Research reactors have a variety of designs and most are sodium-cooled and use low-enriched fuel which generates less decay heat and contains less enriched radionuclides than power reactors. Many advanced reactor designs require higher enriched fuels between 5-20% U-235 which would allow them to be smaller and more powerful but currently there is no assured domestic fuel source. Existing reactors can use downblended or recycled fuel in the short term but a long-term strategy is needed to develop new fuels and commercialize advanced reactors for carbon-free energy.
Transatomic Power (TAP) is developing an advanced molten salt reactor that generates clean, passively safe, proliferation-resistant, and low-cost nuclear power. This reactor can consume the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) generated by commercial light water reactors or use freshly mined uranium at enrichment levels as low as 1.8% U-235. It achieves actinide burnups as high as 96%, and can generate up to 75 times more electricity per ton of mined uranium than a light-water reactor.
Source: http://transatomicpower.com/white_papers/TAP_White_Paper.pdf
Discuss the concept of breeder reactors. How do they breed fuel What.pdfsuresh640714
Discuss the concept of breeder reactors. How do they breed fuel? What type reactors can be
used as breeders? What are some problems/benefits of breeders?
Solution
(1) Conceptof breeder reactors :
A breeder reactor is a nuclear reactor that generates more fissile material than it consumes. These
devices achieve this because their neutron economy is high enough to breed more fissile fuel
than they use from fertile material, such as uranium-238 or thorium-232.Breeder reactors could,
in principle, extract almost all of the energy contained in uranium or thorium, decreasing fuel
requirements by a factor of 100 compared to widely used once-through light water reactors,
which extract less than 1% of the energy in the uranium mined from the earth.The high fuel
efficiency of breeder reactors could greatly reduce concerns about fuel supply or energy used in
mining. A \'breeder\' is simply a reactor designed for very high neutron economy with an
associated conversion rate higher than 1.0. In principle, almost any reactor design could possibly
be tweaked to become a breeder. An example of this process is the evolution of the Light Water
Reactor, a very heavily moderated thermal design, into the Super Fast Reactor concept, using
light water in an extremely low-density supercritical form to increase the neutron economy high
enough to allow breeding.
(2) breeder reactors breed fuel by-
A fast-breeder nuclear reactor produces more fuel than it consumes, while generating energy.
Conventional reactors use uranium as fuel and produce some plutonium. Breeders produce much
more plutonium, which can be separated and reused as fuel.
(3) reactors that can be used as breeders-
Aside from water cooled, there are many other types of breeder reactor currently envisioned as
possible. These include molten-salt cooled, gas cooled, and liquid metal cooled designs in many
variations. Almost any of these basic design types may be fueled by uranium, plutonium, many
minor actinides, or thorium, and they may be designed for many different goals, such as creating
more fissile fuel, long-term steady-state operation, or active burning of nuclear wastes.
For convenience, it is perhaps simplest to divide the extant reactor designs into two broad
categories based upon their neutron spectrum, which has the natural effect of dividing the reactor
designs into those designed to use primarily uranium and transuranics, and those designed to use
thorium and avoid transuranics.
(4) benifits/problems of breeders-
benifits:
Breeder reactors use highly enriched fuels, which pose the danger of critical accidents. They also
work at a very high temperature and a fast pace.
Plutonium persists for a long time in the environment, with a half-life of 24,000 years, and is
highly toxic, causing lung cancer even if a small amount is inhaled.
The construction and operation is very costly. Between $4 to $8 billion is required in the
construction alone.
The byproducts formed during the fission of plutonium h.
Transatomic Power (TAP) is developing an advanced molten salt reactor that generates clean, passively safe, proliferation-resistant, and low-cost nuclear power. This reactor can consume the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) generated by commercial light water reactors or use freshly mined uranium at enrichment levels as low as 1.8% U-235. It achieves actinide burnups as high as 96%, and can generate up to 75 times more electricity per ton of mined uranium than a light-water reactor.
Source: http://transatomicpower.com/white_papers/TAP_White_Paper.pdf
Discuss the concept of breeder reactors. How do they breed fuel What.pdfsuresh640714
Discuss the concept of breeder reactors. How do they breed fuel? What type reactors can be
used as breeders? What are some problems/benefits of breeders?
Solution
(1) Conceptof breeder reactors :
A breeder reactor is a nuclear reactor that generates more fissile material than it consumes. These
devices achieve this because their neutron economy is high enough to breed more fissile fuel
than they use from fertile material, such as uranium-238 or thorium-232.Breeder reactors could,
in principle, extract almost all of the energy contained in uranium or thorium, decreasing fuel
requirements by a factor of 100 compared to widely used once-through light water reactors,
which extract less than 1% of the energy in the uranium mined from the earth.The high fuel
efficiency of breeder reactors could greatly reduce concerns about fuel supply or energy used in
mining. A \'breeder\' is simply a reactor designed for very high neutron economy with an
associated conversion rate higher than 1.0. In principle, almost any reactor design could possibly
be tweaked to become a breeder. An example of this process is the evolution of the Light Water
Reactor, a very heavily moderated thermal design, into the Super Fast Reactor concept, using
light water in an extremely low-density supercritical form to increase the neutron economy high
enough to allow breeding.
(2) breeder reactors breed fuel by-
A fast-breeder nuclear reactor produces more fuel than it consumes, while generating energy.
Conventional reactors use uranium as fuel and produce some plutonium. Breeders produce much
more plutonium, which can be separated and reused as fuel.
(3) reactors that can be used as breeders-
Aside from water cooled, there are many other types of breeder reactor currently envisioned as
possible. These include molten-salt cooled, gas cooled, and liquid metal cooled designs in many
variations. Almost any of these basic design types may be fueled by uranium, plutonium, many
minor actinides, or thorium, and they may be designed for many different goals, such as creating
more fissile fuel, long-term steady-state operation, or active burning of nuclear wastes.
For convenience, it is perhaps simplest to divide the extant reactor designs into two broad
categories based upon their neutron spectrum, which has the natural effect of dividing the reactor
designs into those designed to use primarily uranium and transuranics, and those designed to use
thorium and avoid transuranics.
(4) benifits/problems of breeders-
benifits:
Breeder reactors use highly enriched fuels, which pose the danger of critical accidents. They also
work at a very high temperature and a fast pace.
Plutonium persists for a long time in the environment, with a half-life of 24,000 years, and is
highly toxic, causing lung cancer even if a small amount is inhaled.
The construction and operation is very costly. Between $4 to $8 billion is required in the
construction alone.
The byproducts formed during the fission of plutonium h.
Nuclear power is the fifth-largest source of electricity in India after coal, gas, hydroelectricity and wind power. As of March 2018, India has 22 nuclear reactors in operation in 7 nuclear power plants,
A tutorial history of the development of liquid fuel nuclear reactors -- aqueous, metal, and molten salt, which has the potential to provide safe, carbon free, affordable energy that can address global warming and foster prosperous lifestyles in the developing nations that include population stabilizqtion.
Advanced nuclear reactor in nuclear power stationUday Wankar
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in propulsion of ships. Heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid (water or gas), which runs through turbines. These either drive a ship's propellers or turn electrical generators. Nuclear generated steam in principle can be used for industrial process heat or for district heating. Some reactors are used to produce isotopes for medical and industrial use, or for production of plutonium for weapons. Some are run only for research. Today there are about 450 nuclear power reactors that are used to generate electricity in about 30 countries around the world.
Nuclear power is the fifth-largest source of electricity in India after coal, gas, hydroelectricity and wind power. As of March 2018, India has 22 nuclear reactors in operation in 7 nuclear power plants,
A tutorial history of the development of liquid fuel nuclear reactors -- aqueous, metal, and molten salt, which has the potential to provide safe, carbon free, affordable energy that can address global warming and foster prosperous lifestyles in the developing nations that include population stabilizqtion.
Advanced nuclear reactor in nuclear power stationUday Wankar
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in propulsion of ships. Heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid (water or gas), which runs through turbines. These either drive a ship's propellers or turn electrical generators. Nuclear generated steam in principle can be used for industrial process heat or for district heating. Some reactors are used to produce isotopes for medical and industrial use, or for production of plutonium for weapons. Some are run only for research. Today there are about 450 nuclear power reactors that are used to generate electricity in about 30 countries around the world.
1. Increased Source Information of Used
Reactors
Research reactors have a wider array of designs than power reactors. Most are sodium-cooled
and use fuel.Their used fuel generates less decay heat and their radionuclides are less
enriched than that of power reactors. NRC staff has established a safety framework for new
reactor design applications using mechanistic models to evaluate source terms.
Many advanced reactor designs need fuel, which is enriched from 5% to 20% U-235. It
allows them to be smaller and produce more power for a given volume of fuel.But the
currently has no assured source. As a result, it could take a long time to develop these new
fuels and to commercialize them for carbon-free energy.Until then, existing nuclear power
plants can use by downblending it or recycling it from other used fuel. But that is not a viable
long-term strategy. Relying on another country's would not revitalize nuclear manufacturing
capabilities, and shipping it from abroad creates security, logistical and licensing issues that
are unique.
Uranium isotope that can sustain a chain reaction under reactor conditions, liberating energy
by splitting into two smaller nuclei and releasing neutrons. The reactions are controlled and
efficient for power production, but they require the right conditions to be sustained.Each
atom of uranium-235 contains 92 protons and 143 neutrons, for a total atomic mass of 235
units. This makes it heavier than the chemically identical U-238, whose nuclei have a mass of
238 units. This difference in mass can be exploited by different enrichment processes.One
process forces uranium hexafluoride gas under pressure through a series of fast spinning
cylinders -- centrifuges. The centrifuges separate out the hexafluoride molecules that have
more U-235 and leave a less enriched product behind. The process can be repeated several
times, increasing the proportion of U-235.
National labs have restarted production of rare actinide isotopes to meet a growing demand
from chemists. Those isotopes are used in research to create new nuclear drugs to treat cancer
and other diseases.Following the lanthanide elements, the actinide element series extends to
lawrencium (atomic number 103). They are not found naturally and must be produced
synthetically in particle accelerators or neutron bombardment reactors.Uranium and
plutonium are used in nuclear weapons and power plants, while thorium is employed in gas
mantles for nuclear reactors and americium is utilized in smoke detectors. A better
understanding of the behavior and properties of these materials is essential to their safer use.
Stay in the loop about used reactors for sale specials – click here or visit our official portal.
A typical element has several different isotopes, each with its own unique signature. The
isotope of carbon known as carbon-14, for instance, is used to determine the age of artifacts
and other organic materials. Its isotopic fingerprint also helps us understand our atmosphere
and make better use of water resources.All elements have stable isotopes, but some naturally
occurring nuclides are unstable and radioactive. When this happens, the neutrons that
comprise their nuclei lose energy and emit radiation as alpha, beta and gamma particles. The
energy from these particles can be captured and transformed into electricity by nuclear
reactors or particle accelerators (linear accelerators, cyclotrons). The Isotope Program
provides the priority isotopes needed for basic research, commerce, medical diagnostics and
treatment, oil and gas exploration, and national security.