Abstract
The management of radioactive waste poses a significant challenge to the sustainable development of nuclear energy. Efficient transmutation of nuclear wastes is crucial to minimize their accumulation. A small modular chloride salt fast reactor (sm-MCFR) capable of transmuting transuranic elements (TRU) is proposed in this paper, combining the advantages of the small modular reactor (SMR) and the molten salt reactor (MSR). The sm-MCFR is characterized by a high fuel loading and a compact core structure that can be quickly deployed around large commercial reactors to achieve TRU transmutation. To evaluate the TRU burnup capability of the sm-MCFR, several fuel salts and reprocessing modes were analyzed using the internally developed TRITON MODEC Coupled Burnup Code (TMCBurnup) tool. NaCl-MgCl3 with 98 % enrichment in 37Cl is chosen as carrier salt for the sm-MCFR, which can achieve 76.7 % TRU transmutation rate in average and 355 kg·GW−1·a−1 TRU transmutation quality at a continuous reprocessing rate of 10 L/d for 50 operation years. The optimized sm-MCFR reduced the radioactive toxicity of TRU by 84 %, thereby simplifying waste reprocessing. In addition, the sm-MCFR has a negative temperature feedback coefficient of −7.195 pcm/K, favoring safe reactor operation.
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