Study of an Advanced Fuel Handling System

To reduce the cost of fast breeder reactor plants, advanced subsystem concepts are studied. The material quantities of the fuel handling system constituent subsystems are estimated and those with the largest quantities are selected for improvement. The advanced subsystem concepts studied include in-vessel fuel storage while cooling, an in-vessel fuel transfer machine with variable-reach arm, and a halfswing hinged-track fuel transfer machine. A significant reduction of overall system material quantity is promised by a suitable combination of the proposed advanced concepts.