Utilization of the Thorium of the Holos-Quad Micro-Reactor Concept

Year 2024, EARLY VIEW, 1 - 1

Ahmet Çifci , Adem Acır

https://doi.org/10.2339/politeknik.1571850

Abstract

In this study, the criticality and burnup analyses have been performed for Holos-Quad micro nuclear reactor as a thorium burner which has 15 ton reactor mass and 22 MWth full core geometry by using continuous-energy multi-purpose three-dimensional Serpent and OpenMC Monte Carlo particle transport code with ENDF/ B-VII data libraries. As nuclear fuel, reactor grade (RG) and weapon grade (WG) Pu mixed with ThO2 in different proportions have been used. Firstly, effective criticality for RG-Pu and WG-Pu for operation period have been determined. In addition, since each of the 4 subcritical power modules must be subcritical due to the structure of the Holos-Quad reactor, the criticality analysis of the power modules has been performed. The criticality, burnup and fissile fuel production of the Holos-Quad micro nuclear thorium-burner have been calculated with different fuel fraction depending on the fuel type. Finally, thorium mixed fuels with 35% WG-Pu or 75% RG-Pu would allow burn up levels of ~ 25 GWd/ton and ~15 GWd/ton with reactor operation periods ~3.5 years without fuel change, respectively.

Keywords

Monte Carlo, Micro Reactor Concept, Thorium, Burnup analysis, HTGR

Holos-Quad Mikro-Reaktör Konseptinde Toryumun Kullanımı

Abstract

Bu çalışmada, 15 ton reaktör kütlesi ve 22 MWth tüm çekirdek geometrisine sahip Holos-Quad mikro nükleer reaktör için toryum brülörü olarak kritiklik ve yanma analizleri, sürekli enerjili çok amaçlı üç boyutlu Serpent ve OpenMC Monte Carlo parçacık taşıma kodu ve ENDF/B-VII veri kütüphaneleri kullanılarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Nükleer yakıt olarak, reaktör sınıfı (RG) ve silah sınıfı (WG) Pu ile farklı oranlarda ThO2 karışımı kullanılmıştır. Öncelikle, RG-Pu ve WG-Pu için işletme periyodu için etkin kritiklik belirlenmiştir. Ayrıca, Holos-Quad reaktörünün yapısı gereği 4 alt kritik güç modülünün her biri kritik altı olması gerektiğinden, güç modüllerinin kritiklik analizi gerçekleştirilmiştir. Holos-Quad mikro nükleer toryum brülörünün kritikliği, yanma ve fisil yakıt üretimi, yakıt türüne bağlı olarak farklı yakıt oranlarıyla hesaplanmıştır. Son olarak, %35 WG-Pu ve %75 RG-Pu içeren toryum karışımlı yakıtlar, yakıt değişimi yapılmadan reaktör işletme süreleri ~3,5 yıl olacak şekilde sırasıyla ~25 GWd/ton ve ~15 GWd/ton yanma seviyelerine olanak sağlamıştır.

Keywords

Monte Carlo, Mikro reaktör konsepti, Toryum, Yanma analizi, HTGR

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