Masters Theses

Abstract

"The study was focused on the analysis of light water Small Modular Reactor (SMR) with flexible fuel configurations. The core design, based on the Westinghouse UO2 SMR with less than 5% enrichment was developed using the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) code. Neutronics analyses of a reference core with UO2 fuel was performed to characterize parameters such as the radial neutron flux profile, the maximum to average flux ratio, the reactivity coefficient and critical boron concentration at beginning of life; which confirmed good performance in comparison to a standard UO2 based pressurized water reactor.

Using this uranium oxide (UOX) core as a reference, the SMR was then investigated with mixed oxide (MOX) and transuranic (TRU) fuels. The TRU fuel used was an inert matrix fuel with 8% UO2 spent fuel as the fissile material and 92% Yttrium Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) as the fertile inert matrix. The use of inert matrix enhanced the ability of the fuel to achieve better depletion. The results obtained for MOX and TRU fuels were also found to be within the requirements.

The burnup analysis for the actinides and the fission products for each of the oxide fueled cores was also determined which is necessary for the reactor criticality-safety design studies. The depletion analysis for MOX and TRU fuels indicated a higher fuel burn-up with an overall Pu239 consumption of 54% for reactor grade MOX core, 74% for weapon grade MOX core and 94% for TRU core respectively. In conclusion, the results indicated a satisfactory behavior of SMR core with UOX, MOX and TRU fuels. To confirm the viability of this flexible fuel option, it is necessary to further validate this results and also analyze the core for its thermal-hydraulics behavior."--Abstract, page iii.

Advisor(s)

Alajo, Ayodeji Babatunde

Committee Member(s)

Usman, Shoaib
Liu, Xin

Department(s)

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science

Degree Name

M.S. in Nuclear Engineering

Publisher

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Publication Date

Spring 2015

Pagination

xi, 78 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 76-77).

Rights

© 2015 Brendan Dsouza, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Subject Headings

Light water reactors -- AnalysisNuclear fuelsUranium as fuel

Thesis Number

T 10671

Electronic OCLC #

913485012

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