A liquid-metal reactor for burning minor actinides of spent light water reactor fuel - I: Neutronics design study

A liquid-metal reactor was designed for the primary purpose of burning the minor actinide waste from commercial light water reactors (LWRs). The desig n was constrained to maintain acceptable safety performance as measured by the burnup reactivity swing, the Doppler constant, and the sodium void wort h. Sensitivity studies were performed for homogeneous and decoupled core de signs, and a minor actinide burner design was determined to maximize actini de consumption and satisfy safety constraints. One of the principal innovat ions was the Else of two core regions, with a fissile plutonium outer core and an inner core consisting only of minor actinides. The physics studies p erformed here indicate that a 1200-MW (thermal) core is able To consume the annual minor actinide inventory of about 16 LWRs and still exhibit reasona ble safety characteristics.