Showing papers by "Michael Todosow published in 2002"
TL;DR: In this article, the homogeneous ThO2-UOO2 fuel cycle option for a PWR of current technology was investigated and the fuel cycle assessment was carried out by calculating the main performance.
Abstract: The homogeneous ThO2-UO2 fuel cycle option for a pressurized water reactor (PWR) of current technology is investigated. The fuel cycle assessment was carried out by calculating the main performance...
30 citations
01 Mar 2002
TL;DR: In this article, a system study was conducted to evaluate the transmutation performance of advanced fuel cycle strategies, including dual-tier systems with plutonium separation and single-tier system without plutonium separation, with respect to several key transmutation parameters including inventory reduction, radiotoxicity, and support ratio.
Abstract: As part of the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Accelerator Applications Program, a systems study was conducted to evaluate the transmutation performance of advanced fuel cycle strategies. Three primary fuel cycle strategies were evaluated: dual-tier systems with plutonium separation, dual-tier systems without plutonium separation, and single-tier systems without plutonium separation. For each case, the system mass flow and TRU consumption were evaluated in detail. Furthermore, the loss of materials in fuel processing was tracked including the generation of new waste streams. Based on these results, the system performance was evaluated with respect to several key transmutation parameters including TRU inventory reduction, radiotoxicity, and support ratio. The importance of clean fuel processing ({approx}0.1% losses) and inclusion of a final tier fast spectrum system are demonstrated. With these two features, all scenarios capably reduce the TRU and plutonium waste content, significantly reducing the radiotoxicity; however, a significant infrastructure (at least 1/10 the total nuclear capacity) is required for the dedicated transmutation system.
28 citations