Thorium fuel utilization : options and trends : proceedings of three IAEA meetings held in Vienna in 1997, 1998 and 1999

COVER PAGE......Page 1
FOREWORD......Page 3
EDITORIAL NOTE......Page 4
CONTENTS......Page 5
Background......Page 7
Co-ordinated Research Project (CRP) on the Use of Thorium Based Fuel Cycles in Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS) to Incinerate Plutonium and to Reduce Long-term Waste Toxicities......Page 8
Status of thorium fuel option development in the Member States (based on statements of the participants in the meeting in 1999)......Page 9
Conclusions......Page 14
I. INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL CONCEPTS ON FUTURE THORIUM BASED NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLES IN COMPARISON WITH OTHER FUEL CYCLES......Page 17
2. PAST EXPERIENCE ON THORIUM FUEL UTILIZATION......Page 19
3. RECENT ACTIVITIES AND PLANS......Page 23
5. CONCLUSIONS......Page 27
REFERENCES......Page 28
APPENDIX......Page 30
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 31
2. THORIUM FUEL CYCLES IN CANDU REACTORS......Page 32
3. FUEL-MANAGEMENT SIMULATIONS......Page 35
4. REACTOR PHYSICS ASPECTS OF THORIUM FUEL CYCLES......Page 39
5. FABRICATION AND IRRADIATION EXPERIENCE WITH THORIA FUEL......Page 40
6. WASTE-MANAGEMENT ASPECTS OF THORIA FUELS......Page 42
REFERENCES......Page 45
2. NUCLEAR DATA......Page 48
4. NUCLEAR DESIGN......Page 50
5. MOLTEN SALT ACCELERATOR BREEDER REACTOR......Page 57
6. CONCLUDING REMARKS......Page 59
INTRODUCTION......Page 60
WHY THORIUM MOLTEN SALT FUEL IS BENEFICIAL?......Page 61
PYROCHEMICAL PROCESSES FOR HYPER FUEL CYCLE......Page 62
HYPER FUEL CYCLE FOR TRANSMUTATION AND ENERGY PRODUCTION......Page 64
REFERENCES......Page 65
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 66
2. DRIVERS FOR ADOPTING THORIUM......Page 67
3. DEVELOPMENT CONSIDERATIONS......Page 70
5. CONCLUSIONS......Page 73
REFERENCES......Page 74
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 75
2. FUEL FABRICATION......Page 76
5. IRRADIATION TESTING OF (ThO2 - PuO2) ASSEMBLIES IN REACTORS......Page 80
REFERENCES......Page 82
2. 232U ISSUE......Page 83
3. THORIUM FUEL CYCLE TECHNOLOGIES......Page 84
4. SOME REACTOR CONCEPTS UTILIZING THORIUM FUEL CYCLE......Page 85
5. NUCLEAR DATA FOR THORIUM FUEL CYCLE......Page 86
REFERENCES......Page 87
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 89
2. HETEROGENEOUS THORIUM REACTOR CORE......Page 90
3. FUEL MANAGEMENT APPROACH......Page 91
5. THE NON-PROLIFERATION CYCLE DESIGN OPTION......Page 92
6. THE PLUTONIUM INCINCERATOR DESIGN OPTION......Page 98
7. SUMMARY......Page 101
REFERENCES......Page 102
INTRODUCTION......Page 103
BACKGROUND......Page 104
ADVANCED PROLIFERATION RESISTANT, LOWER COST, URANIUM-THORIUM DIOXIDE FUELS FOR LIGHT WATER REACTOR PROJECT......Page 105
FUEL FOR A ONCE-THROUGH CYCLE–(TH,U)O2 IN A METAL MATRIX PROJECT......Page 107
PROLIFERATION RESISTANT HEXAGONAL TIGHT LATTICE BOILING WATER REACTOR (BWR) FUEL CORE DESIGN FOR INCREASED BURNUP AND REDUCED FUEL STORAGE REQUIREMENTS PROJECT......Page 108
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 110
2. DIRECT SELF-RECYCLE IN CANDU......Page 112
3. METHODOLOGY......Page 113
4. RESULTS......Page 114
5. OTHER CONSIDERATIONS......Page 124
REFERENCES......Page 125
II. THORIUM UTILIZATION, INCLUDING HYBRID SYSTEMS (ADS, FUSION ETC.)......Page 127
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 129
2. GLOBAL ENERGY STRATEGY IN THE NEXT CENTURY......Page 130
3. NEW PHILOSOPHY: ‘THORIUM MOLTEN SALT NUCLEAR ENERGY SYNERGETICS” (THORIMS-NES)......Page 131
4. PRACTICAL STRATEGY TO REALIZE TH-ENERGY ERA BY THORIMS-NES......Page 132
5. SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGE IN SAFETY ISSUE......Page 134
6. ADVANTAGE IN NUCLEAR-PROLIFERATION ISSUE......Page 139
7. IMPROVEMENT IN SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE......Page 142
REFERENCES......Page 143
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 145
2. BLANKET GEOMETRY......Page 146
3. NUMERICAL RESULTS......Page 148
5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS......Page 156
REFERENCES......Page 157
1. GENERAL AND PARTICULAR ASPECTS OF INVOLVING THORIUM INTO NUCLEAR POWER......Page 160
2. SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF THE FIRST STAGE OF INVOLVING THORIUM IN NUCLEAR POWER......Page 162
3. PLUTONIUM-THORIUM FUEL IN THE WWER REACTORS......Page 163
4. SOME OTHER REACTOR CONCEPTS......Page 166
REFERENCES......Page 169
INTRODUCTION......Page 171
THE CLUSTER DESIGN......Page 172
PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TWO CLUSTER DESIGNS......Page 175
CORE OPTIMISATION STUDIES......Page 177
REACTIVITY SWINGS......Page 179
CONCLUSIONS......Page 180
REFERENCES......Page 181
INTRODUCTION......Page 182
PHYSICS DESIGN PRINCIPLES......Page 183
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS......Page 187
REFERENCES......Page 188
III. NUCLEAR AND REACTOR PHYSICS, NUCLEAR DATA AND CORE DESIGN......Page 189
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 191
2. REVIEW OF THORIUM\'S PROPERTIES......Page 193
3. STUDY OF FUELS WITH A THORIUM CARRIER......Page 197
4. RADIOTOXICITY......Page 201
5. CONCLUSION......Page 202
REFERENCES......Page 203
1.INTRODUCTION......Page 204
2. RESULT OF BENCHMARK CALCULATION......Page 205
3. EFFECT OF FUEL VOLUME RATIO......Page 209
REFERENCES......Page 212
2. NUCLEAR DATA EVALUATION......Page 213
3. EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH......Page 215
REFERENCES......Page 220
2. HTR MODULE AND CALCULATION......Page 221
3. CALCULATION RESULTS......Page 223
REFERENCES......Page 226
1. THE CONCEPT OF LIQUID FUEL......Page 227
2. LIQUID FUEL CONCEPT FOR NEUTRON SOURCE-DRIVEN TRANSMUTATION TECHNOLOGY (NSDTT)......Page 230
3. CHEMICAL PROBLEMS OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL TRANSMUTATION......Page 231
4. PROPOSAL FOR A COMPLEX REACTOR PHYSICS INVESTIGATION OF TH CONTAINING FUEL......Page 237
REFERENCES......Page 241
INTRODUCTION......Page 243
KUCA EXPERIMENTS ON THORIUM-URANIUM FUEL CYCLE......Page 244
IMPACT OF DIFFERENCE IN EVALUATED NUCLEAR DATA LIBRARY TO NUCLEAR CHARACTERISTICS IN THORIUM FUEL CYCLE......Page 251
CONCLUSION......Page 253
REFERENCES......Page 254
IV. TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN OPTIONS......Page 255
WHY THORIUM-BASED FUEL AND SBU GEOMETRY?......Page 257
CORE DESIGN PARAMETERS......Page 258
RESULTS OF CALCULATIONS (EQUILIBRIUM CYCLE)......Page 259
HOT CHANNEL POWER DENSITY SUMMARY......Page 260
CONCLUSION......Page 262
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 263
3. WORK DONE IN INDIA TOWARDS THORIUM UTILISATION......Page 264
4. FUEL CYCLE STUDIES IN THE PHWR......Page 266
REFERENCES......Page 271
1.  INTRODUCTION......Page 272
2. THE ADVANTAGES OF THORIUM......Page 273
5. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN FRANCE......Page 274
6. PWR RESEARCH......Page 275
7. INERT MATRIX FUEL......Page 281
9. CONCLUSIONS......Page 283
REFERENCES......Page 284
INTRODUCTION......Page 286
FUEL MICROSPHERES......Page 287
SPHERICAL FUEL ELEMENTS......Page 288
REACTOR TEST RESULTS......Page 290
REFERENCES......Page 291
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 292
2. AMBIDEXTER SYSTEM ATTRIBUTES......Page 293
3. AMBIDEXTER SYSTEM ELEMENTS......Page 295
REFERENCES......Page 299
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 300
2. THORIA FUEL STUDIES......Page 301
3. BORON CARBIDE COATING OF URANIA-GADOLINIA FUEL......Page 303
4. PRELIMINARY NEUTRONIC CALCULATIONS OF THE COATED FUEL......Page 305
5. CONCLUSIONS......Page 307
REFERENCES......Page 308
V. PROBLEMS TO RESOLVE: SAFETY, NON-PROLIFERATION, ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION......Page 309
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 311
2. THE THORIUM-URANIUM CYCLE......Page 312
4. DISSOLUTION......Page 314
5. EXAMINATION OF CLAIMED ADVANTAGES......Page 317
6. DISCUSSION......Page 319
7. CONCLUSION......Page 320
REFERENCES......Page 321
1. INCENTIVES FOR THE APPLICATION OF THORIUM FUEL CYCLE......Page 322
3. INTEGRAL PHYSICAL EXPERIMENTS......Page 323
4. TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS......Page 324
REFERENCES......Page 325
1. INTRODUCTION......Page 327
2. THE PAST AND THE FUTURE OF THE NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY (NPT)......Page 328
3. STOP AND RUN-DOWN OF THE NUCLEAR ARMS RACE......Page 330
4. WEAPONGRADE PLUTONIUM AND HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM (HEU) BOMB MATERIALS FOR THE CIVIL FUEL CYCLE......Page 331
5. CONSEQUENCES OF A GLOBAL NUCLEAR EXCHANGE......Page 341
6. NUCLEAR WEAPONS VERIFYING AND SAFEGUARDS SYSTEMS......Page 343
7. OUTLOOK......Page 344
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 345
INTRODUCTION......Page 349
THOREX/PUREX COMBINATION......Page 351
NON-AQUEOUS PROCESSES......Page 355
DEVELOPMENT REQUIREMENTS......Page 356
REFERENCES......Page 360
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS......Page 363
IAEA PUBLICATIONS ON THORIUM BASED FUEL OPTIONS......Page 375