CAPRA oxide core updating of the feasibility assessment

The present paper completes the feasibility assessment of the CAPRA 4/94 core presented one year ago. It deals with a safety concern previously seen as a weak point for the feasibility : consequences of a fuel S/A meltdown. Investigations are performed on the accident detection, on the reactivity balance after a possible propagation to the 6 adjacent S/As. The late configuration is after reactor scram, sub-critical so that this item has no longer to be seen as a feasibility issue. The second part of the paper deals with minor actinides transmutation. The CAPRA design (i.e. the heterogeneous fuel S/A with one third of fuel-free pins) is found flexible enough; the well-known impact of M.A. on Doppler and sodium void reactivity can be counterbalanced by the introduction of a moderator (in replacement of spinel), so that the two functions of Pu and M.A. burning are found compatible. (author)