S. A. Subbotin

MARS Low-Power Liquid-Salt Micropellet-Fuel Reactor

The basic technical characteristics of a conceptual design of micropellet fuel autonomous liquid-salt reactor MARS for low power levels are presented. Two variants with core service lives 15 and 60 yr are presented. It is shown that this concept satisfies the requirements which autonomous low-power nuclear power systems must meet.

Materials Balance Comparison of Growth Paths for Nuclear Power in the Twenty-First Century

The results of comparative calculations of material balances are presented for two concepts for the growth of nuclear power in the 21st century. The concepts of growth on the basis of fast reactors without expanded breeding of fuel and the conventional concept with a two-component structure of nuclear power growth are examined. The advantages of the conventional concept, capable of producing substantial savings of natural uranium and/or making it possible to increase substantially the installed capacities of nuclear power plants, are demonstrated.

Hybrid fusion reactor for production of nuclear fuel with minimum radioactive contamination of the fuel cycle

The paper presents the results of the system research on the coordinated development of nuclear and fusion power engineering in the current century. Considering the increasing problems of resource procurement, including limited natural uranium resources, it seems reasonable to use fusion reactors as high-power neutron sources for production of nuclear fuel in a blanket. It is shown that the share of fusion sources in this structural configuration of the energy system can be relatively small. A fundamentally important aspect of this solution to the problem of closure of the fuel cycle is that recycling of highly active spent fuel can be abandoned. Radioactivity released during the recycling of the spent fuel from the hybrid reactor blanket is at least two orders of magnitude lower than during the production of the same number of fissile isotopes after the recycling of the spent fuel from a fast reactor.

Prospects for and problems of using light-water supercritical-pressure coolant in nuclear reactors in order to increase the efficiency of the nuclear fuel cycle

Trends in the development of the power sector of the Russian and world power industries both at present time and in the near future are analyzed. Trends in the rise of prices for reserves of fossil and nuclear fuels used for electricity production are compared. An analysis of the competitiveness of electricity production at nuclear power plants as compared to the competitiveness of electricity produced at coal-fired and natural-gas-fired thermal power plants is performed. The efficiency of the open nuclear fuel cycle and various versions of the closed nuclear fuel cycle is discussed. The requirements on light-water reactors under the scenario of dynamic development of the nuclear power industry in Russia are determined. Results of analyzing the efficiency of fuel utilization for various versions of vessel-type light-water reactors with supercritical coolant are given. Advantages and problems of reactors with supercritical-pressure water are listed.

RBEC-M Lead-Bismuth Cooled Fast Reactor: Optimization of Conceptual Decisions

A concept of the RBEC lead-bismuth fast reactor is a synthesis, on one hand, experience in development and operation of fast sodium power reactors and reactors with Pb-Bi coolant, and, on the other hand, of large R and D activities on development of the core concept for modified fast sodium reactor. The paper presents improved project RBEC-M, characterized by a number of innovative decisions, which allow to improve safety and cost parameters compared to the basic RBEC project. These innovative decisions include application of nitride fuel based on {sup 15}N, two-circuit scheme without main reactor pumps, gas lift system in the primary circuit, passive reactor auxiliary cooling system, etc. (authors)

Utilization Of Excess Pu In Molten Salt Reactors

For the large scale and long range implementation of nuclear power (NP) it should meet the following requirements; cost effectiveness, sufficiency of resources; safety; acceptable environmental impact and nonproliferation.