High enriched lead-206 for small nuclear power plants

In modern projects of perspective NPP the preference is returned to fast reactors (FR) with heavy liquid metal coolants. Internal self-hardening, absence of poisoning effects, compensation of uranium fuel burn-out by produced plutonium fuel and other positive features of FR will allow in the long term to lengthen operating campaign of the reactor till 10-12 of years, and service life of FR - till 30-60 of years. As is known, the coolant, circulating through the core of FR, is activated and accumulates long-lived radionuclides. Taking in account the masses of coolant materials in considered FR (20-200 tons) and the scales of an introduction of small NPP in the future, it can be problems with handling a completed coolant after FR removal from exploitation and at realization of repair and emergency activities. There, it is desirable to have a low-activation coolant with low contents of long-lived radionuclides - products of nuclear reactions. In paper, presented at the ICONE-8 conference, it is offered to use lead enriched with isotope Pb-206 as a low-activation coolant for FR. Its contents in a natural mix of lead isotopes make 24 %, and the demanded enrichment of isotope does not exceed 95-98 %. However, usage of a coolant from enriched lead can result in advancing the price of power, owing to what NPP can become noncompetitive in relation to other power sources. The purpose of the present paper - to point that interval of the prices of the product lead-206, at which one it can be demanded for nuclear engineering in large quantities. In the paper possible ways to ease the costs of obtaining the product lead-206 for the need of small nuclear engineering are also considered. (author)