Download or read book Analysis of Strategies for Improving Uranium Utilization in Pressurized Water Reactors written by Joseph A. Sefcik and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Systematic procedures have been devised and applied to evaluate core design and fuel management strategies for improving uranium utilization in Pressurized Water Reactors operated on a once-through fuel cycle. A principal objective has been the evaluation of suggested improvements on a self-consistent basis, allowing for concurrent changes in dependent variables such as core leakage and batch power histories, which might otherwise obscure the sometimes subtle effects of interest. Two levels of evaluation have been devised: a simple but accurate analytic model based on the observed linear variations in assembly reactivity as a function of burnup; and a numerical approach, embodied in a computer program, which relaxes this assumption and combines it with empirical prescriptions for assembly (or batch) power as a function of reactivity, and core leakage as a function of peripheral assembly power. State-of-the-art physics methods, such as PDQ-7, were used to verify and supplement these techniques. These methods have been applied to evaluate several suggested improvements: (1) axial blankets of low-enriched or depleted uranium, and of beryllium metal, (2) radial natural uranium blankets, (3) low-leakage radial fuel management, (4) high burnup fuels, (5) optimized H/U atom ratio, (6) annular fuel, and (7) mechanical spectral shift (i.e. variable fuel-to-moderator ratio) concepts such as those involving pin pulling and bundle reconstitution. The potential savings in uranium requirements compared to current practice were found to be as follows: (1) O0-3%, (2) negative, (3) 2-3%; possibly 5%, (4) "15%, (5) 0-2.5%, (6) no inherent advantage, (7) 10%. Total savings should not be assumed to be additive; and thermal/hydraulic or mechanical design restrictions may preclude full realization of some of the potential improvements.
Download or read book Final Report on Improved Uranium Utilization in PWRs written by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Energy Laboratory and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 73 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the final summary progress report on a research program carried out within the MIT Energy Laboratory/Nuclear Engineering Department under the US Department of Energy's program to increase the effectiveness of uranium utilization in light water reactors on the once-through fuel cycle. Two major themes, methodology and applications, characterize the research. A simple built accurate set of algorithms, designated as "the linear reactivity method" were developed to permit self-consistent evaluations of a broad spectrum of changes in core design and fuel management tactics. More than a dozen suggested improvements were then evaluated, focusing primarily on retrofittable modifications and pressurized water reactors. In common with the findings of many other investigators, high burnup and routine end-of-cycle coastdown were identified as preferred options.
Download or read book Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor for Improved Resource Utilization written by and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 5 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This document is an interim report under ACDA BOA AC9NX707, Task Order 80-03, which covers the evaluation of certain potential improvements in pressurized water reactor designs intended to enhance uranium fuel utilization. The objective of these evaluations is to seek advanced, non-retrofittable improvements that could possibly be commercialized by the end of the century, and, on the basis of a preliminary evaluation, to select compatible improvements for incorporation into a composite advanced pressurized water reactor concept. The principal areas of investigation include reduced parasitic absorption of neutrons (Task 1), reduced neutron leakage (Task 2), and alternative fuel design concepts (Task 3). To the extent possible, the advanced concept developed in an earlier study (Retrofittable Modifications to Pressurized Water Reactors for Improved Resource Utilization, SSA-128, October 1980) is used as a basis in developing the advanced composite concept. The reference design considered typical of present PWR commercial practice is the system described in RESAR-414, Reference Safety Analysis Report, Westinghouse Nuclear Energy Systems, October 1976.
Download or read book Retrofittable Modifications to Pressurized Water Reactors for Improved Resource Utilization written by and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 5 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report summarizes work performed for the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency under BOA AC9NX707 (Task Order 80-02), as part of the Agency's continuing program on improved fuel utilization in light water reactors. The objective of the study was to investigate improvements in fuel management and design of water reactors (PWRs) that could potentially increase the utilization of natural uranium resources in a once-through fuel cycle (i.e., without using spent fuel reprocessing and recycle). For the present study, potential improvements were limited to retrofittable concepts, i.e., those which could be modifications to the reactor system or balance of plant. The potential improvements considered were not necessarily restricted to those which might be economical under current uranium ore prices or to those which might be acceptable to the nuclear industry at the present time. A six-month fuel cycle, for example, although technically possible, would be neither economical nor accept able to the industry at the present time. Although all potential improvements are not necessarily compatible with each other, the target objective was to seek a composite system of compatible improvements that, if possible, could increase uranium resource utilization by 30% or more. Economic factors, risks involved in the introduction, and potential licensing concerns are also addressed in the report.
Download or read book Advanced Reactor Design Study written by R. M. Fleischman and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book A Feasibil i ty Analysis of High Conversion Ratio Pressurized Water Reactor Designs written by Charles P. Kliewer and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A significant amount of interest has been aroused recently concerning the advancement of the current pressurized water reactor core designs with a special emphasis towards improving the conversion characteristics of these reactors. Most reports have been divided into two camps; those that deal with the neutronic aspects and those that deal with the thersohydraulic concerns. Seldom do these two areas get combined for purposes of evaluating a new design. In this effort, the author takes a pragmatic approach to this area in so far as looking into ways of incorporating this advanced technology into current operational power plants. In so doing the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant was selected to serve as the reference design plant. This was done since it is a Westinghouse designed reactor, as are a large portion of the PWR's in the United States, and because it has one of the largest thermal power ratings in the nation as well. Both neutronic and thermohydraulic aspects are examined as well as an alternative fuel concept. In order to carry out the analysis computer codes COBRA-IV and LEOPARD were employed on a CYBER 170/710 mainframe computer. COBRA-IV was used to obtain results relating to the associated pressure loss and core temperature characteristics while LEOPARD was used for the neutronic aspects. A parametric study was initiated using fuel enrichment and pitch as the variables that would be systematically changed. As an additional factor to assure cross compatibility, the fuel rod diameter was held to a constant value throughout this analysis. Results of this research strongly indicate that current operational power plants can be effectively altered to become converters or low level breeders with only configurational changes in the core itself and no major equipment changes. Hence the author concludes that this concept is both feasible and readily attainable with the current level of technology. An additional benefit that would be realized under the adoption of this design would be the marked improvement in the utilization of uranium ore which ultimately becomes fuel. This would directly result in the extension of the power generation capability associated with nuclear power well into the next century.
Download or read book Energy Research Abstracts written by and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Thorium Fuel Cycle written by International Atomic Energy Agency and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a critical review of the thorium fuel cycle: potential benefits and challenges in the thorium fuel cycle, mainly based on the latest developments at the front end of the fuel cycle, applying thorium fuel cycle options, and at the back end of the thorium fuel cycle.
Download or read book Nuclear Power written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1992-02-01 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The construction of nuclear power plants in the United States is stopping, as regulators, reactor manufacturers, and operators sort out a host of technical and institutional problems. This volume summarizes the status of nuclear power, analyzes the obstacles to resumption of construction of nuclear plants, and describes and evaluates the technological alternatives for safer, more economical reactors. Topics covered include: Institutional issues-including regulatory practices at the federal and state levels, the growing trends toward greater competition in the generation of electricity, and nuclear and nonnuclear generation options. Critical evaluation of advanced reactors-covering attributes such as cost, construction time, safety, development status, and fuel cycles. Finally, three alternative federal research and development programs are presented.
Download or read book Energy Research Abstracts written by and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page 900 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Semiannual, with semiannual and annual indexes. References to all scientific and technical literature coming from DOE, its laboratories, energy centers, and contractors. Includes all works deriving from DOE, other related government-sponsored information, and foreign nonnuclear information. Arranged under 39 categories, e.g., Biomedical sciences, basic studies; Biomedical sciences, applied studies; Health and safety; and Fusion energy. Entry gives bibliographical information and abstract. Corporate, author, subject, report number indexes.
Download or read book Analysis of Uranium Supply to 2050 written by International Atomic Energy Agency and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report contains the first International Atomic Energy Agency projection of uranium supply and demand to 2050 and provides an understanding of how some alternative uranium supply scenarios could evolve over the period. The analysis is based on the current knowledge of uranium resources and production facilities, and takes into account the premise that they can operate with minimal environmental impact and employ the best practices in planning, operations, decommissioning and closure.
Download or read book Advances in Nuclear Science and Technology written by Jeffery Lewins and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The editors are happy to present the twentieth volume in the review series Advances in Nuclear Science and Technology. Lahey and Drew, our first authors, present a concise development of the equations for two-phase flow, essential to the understanding of normal and, even more, accidental behavior in water-cooled reactors. The commitment to the PWR in Europe (now joined by England in this respect) and the aftermath of Chernobyl in the U.S.S.R. put continuing emphasis on the need for good understanding of two-phase phenomena to provide good modelling. The second review, by Downar and Sesonske, of light water reactor fuel modelling, follows this LWR interest and emphasises a current major economic interest: how to get the most out of fuel. Recollecting that the capital cost of nuclear power is high, it is easy to overlook the fact that in the lifetime of a plant as much money is spent on fuel as capital. Optimization is worthwhile. The U.S. scene still does not practice recycling whereas the European scene does. Now that the United Kingdom is building its first (commercial) light water reactor, the linear modelling of burnup exploited by the second authors will prove even more useful, although previously exploited for advanced gas-cooled reactors. If the U.K. is behind in this respect, the recycling undertaken by France and England has led to trial use of plutonium in thermal reactors but, even more, the availability of plutonium for fast reactors.
Download or read book Improving Fuel Cycle Design and Safety Characteristics of a Gas Cooled Fast Reactor written by Willem Frederik Geert van Rooijen and published by IOS Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Generation IV Forum is an international nuclear energy research initiative aimed at developing the fourth generation of nuclear reactors, envisaged to enter service halfway the 21st century. One of the Generation IV reactor systems is the Gas Cooled Fast Reactor (GCFR), the subject of study in this thesis. The Generation IV reactor concepts should improve all aspects of nuclear power generation. Within Generation IV, the GCFR concept specifically targets sustainability of nuclear power generation. The Gas Cooled Fast Reactor core power density is high in comparison to other gas cooled reactor concepts. Like all nuclear reactors, the GCFR produces decay heat after shut down, which has to be transported out of the reactor under all circumstances. The layout of the primary system therefore focuses on using natural convection Decay Heat Removal (DHR) where possible, with a large coolant fraction in the core to reduce friction losses.
Download or read book Uranium Enrichment and Nuclear Weapon Proliferation written by Allan S. Krass and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-11-20 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1983, this book presents both the technical and political information necessary to evaluate the emerging threat to world security posed by recent advances in uranium enrichment technology. Uranium enrichment has played a relatively quiet but important role in the history of efforts by a number of nations to acquire nuclear weapons and by a number of others to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. For many years the uranium enrichment industry was dominated by a single method, gaseous diffusion, which was technically complex, extremely capital-intensive, and highly inefficient in its use of energy. As long as this remained true, only the richest and most technically advanced nations could afford to pursue the enrichment route to weapon acquisition. But during the 1970s this situation changed dramatically. Several new and far more accessible enrichment techniques were developed, stimulated largely by the anticipation of a rapidly growing demand for enrichment services by the world-wide nuclear power industry. This proliferation of new techniques, coupled with the subsequent contraction of the commercial market for enriched uranium, has created a situation in which uranium enrichment technology might well become the most important contributor to further nuclear weapon proliferation. Some of the issues addressed in this book are: A technical analysis of the most important enrichment techniques in a form that is relevant to analysis of proliferation risks; A detailed projection of the world demand for uranium enrichment services; A summary and critique of present institutional non-proliferation arrangements in the world enrichment industry, and An identification of the states most likely to pursue the enrichment route to acquisition of nuclear weapons.
Download or read book Critical Analysis of World Uranium Resources written by Susan Hall and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2014-06-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration (EIA) joined with the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to analyze the world uranium supply and demand balance. To evaluate short- term primary supply (0-15 years), the analysis focused on Reasonably Assured Resources (RAR), which are resources pro- jected with a high degree of geologic assurance and considered to be economically feasible to mine. Such resources include uranium resources from mines currently in production as well as resources that are in the stages of feasibility or of being permit- ted. Sources of secondary supply for uranium, such as stockpiles and reprocessed fuel, were also examined. To evaluate long- term primary supply, estimates of uranium from unconventional and from undiscovered resources were analyzed.
Download or read book Dynamics and Control of Nuclear Reactors written by Thomas W. Kerlin and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2019-10-05 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dynamics and Control of Nuclear Reactors presents the latest knowledge and research in reactor dynamics, control and instrumentation; important factors in ensuring the safe and economic operation of nuclear power plants. This book provides current and future engineers with a single resource containing all relevant information, including detailed treatments on the modeling, simulation, operational features and dynamic characteristics of pressurized light-water reactors, boiling light-water reactors, pressurized heavy-water reactors and molten-salt reactors. It also provides pertinent, but less detailed information on small modular reactors, sodium fast reactors, and gas-cooled reactors. Provides case studies and examples to demonstrate learning through problem solving, including an analysis of accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi Includes MATLAB codes to enable the reader to apply the knowledge gained to their own projects and research Features examples and problems that illustrate the principles of dynamic analysis as well as the mathematical tools necessary to understand and apply the analysis Publishers Note: Table 3.1 has been revised and will be included in future printings of the book with the following data: Group Decay Constant, li (sec-1) Delayed Neutron Fraction (bi) 1 0.0124 0.000221 2 0.0305 0.001467 3 0.111 0.001313 4 0.301 0.002647 5 1.14 0.000771 6 3.01 0.000281 Total delayed neutron fraction: 0.0067
Download or read book Energy and Water Development Appropriations for written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 1240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
