The concept and neutronic characteristics of a multipurpose fast reactor (MPFR)

The paper describes a concept and its neutronic characteristics of a long-life multipurpose nuclear reactor with self-sustained liquid metallic fuel, which is proposed to meet the requirements for the energy production in the future. The application of the liquid plutonium–uranium metallic alloys as a nuclear fuel demonstrates high potential to reach excellent conversion characteristics and high burn-up values with relatively small reactivity swings. Considerations about the capability of in-vessel separation of the main fission products to prolong the core lifetime without fuel reloading or shuffling are also discussed from the viewpoint of the influence on core burn-up characteristics.