Speaker
Description
The concept of a low-power 25 MW thermal reactor with a hard neutron spectrum in the core is proposed. The reactor has the following feature: a sufficiently high neutron flux density 3,4•1015 n/(sм2•s) in the center of the core, high average neutron energy 0,86 МeV in the center of the core, as well as a high proportion of hard En>0,8 МeV, neutrons 35%. Extremely high design parameters of the reactor are achieved due to the small size of the core, DxH≈0,40х0,42 м2, innovative metal fuel made from an alloy of energetic plutonium with zirconium, Pu58%-Zr42%, and a heat carrier from a natural lead melt. The mass of power plutonium loaded into the reactor is 92 kg.
A line of 10-12 proposed reactors will allow more efficiently than in fast sodium reactors to burn off energy plutonium and minor actinides and at the same time generate about 100 MW of electricity. It is proposed to use high-background power plutonium as a fuel in the reactor, obtained as a result of the regeneration of fuel discharged from power thermal and fast reactors. In addition to plutonium and fission products, spent nuclear fuel, for example, from fast reactors, contains up to 1% minor actinides - neptunium, americium and curium, which in the hard neutron spectrum are transmuted into fission products with a higher fission probability than in fast sodium and molten salt reactors.
In addition to burning off transurans and generating electricity, a reactor with a hard neutron spectrum can be in demand as a research reactor, due to the content in its spectrum of a significant fraction, 35%, of hard neutrons with energies of 0.8 - 10.5 MeV, which have a higher capacity for radiation damage to materials. nuclear technology, rather than when they are irradiated in the spectrum of BN-type reactors.
| Speaker's title | Mr |
|---|---|
| Affiliation/Organization | National Nuclear Research University, "MEPhI" |
| Speaker's email address | DSSamokhin@mephi.ru |
| Country/Int. organization | Russian Federation |
