A Study of Radiotoxicity Reduction Through Plutonium and Minor Actinide Recycling in Hypothetical Fuel Cycles using the Gas Cooled Fast Reactor

摘要

The Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor has been implemented in fuel cycles alongside PWR systems in hypothetical fuel cycle scenarios. These scenarios have been designed to study the capabilities of the NNC GCPU01 core when used for plutonium and minor actinide consumption. The outcomes of these scenarios have been compared to that from a reference scenario using only PWR systems in terms of materials inventory and long-term radiotoxicity. A number of recycling strategies have been implemented using homogeneous recycling of neptunium isotopes and both once through and multi-recycling of americium and curium isotopes in target regions. The scenarios are based on a period of 160 years of nuclear power generation with all nuclear capacity being phased out after this period. GCPU01 reactors are introduced up to a level that stabilises plutonium stocks. The results of this investigation show that a significant reduction in end of scenario radiotoxicity can be achieved in scenarios of this kind. The fuel cycle scenario code OSIRIS has been used to carry out these studies.