Potential Plutonium Utilisation in UK PWRs Using MOX and IMF: AP1000

摘要

In April 2005, the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) took ownership of most of the civil nuclear liabilities and assets in the UK. These include the separated civil plutonium stocks, which are expected to rise to over 100 tonnes by the end of reprocessing in the UK. Nexia Solutions has a contract with the NDA to develop and carry out a research project which will result in a recommendation on the technical feasibility of a number of disposition options, focusing on reactor re-use and immobilization of plutonium as a waste for disposal1. In the case of the re-use options and following a preliminary down selection process, two different reactor types are initially being considered; Sizewell 'B', a Westinghouse four loop design and the only existing Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) in the UK and the Westinghouse "Generation III+" AP1000 PWR, one of the reactor systems to be potentially considered for new nuclear build in the UK2. This paper describes the analyses of AP1000 and represents one half of the reactor re-use work completed to date on the steady state core design, safety analysis and fuel performance assessments for UK PWRs. This is the first time that studies on a 100% Mixed Oxide (MOX) or Inert Matrix Fuel (IMF) fuelled AP1000 have been published. A second paper on the analyses completed on Sizewell 'B' has also been submitted to this conference. The two papers complement each other and provide a detailed insight into the reactor re-use project and the recommendations for the management of UK separated Pu in the future if a reactor option was chosen.