Rosatom has successfully progressed in manufacture of recycled fuel for fast neutron reactors

By The Inspirer.

Rosatom achieved the first key milestone in the development of the Generation IV nuclear power system. The breakthrough fabrication/refabrication unit will allow to efficiently utilise secondary products of the fuel cycle for power generation.

Rosatom starts pilot operation of a fuel fabrication facility for the BREST-OD-300 fast reactor. It is the first of the three facilities of the unique Generation IV Pilot Demonstration Energy Complex (PDEC), which is under construction as a part of the “Proryv” (“Breakthrough”) strategic project on the site of Rosatom’s Fuel Division enterprise.

The cutting-edge fully automated facility has already successfully manufactured the first mockup fuel bundles of the BREST-OD-300 core design with depleted uranium nitride fuel pellets. All production sites of the new facility have undergone comprehensive testing.

“For this moment, Rosatom has the world’s furthest advancement in the development of Generation IV nuclear technologies. According to the IAEA classification, this implies higher efficiency in the use of fuel raw materials, increased safety standards for the operation of nuclear plants, as well as a significant reduction in the amount of nuclear waste generation. All these principles are fully consistent with the technological solutions adopted at the Pilot Demonstration Energy Complex, such as the fuel made of depleted uranium and plutonium, the BREST reactor facility based on the principles of natural safety, and the latest more efficient radiochemical technologies for irradiated fuel reprocessing,” commented Director General Rosatom Alexey Likhachev.

Currently, the facility operators are mastering the technology and gaining experience in fabrication of BREST-OD-300 bundles with depleted uranium fuel matrix. After the regulator approves handling of plutonium, Russian engineers will be able to start production of the target product — mixed dense nitride uranium-plutonium fuel (or the MNUP fuel), which would enable to fully implement all the advantages of Russian IV generation fuel, reactor, and radiochemical technologies. Prior to the initial core loading of the BREST-OD-300, more than 200 of MNUP fuel bundles are scheduled for fabrication.

A unique technology for fabrication uranium-plutonium nitride fuel was developed by Rosatom scientists. The trial assemblies with experimental MNUP fuel elements were successfully tested in the BOR-60 fast research reactor, as well as in the commercial BN-600 fast reactor at the Beloyarsk NPP (Russia). The results of this irradiation and operation enabled to obtain data required for validation of the initial core loading of the BREST-OD-300, including the level of nuclear fuel burnup sufficient at this stage.

In total, the Pilot Demonstration Energy Complex will include three unique interconnected facilities: a unit for the manufacturing (fabrication/refabrication) of dense nitride uranium-plutonium nuclear fuel, a nuclear power plant with an innovative fast neutron lead-cooled reactor BREST-OD-300, and a unit for reprocessing of irradiated fuel. Thus, for the first time in the global practice, a NPP with a fast reactor and a stationary closed nuclear fuel cycle will be built on one site. After reprocessing, irradiated fuel will be sent for refabrication (i.e., re-manufacturing of fresh fuel). Thus, this system will become practically autonomous and independent of external supplies of energy resources.

For reference

BREST-OD-300 will be the world’s first lead-cooled fast reactor; its architecture is based on the principles of so-called natural safety. The reactor’s efficiency will also be ensured through the use of innovative MNUP fuel. It consists entirely of secondary products of the nuclear fuel cycle — depleted uranium and plutonium. Thus, its production and operation will enable to expand the resource base of the nuclear power industry many times over, to reprocess irradiated fuel assemblies in order to produce fresh fuel instead of storing them, and to radically reduce the generation volume of nuclear waste and its activity level.

Fast neutron reactors

Thermal neutron reactors, which form the basis of modern nuclear power industry, use about 1% of natural uranium, while the remaining 99% is sent for temporary storage or disposed of as radioactive waste. The advantage of fast neutron reactors is their ability to efficiently utilise secondary products of the fuel cycle (in particular, plutonium) for power generation. At the same time, having a high reproduction rate, fast reactors can produce more potential fuel than they consume, as well as “after-burn” (i.e., utilise with energy production) highly active transuranic elements (minor actinides).

Generation IV power systems

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Generation IV nuclear power systems utilize advanced technologies aimed at higher fuel utilization efficiency, improved safety, better energy efficiency, and reduced nuclear waste. These systems are transformative for the nuclear industry, offering new levels of safety and a broader range of fuel types while significantly reducing radioactive waste.

Russia is leading in developing Generation IV technologies. For example, the Beloyarsk NPP initiated work on the BN-1200M power unit. In Tomsk, the BREST-OD-300 lead-cooled reactor and a closed fuel cycle facility are being built together for the first time globally.

theinspirerpublications@gmail.com