Development of uranium-free TRU metallic fuel fast reactor core

Abstract

A TRU-burning fast reactor cycle associated with a uranium-free transuranium (TRU) metallic fuel core is one of the solutions for radioactive waste management issue. Use of TRU metallic fuel without uranium makes it possible to maximize the TRU transmutation rate in comparison with uranium and plutonium mixed-oxide fuel because it prevents the fuel itself from producing new plutonium and minor actinides, and furthermore because metallic fuel has much smaller capture-to-fission ratios of TRU than those of mixed-oxide fuel. Also, adoption of metallic fuel enables recycling system to be less challenging, even for uranium-free fuel, because a conventional scheme of fuel recycling by electrorefining and injection casting is applicable. There are some issues, however, associated with a uranium-free TRU metallic fuel core: Decrease in negative Doppler reactivity coefficient from the absence of uranium-238, which has the ability to absorb neutrons at elevated temperatures, increase in burn-up swing, because fissile decreases monotonically in uranium-free core, and so on. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the feasibility of the uranium-free TRU metallic fuel core by investigating the effect of measures taken to enhance Doppler reactivity feedback and to reduce burn-up swing. The results show a TRU-burning fast reactor cycle using uranium-free TRU metallic fuel is viable from the aforementioned points of view because the introduction of diluent Zr alloy, spectrum moderator BeO, and lower core height enables Doppler reactivity coefficient and burn-up reactivity swing of uranium-free TRU metallic fuel to be as practicable as those of conventional fuel containing uranium.