High burn-up capability possibilities for a new beryllium moderated water cooled natural uranium reactor

A recently conceived nuclear reactor design is evaluated here for theoretical burn-up characteristics which might support Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) goals. This reactor uses natural uranium metal as fuel with beryllium moderation. The reactor also uses light water as a coolant. The reactor analysis in this work predicts the reactor to be capable of running at up to 4 GW-thermal for total burn-up values of approximately 1.4 × 103 GW-days. This is a very simple conceptual reactor design intended solely for very preliminary feasibility studies.