Core Physics Studies and TRU Burning Potential of a Thorium-based Fuel Fast Reactor

To overcome the stalemate on nuclear waste management in the US, Westinghouse is proposing a “waste-centric” approach. It consists of setting specifics for the nuclear waste aimed at furthering its acceptability from a societal viewpoint and then pursuing the nuclear system with the best potential to satisfy such requirements [1]. Public acceptability of nuclear waste is viewed to be tied to reducing the required isolation time to a viable minimum. In the U-based cycle, the isolation time is dictated primarily by the protracted radiotoxicity of the transuranic (TRU) isotopes that are generated. Switching to a thorium-based cycle is an appealing option for the potential of reducing the production of TRU [2] while efficiently burning the legacy supply [3]. The focus of this study is to assess the impact of various fuel types (i.e. oxide, nitride and metal) on the transmutation performance of a fast reactor (FR) employing thorium fuel.