Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Neutronic optimization of thorium-based fuel configurations for minimizing slightly used nuclear fuel and radiotoxicity in small modular reactors

  • Nur Anis Zulaikha Kamarudin (Nuclear Science Programme, Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) ;
  • Aznan Fazli Ismail (Nuclear Science Programme, Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) ;
  • Mohamad Hairie Rabir (Nuclear Science Programme, Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) ;
  • Khoo Kok Siong (Nuclear Science Programme, Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia)
  • Received : 2023.10.17
  • Accepted : 2024.02.11
  • Published : 2024.07.25
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Abstract

Effective management of slightly used nuclear fuel (SUNF) is crucial for both technical and public acceptance reasons. SUNF management, radiotoxicity risk, and associated financial investment and technological capabilities are major concerns in nuclear power production. Reducing the volume of SUNF can simplify its management, and one possible solution is utilizing small modular reactors (SMR) and advanced fuel designs like those with thorium. This research focuses on studying the neutronic performance and radionuclide inventory of three different thorium fuel configurations. The mass of fissile material in thorium-based fuel significantly impacts Kinf, burn-up, and neutron energy spectrum. Compared to uranium, thorium as a fuel produces far fewer transuranic elements and less long-lived fission products (LLFPs) at the end of the core cycle (EOC). However, certain fission product elements produced from thorium-based fuel exhibit higher radioactivity at the beginning of the core cycle (BOC). Physical separation of thorium and uranium in the fuel block, like seed-and-blanket units (SBU) and duplex fuel designs, generate less radioactive waste with lower radioactivity and longer cycle lengths than homogeneous or mixed thorium-uranium fuel. Furthermore, the SBU and duplex feel designs exhibit comparable neutron spectra, leading to negligible differences in SUNF production between the two.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia through the Grant GUP-2021-039.

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