Feasibility of breed-and-burn reactor core design with nitride fuel and lead coolant

Abstract

The global demand for energy is constantly increasing, and reliable, sustainable energy sources are urgently needed. Nuclear energy is one such source, and many thermal reactors are currently in operation. As a result, a huge amount of depleted uranium has been stored, and reprocessing plants or fast reactors operating in breed-and burn (B&B) mode are necessary for effective utilization of uranium source. In the present paper, we investigate the feasibility of a Rotational Fuel-shuffling breed-and-burn reactor with Nitride fuel and Lead coolant (RFBB-NL) with neutronic and thermal-hydraulic analyses. In order to establish a high neutron-economy B&B mode, the core is established with a Rotational Fuel-shuffling (RF) scheme. The present study confirms the feasibility of a small LFR design functioning in B&B operating mode by optimizing core height and operating parameters. We kept the maximum temperatures of fuel, cladding, and coolant under their constraints by performing a steady state thermal-hydraulic analysis for the hot channel of a shorter core with higher power.