Evaluation of Discharged Fuel in Preproposed Breed-and-Burn Reactors from Proliferation, Decay Heat, and Radiotoxicity Aspects

The purpose of this technical note is to evaluate the discharged fuel of breed-and-burn (B&B) reactors. The discharged burnup in a B&B core can be high, and there is a concern that as decay heat increases, handling after a shutdown might be difficult. Because discharged fuels contain a number of plutonium nuclides, the potential for proliferation is also a concern. Moreover, radiotoxicity levels are an issue for geological disposal. As reference cores, two stationary wave reactor (SWR) cores proposed in our previous studies were used. The SWR is a special type of B&B reactor. Discharged fuels of the two SWR cores were evaluated by comparing them to a pressurized water reactor (PWR) and a fast breeder reactor. The discharged fuels of both SWR cores were not significantly worse than the reference PWR, even though the burnup was about 2.6 to 7.0 times higher.