Conversion study from oxide to silicide fuel for the Indonesian 30 MW Multipurpose Reactor G.A. Siwabessy

Studies have been undertaken to provide the key parameters and the safety behaviour associated with the conversion of the Indonesian 30 MW multipurpose reactor from the original design using U3O8Al fuel to using the proposedU3Si2Al fuel. Both LEU fuel element designs contain 21 plates with 0.54 mm tick fuel meat. The only difference is that the oxide has a uranium density of 2.96 g/cm3 and 250 g U-235 loading while the proposed silicide fuel has a uranium density of 3.55 g/cm and 300 g U-235 loading. The neutronic and thermalhydraulic performance of the equilibrium cores are studied first, followed by the detailed results for each burn-up step of a gradual transition from the oxide to the silicide fuel core configuration. (author)