SpectrumshiftingasamechanismtoimproveperformanceofVHTRswithadvancedactinidefuelsOriginalResearchArticle

ReprocessingofspentLWRfuelisanintrinsicpartoftheclosedfuelcycle.Whilecurrenttechnologiestreatrecoveredminoractinidesashighlevelwastes,theprimaryobjectiveofoneoftheU.S.DOENuclearEnergyResearchInitiative(NERI)projectsistoassessthepossibility,advantagesandlimitationsofdesigningasingle-batch(no-refueling)veryhightemperaturereactor(VHTR)configurationthatutilizestransuranicnuclides(TRU)asafuelcomponent.SincebothVHTRcoredesignconcepts,pebblebedandprismaticblockassembly,permitflexibilityincomponentconfiguration,fuelutilizationandmanagement,itispossibletoimprovefissilepropertiesbyneutronspectrumshiftingthroughconfigurationadjustments.ThepresentedanalysisisfocusedontheTRU-impactonthesingle-batchmode(no-refueling)VHTRcorelifetime.Asaresultoftheanalysis,promisingperformancecharacteristicshavebeendemonstrated.TheTRU-coreconfigurationsareexpectedtobesuitableforlong-termautonomousoperationwithoutintermediaterefueling.