Utilization of thorium in a Gas Turbine-Modular Helium Reactor with alternative fuels

Although there is a negative impression on the nuclear energy, it seems to be the only reliable clean energy source for the near future. It is not only clean and durable, but also sustainable with the ability to produce its own fuel. In this study, performances of two different types of nuclear fuels (Reactor Grade Plutonium –RGrPu– and Minor Actinides –MA–) acquired from the reactor operations combined with thorium in a Gas Turbine-Modular Helium Reactor was investigated and compared with the uranium fuel designed for this reactor. In this way, 50% ThO2–50% RGrPuO2 (50%RGrPu), 10% ThO2–90% RGrPuO2 (90%RGrPu) and 10% ThO2–90% MAO2 (MA) mixtures were compared with the reference low enriched uranium (original fuel) fuel. By using MCNP5 1.4 with ENDF/B-VI data library and MONTEBURNS 2.0 performance calculations were made and operation time (the time passed until the keff value reached a level of 1.02) and burn-up values were used in the comparison of these fuels. Operation time for original fuel, MA, 50%RGrPu and 90%RGrPu mixtures were found as 515, 565, 765 and 2315 days with burn-up values of 47.7, 71.94, 75.1 and 213.4 GWd/MTU, respectively.