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Preliminary analysis of fuel cycle performance for a small modular heavy water-moderated thorium molten salt reactor

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Abstract

Heavy water-moderated molten salt reactors (HWMSRs) are novel molten salt reactors that adopt heavy water rather than graphite as the moderator while employing liquid fuel. Owing to the high moderating ratio of the heavy water moderator and the utilization of liquid fuel, HWMSRs can achieve a high neutron economy. In this study, a large-scale small modular HWMSR with a thermal power of 500 MWth was proposed and studied. The criticality of the core was evaluated using an in-house critical search calculation code (CSCC), which was developed based on Standardized Computer Analyses for Licensing Evaluation, version 6.1. The preliminary fuel cycle performances (initial conversion ratio (CR), initial fissile fuel loading mass, and temperature coefficient) were investigated by varying the lattice pitch (P) and the molten salt volume fraction (VF). The results demonstrate that the temperature coefficient can be negative over the range of investigated Ps and VFs for both 233U-Th and LEU-Th fuels. A core with a P of 20 cm and a VF of 20% is recommended for 233U-Th and LEU-Th fuels to achieve a high performance of initial CR and fuel loading. Regarding TRU-Th fuel, a core with a smaller P (~ 5 cm) and larger VF (~ 24%) is recommended to obtain a negative temperature coefficient.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201800, China

    Ya-Peng Zhang, Yu-Wen Ma, Jian-Hui Wu, Jin-Gen Chen & Xiang-Zhou Cai

  2. CAS Innovative Academies in TMSR Energy System, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201800, China

    Ya-Peng Zhang, Yu-Wen Ma, Jian-Hui Wu, Jin-Gen Chen & Xiang-Zhou Cai

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Ya-Peng Zhang, Yu-Wen Ma, Jian-Hui Wu, Jin-Gen Chen & Xiang-Zhou Cai

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  1. Ya-Peng Zhang
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Correspondence to Yu-Wen Ma or Jin-Gen Chen.

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This work was supported by the Chinese TMSR Strategic Pioneer Science and Technology Project (No. XDA02010000), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11905285), the Frontier Science Key Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. QYZDY-SSW-JSC016), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11790321).

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Zhang, YP., Ma, YW., Wu, JH. et al. Preliminary analysis of fuel cycle performance for a small modular heavy water-moderated thorium molten salt reactor. NUCL SCI TECH 31, 108 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-020-00823-5

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