Two Methods for Converting a Heavy-Water Research Reactor to Use Low-Enriched-Uranium Fuel to Improve Proliferation Resistance After Startup
Name
kemp oa article.pdf
Size
310.74 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
33bf22bd446877fdba9d211a62a38e06
Author(s)
Kemp, Ronald S.
Date Issued
April 2015
Journal
Energy Technology & Policy
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Citation
Kemp, R. S. “Two Methods for Converting a Heavy-Water Research Reactor to Use Low-Enriched-Uranium Fuel to Improve Proliferation Resistance After Startup.” Energy Technology & Policy 2, no. 1 (January 2015): 39–46.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
This article demonstrates the feasibility of converting a heavy-water research reactor from natural to low-enriched uranium in order to slow the production of weapon-usable plutonium, even if the core cannot be physically reconfigured. The analysis was performed for Iran’s IR-40 reactor at Arak in support of negotiations with Iran, but the methods have application to future reactors that present similar nonproliferation challenges. Two methods are considered, and both retain identical power, thermal-hydraulic, and safety profiles as the original reactor design. The conversion options can be implemented at any time during the reactor’s life. The two methods have competing effects on achievable burnup, and they can be combined to produce an optimized core that matches both the fresh-core reactivity and maximum burnup of the original reactor. For the IR-40 example, the optimized design produces weapon-grade plutonium at only about 19% of the rate of the unmodified reactor for the same power level. Additionally, a reactor so converted could not be readily converted back to natural-uranium fuel without replacement heavy water, and it would retain the ability to produce medical isotopes at rates that exceed the original design through the use of LEU targets.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1080/23317000.2015.1012687
