The FIT 2.0 Model - Fuel-cycle Integration and Tradeoffs

Abstract

All mass streams from fuel separation and fabrication are products that must meet some set of product criteria – fuel feedstock impurity limits, waste acceptance criteria (WAC), material storage (if any), or recycle material purity requirements such as zirconium for cladding or lanthanides for industrial use. These must be considered in a systematic and comprehensive way. The FIT model and the “system losses study” team that developed it [Shropshire2009, Piet2010b] are steps by the Fuel Cycle Technology program toward an analysis that accounts for the requirements and capabilities of each fuel cycle component, as well as major material flows within an integrated fuel cycle. This will help the program identify near-term R&D needs and set longer-term goals. This report describes FIT 2, an update of the original FIT model.[Piet2010c] FIT is a method to analyze different fuel cycles; in particular, to determine how changes in one part of a fuel cycle (say, fuel burnup, cooling, or separation efficiencies) chemically affect other parts of the fuel cycle. FIT provides the following: Rough estimate of physics and mass balance feasibility of combinations of technologies. If feasibility is an issue, it provides an estimate of how performance would have to change to achieve feasibility. Estimate of impurities in fuel and impurities in waste as function of separation performance, fuel fabrication, reactor, uranium source, etc.