Fuel cycle studies on the uranium utilization efficiency and minor actinide burning in gas cooled fast reactors

The gas cooled fast reactor (GFR) is a Generation IV reactor type considered as an alternative fast neutron reactor design aimed to improve the sustainability of nuclear energy by improved uranium utilization efficiency and opportunities for minor actinide burning.The following paper presents fuel cycle studies performed at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics for the assessment of the transmutational capabilities of the 2400 MWth GFR design in the framework of the GoFastR project. Based on the results of numerous (few thousand) core calculations, multidimensional regression method was used to develop a fast and flexible burnup calculation scheme which can be easily integrated into fuel cycle simulations. The burnup model was applied for the analysis of fuel cycle scenarios including a mixed fleet of GFRs and conventional LWRs. The equilibrium and transitional state properties of different recycling options were investigated in order to examine fuel utilization and trasmutational capabilites.