Study on Pu burner High Temperature Gas cooled Reactor in Japan (1) Concept

After Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accidents, super safe nuclear system had been focused. HTGR is the one of the candidates to supply energy under inherent safety system. The advantage of HTGR fuel is the safety on Spent Fuel for longer storage, upto 1M years. In Japan, Pu storage amount may be increasing. Unfortunately, the Fast Breeder Reactor development has been postponed. So, the Pu fuel will be burned with high burnup will be useful not only Pu security but also energy resources. In this project, 3S TRISO fuel has been proposed. Kernel is made by Pu and YSZ to protect the reuse for nuclear bomb. The kernel has been covered by ZrC layer to consume the Oxygen under high burnup conditions. To reduce the pressure increase by Oxygen, under very high burnup, ZrC will capture Oxygen. Then, the normal graphite and SiC layer covers the kernel and ZrC, resulting in 3S TRISO. The '3S' means Safety, Security and Safeguards. Because of Pu fuel, Security and Safegard issue is important. Our goal of this conceptual study is to prove the safety and security for high burnup Pu fuel. (author)