cycle.