Abstract
A method for the assessment of intrinsic proliferation resistance (PR) in a variety of nuclear fuel cycle systems as a dynamic quantity is described in this paper. This method is based upon the direct coupling of a code for nuclear fuel isotopic characterization (ORIGEN-S) to a model for proliferation resistance, based upon a generalized fuel cycle model. The resulting coupled model is applied to evaluate PR as a dynamic system property as a function of three fuel cycle categories: open cycles, a "modified open cycle" (MOC) consisting of limited actinide recycle, and a fully closed cycle. Proliferation resistance is evaluated along several key operational parameters of the chosen fuel cycles, including fuel burnup and actinide separation strategies (including uranium and minor actinide co-extraction). For purposes of demonstration, a PR model developed at NC State shall be used for fuel cycle PR evaluation; the mechanics of this model will be presented in brief.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 3270-3282 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Nuclear Engineering and Design |
| Volume | 241 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 2011 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
This research was performed under appointment to the U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear Nonproliferation International Safeguards Graduate Fellowship Program sponsored by the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Nonproliferation and International Security. The authors also wish to gratefully acknowledge the Russell Family Foundation for their support of this work.