Authors & Affiliations
Golovin N.P., Moroko V.I., Lopatkin A.V.
Joint Stock Company “N.A. Dollezhal Research and Development Institute of Power Engineering”, Moscow, Russia
Golovin N.P. – Engineer. Contacts: st. Malaya Krasnoselskaya, 2/8, Moscow, Russia, 107140. Tel.: +7 (923) 440-10-97; e-mail:
Moroko V.I. – Lead Engineer.
Lopatkin A.V. – Deputy General Director for R&D, Dr. Sci. (Tech.),.
Abstract
This paper presents main results of the MA transmutation study in a pressurized water reactor VVER-1200 and a high-power fast lead-cooled reactor.
The result of modeling the starting and equilibrium campaign, an analysis was made of the MA effect on the neutronic characteristics of the VVER reactors and the lead-cooled fast reactor. In this study present, it was found that the addition of MA to the FA of the VVER-1200 reactor reduces the initial reactivity margin for the start campaign. To rise the initial reactivity margin and increase the mass of loaded MA, a FA without fuel elements with a burnable absorber is proposed. To simulate the equilibrium campaign of the VVER-1200 showed that fuel recycling of more one cycle leads to additional accumulation of MA. A study of the possibility of transmutation in the BR reactor showed that the optimal mass fraction of MA in the fuel is within 3–5 %.
The most efficient zone for the implementation of transmutation in the reactor with the accepted refueling scheme is the central part of the core. This study demonstrate the most important functionals and parameters of the facilities under consideration: neutron multiplication factor, breeding factor, effective fraction of delayed neutrons, residual energy release and fuel campaign.
Based on the results of evaluating the efficiency of homogeneous transmutation of MA in VVER-1200, a comparison was made with a high-power BR type reactor with a lead coolant. The study show that MA utilize more efficiently in a BR type reactor.
Keywords
radioactive waste, disposal, transmutation of minor actinides, fast neutron reactor, lead coolant, pressurized water reactor, americium, neptunium, reactivity, reactivity change, starting campaign, equilibrium campaign
Article Text (PDF, in Russian)
UDC 621.039
Problems of Atomic Science and Technology. Series: Nuclear and Reactor Constants, 2023, no. 1, 1:1