Design of a mixed-oxide fuel assembly to be assessed as a lead test assembly in a BWR reactor

The open and the close cycle are the two alternatives to pursue during power generation. The reprocessing is a mature process that now shows a more competitive economic aspect, making it more attractive than ever. Mexico has not decided what to do with the existing and future depleted fuel assemblies that will be generated from the power operation, thus the direct disposal and the reprocessing are still being considered. To have enough arguments in one or the other alternatives it is necessary to make an assessment of both. This investigation focus in the MOX fuel design assuming that the reprocessing is the option to follow and looking for the lowest impact in power generation. The first step in a reprocessing program is to analyze the performance of four lead test assemblies (LTA's), thus in this investigation we design the corresponding MOX to be used as LTA's and assess their performance through one operational cycle. (author)