Natural Uranium Heavy Water Reactors for Desalination a Comparison Bltween the Fuel Pin and Fuel Cwijster Concepts

Studies on the potential use of nuclear desalination in Egypt have been conducted. The choice of reactor type and system concept was influenced by emphasis on relaxed technological conditions so as to fit local circumstances . Natural uranium heavy water reactors were found promising. Finer details of type of fuel, cladding, coolant, and system arrangement were left for comparative studies. The question of fuel type, fuel pin versus fuel cluster, was considered. Simplified analytical and computational techniques were adopted and results verified with published criticality measurements. It was found that the pin design would have higher breeding potentials while the cluster would provide simpler core arrangement especially if a pressure vessel design is chosen. Results are given for a typical 40 MWth project study showing core features and system characteristics.