A qualitative assessment of thorium-based fuels in supercritical pressure water cooled reactors

The requirements for the next generation of reactors include better economics and safety, waste minimization (particularly of the long-lived isotopes), and better proliferation resistance (both intrinsic and extrinsic). A supercritical pressure water cooled reactor has been chosen as one of the lead contenders as a Generation IV reactor due to the high thermal efficiency and compact/simplified plant design. In addition, interest in the use of thorium-based fuels for Generation IV reactors has increased based on the abundance of thorium, and the minimization of transuranics in a neutron flux; as plutonium (and thus the minor actinides) is not a by-product in the thorium chain. In order to better understand the possibility of the combination of these concepts to meet the Generation IV goals, the qualitative burnup potential and discharge isotopics of thorium and uranium fuel were studied using pin cell analyses in a supercritical pressure water cooled reactor environment. Each of these fertile materials were used in both nitride and metallic form, with light water reactor grade plutonium and minor actinides added. While the uranium-based fuels achieved burnups that were 1.3 to 2.7 times greater than their thorium-based counterparts, the thorium-based fuels destroyed 2 to 7 times more of the plutonium and minor actinides. The fission-to-capture ratio is much higher in this reactor as compared to PWR's and BWR's due to the harder neutron spectrum, thus allowing more efficient destruction of the transuranic elements. However, while the uranium-based fuels do achieve a net depletion of plutonium and minor actinides, the breeding of these isotopes limits this depletion; especially as compared to the thorium-based fuels.