Preliminary evaluation of a bwr with cermet fuel core loading

摘要

Although there are no boiling water reactors (BWRs) in France, evaluation studies of this type of reactor are underway at the CEA in the framework of the Innovation Programme. These studies, whose purpose is to better define the safety, operational behaviour and fuel cycle capacity of the system, and to generally improve understanding of its physics, inevitably entailed adapting the CEA's calculation tools, qualified for PWRs, to BWRs. With respect to the cycle aspect, studies have been initiated to evaluate the capability of this system to use MOX fuel. A very preliminary outline of the study extended to composite fuels is presented here.