Feasibility Study Concerning the Conversion of the TR-2 Reactor from Using Highly Enriched Uranium to Light Enriched Uranium

摘要

A study has been made of the feasibility of converting the 5-MW TR-2 reactor at CNAEM to use fuel with uranium enrichment of <20% (LEU) instead of its current 93% enriched (HEU) fuel. The criteria applied in judging the merits of the various LEU options used were: 1) fuel cycle costs must not be substantially increased relative to those with HEU fuel; 2) flux levels, or activation rates, at irradiation positions must not be reduced by more than 20% relative to those for the HEU core; and 3) adequate safety margins must be maintained. The study concentrated on LEU fuel design using U sub 3 O sub 8 -Al fuel meat with a uranium density in the range 2.3 to 3.0 g/cm exp 3 in the fuel meat with meat thickness varying between 0.9 and 1.00 mm, the number of plates in the LEU element being reduced from 23 in the HEU element to 19 to 20 to maintain adequate cooling. Fuels within this density range are expected to be commercially available within the next two years. From the results of the study it appears to be feasible to safely operate the TR-2 reactor using LEU fuel without increased fuel cycle costs or decreased performance using U sub 2 O sub 8 fuels with densities in the 2.3 to 3.0 gU/cm exp 3 range. (Atomindex citation 14:799965)