Core concept of innovative small SFR with metal fuel for deployment in Japan

Le résumé fourni par la source

We are developing a metal-fueled sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) to solve social issues regarding nuclear power for the future.Fast reactors are effective for efficient use of uranium (U) resources and reducing the volume and radiotoxicity of high-level radioactive wastes (HLWs).In particular, the combination of fast reactors with metal fuel and pyrometallurgical reprocessing has the potential to achieve both at an early stage.In this development, we studied the fast reactor with metal fuel implementation scenario in Japan, in which the 1st reactor is introduced in 2040 and existing light water reactors (LWRs) are replaced by the fast reactor in stages.In this paper, based on this scenario, we evaluated the performance of cores with three types of fuel; LWR UO2 spent fuel, LWR MOX spent fuel, and the fast reactor spent fuel.As a result, all cores satisfied design criteria, and the Pu breeding ratio was sufficient for the scenario to work.We have also shown that transmutations of minor actinides (MAs) such as neptunium (Np), americium (Am) and curium (Cm) in the fast reactor and the recycling of MA remaining in the spent fuel through pyrometallurgical reprocessing can remarkably reduce MA migration to HLWs with proven technology.These results confirmed the feasibility of the implementation scenario that contributes to the effective use of resources and the reduction of the hazardous level of HLWs.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.