Nuclear energy in Brazil and the R and D status on fast systems. Summary national report

The role of Nuclear Energy in Brazil is complementary to others sources of Energy. Presently two PWR NPP are in operation (ANGRA I and II) with a total of 2007 MWe installed power (3.6%) and in 2002 it contributes with 14 TWh of the total electrical energy generated in the country (345TWh), and a third unity is under construction. Even though with such relatively small nuclear park in international standards, Brazil has one of the biggest world nuclear resources (uranium and thorium), being the sixth natural uranium resource in the world (309,000 t U3O8), one of the first world thorium natural resource (estimated as 1.2 millions of ThO2), and has a fuel cycle industry capable to provide fuel elements for the National NPP, including the enrichment. This report will review the energy situation in Brazil and the role of Nuclear Power Plants. Besides Energy Generation, Brazil is conducting R and D through the Research Institutes of the Brazilian Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) and in Universities. Also a National Development Program for Nuclear Propulsion, conducted by the Brazilian Navy is underway, and Brazil is participating in the International initiatives such as Generation IV and INPRO. Although all these R and D programs had been slow down in view of budge restriction and lack of definition of a national nuclear R and D program. Recently, CNEN new administration had already started some internal discussion to define activities, projects, and programs in Nuclear Energy R and D, including innovative reactors. Related with Fast System, although in the past there was some projects, now days the activities are mainly academic, such as implementation of calculation capability, conceptual studies and trials of proposals of activities and projects, and international cooperation, not yet well succeeded. The main activities and resulted products during 2002-2003 in fast systems were: 1. Conclusion of a Ph.D thesis presented at IPEN-USP (2002): S. Anefalos, 'An alternative concept for a hybrid reactor (Sub Critical Driven by an accelerator)' 2. The activities related to the Conceptual Integral Lead Fast Reactor (A. Santos e J. Nascimento) were published in Nuclear Technology, 140, 233-254(2002) and presented at GLOBAL 2003. 3. A proposal of a program on accelerator utilization for basic and applied R and D, products and services (e.g. radio isotopes, proton therapy), and to drive a low power research reactor ADS were made together with IFUSP. This proposal includes a road map development, which had as a milestone a zero power ADS driven by small accelerators. Besides a document sent to the governmental institutions, papers were presented at the V Latin American Symposium on Nuclear Physics (2003), in the Brazilian Meeting on Nuclear Physics (2002), and a paper containing the proposal was published at the Brazilian Journal of Physics (2003) . Also, the Brazilian Status on ADS R and D were presented at ADOPT 2003 held at SCK-CEN, Belgium, and a paper to PHYSOR 2004 was accepted for publication (The utilization of a small accelerators to drive a zero power sub critical ADS ). 4. International contacts were established through a scientific visit (National Consulting) supported by an IAEA TC Project (BRA/0/018-92-03). This visit included the participation in International Workshop on P and T and ADS Development (ADOPT 2003), and meetings with CEA-France personal in Paris Headquarters and in Cadarache to discuss topics of a bi lateral agreement between CEA and CNEN, including potential cooperation in ADS. Also a visit to MAZURCA facility (MUSE Experiment) was realized. The participation in the IAEA Workshop on 'Technology and Applications of Accelerator Driven System (ADS)', held at ICTP, Trieste, Italy, October 2003, and a Technical Meeting (TM) on 'Review of Solid and Mobile Fuels for Partition and Transmutation Systems', hosted by CIEMAT, Spain, in December, 2003 were also activities performed. 5. The development of a Multi Collision Monte Carlo Code for intra nuclear cascade and evaporation-fission calculation in development by the Physics Institute of Sao Paulo University (IFUSP), had been reported in the Brazilian Meetings of Nuclear Physics (2002-2003), and results and models published at Physical Review C, 66 (2002), and in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 211(2003). Presently, they are benchmarking the code results against experimental results, mainly those of spallation physics of ADS interest. 6. Recently (2004), two new academic researches were initiated with support of a Sao Paulo Scientific Support Foundation (FAPESP). The first is a Ph.D thesis (Ms. Sara Mongelli), titled 'Development of Calculation Methodology for ADS burn up and transmutation' (FAPESP 03/13233-1), and the second a transmutation study on utilization of thorium in a double strata fuel cycle with ADS (FAPESP 03/13188-6). Also, a bi lateral cooperation in academic studies (calculation methodology) are being discussed with Argentinean colleagues from the Atomic Center of Bariloche(CNEA). As concluding remarks, we notice that although the activities in development are academics and just in the beginning, in the last years (2002-2003) there was s significant progress, by increasing the number of persons involved in the research field (Fast Systems), number of publications in international journals, participation in national and international conferences and meetings, and international contacts. The recent initiative of CNEN to open scientific forum to discuss topics of nuclear interest, including Advanced and Innovative Nuclear System, is a hope that in a near future we may have some official program. Also the participation in the IAEA CRP 'Benchmark analysis on data and calculation methods for ADS source related neutronic methodologies' would be an opportunity for information exchange and international collaborative R and D. (author)