Improving burnup performance of fast sodium cooled reactor by utilizing thorium based fuels

To study the improvement of fuel burnup for fast reactors, thorium based fuels are investigated. In order to ensure the projected expansion of nuclear power is achieved in conjunction with reduced risk of nuclear weapons proliferation, new conventional sources of fuel will have to be made available. Thorium fuel cycles have many incentives such as the reduction of plutonium generation and consumption of LWR actinides, the provision of high performance burnup, and the conservation of 235U resources. This work examined the burnup reactivity loss and depletion analysis of thorium versus uranium based metal fuels. When compared the thorium based metallic fuel outperformed uranium based fuel with respect to higher actinide burnup and higher depletion rate of plutonium isotopes. (authors)