NEUTRON-PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF A VVER-1000 CORE WITH 100% FUEL LOAD CONSISTING OF A MIXTURE OF RECOVERED URANIUM AND PLUTONIUM AND ENRICHED URANIUM

摘要

The results of a calculation of the neutron-physical characteristics of different variants of the fuel load of a WER-1000 core are presented. The load completely consists of either enriched natural uranium (standard fuel) or recovered fuel, consisting of a uranium-plutonium mixture of recovered material, recovered plutonium, and highly enriched uranium. The mass fraction of plutonium isotopes in the recovered fuel ranged from 2 to 5%. All load variants examined have the same energy potential. The neutron-physical characteristics of a core with a full load of uranium are compared for a core with recovered uranium-plutonium fuel. Analysis of the neutron-physical characteristics did not show any fundamental limitations on the possibility of a WER-1000 core load consisting entirely of recovered uranium-plutonium fuel.