Status of the Munich compact core reactor project

A new national, high performance research reactor is being planned in Munich which shall provide an unperturbed thermal neutron flux of about 8.1014 cm-2 s-1 at only 20 MW power. This object can be achieved with the concept of a small, light water cooled 'compact core' situated in the center of a large heavy water moderator tank. In the first part of this paper an overview is given on the status of the necessary fuel enrichment is discussed. In becomes clear that the potential of the compact core concept can only be developed without compromises when using highly enriched uranium in combination with the new high density fuel. (orig.)