NEUTRON PHYSICAL ANALYSIS OF SIX ENERGETIC FAST REACTORS

Peter Vertes, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Centre of Energy Research, Budapest, Hungary

22nd Symposium of AER on VVER Reactor Physics and Reactor Safety (2012, Průhonice, Czech Republic)
NEW REACTOR CONCEPT

Abstract

Numerous fast reactor constructions have been appeared world-wide in pages of institutes?
reports. Most of them are benchmark exercise with complicated features. We shall examine 6
constructions: 5 sodium cooled and 1 lead cooled. Critical and dynamic parameters as well as
their burnup are calculated and compared with each other. The computational tool is composed
from NJOY, TRANSX, KENO and TIBSO programs.
Introduction
The basic composition of any fuel from the six cores is a typical composition of an LWR spent
fuel, that is the main fissionable isotope in each reactor is the Pu239. Thus the main goals of our
investigation are:
? To know whether a reactor can be operated with such composition
? To know whether the U238 left in the fuel can breed enough fissionables to maintain the
criticality
? To know whether these systems are applicable to incineration of higher actinides.
The examined six reactors are the following:
1. Sodium cooled fast breeder with thorium blanket (FBR) ¹
2. Lead cooled fast reactor (Pb) ²
3. Large carbide sodium cooled reactor (big-na) ³
4. Large oxide sodium cooled reactor (big-ox) ³
5. Medium metal sodium cooled reactor (midmet) ³
6. Medium oxide sodium cooled reactor (mid-ox) ³

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