Burn up extension with slightly enriched uranium and plutonium fuel in CANDU reactors

A study of fuel burn-up and concentrations of uranium and plutonium isotopes for the three fuel cycles of a CANDU reactor are carried out in the present work. The infinite and effective multiplication factors are calculated as a function of fuel burn up for the natural UO2 fuel, 1.2% enriched UO2 fuel and for the 0.45% PuO2–UO2 fuel. The amount of 235U and 238U consumed and 239Pu, 240Pu and 241Pu produced in the three fuel cycles are also calculated and compared.