Nuclear energy research initiative: Thorium fuel cycle projects

The United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE) is conducting four projects involving the use of the thorium fuel cycle. All four projects are based on an once-through, proliferation resistant, high burnup, long refueling cycle use of thorium in a light water reactor. Three of these projects are part of the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (NERI) program. These are: 'Advanced Proliferation Resistant, Lower cost Uranium-Thorium Dioxide Fuels for Light Water Reactor', with Idaho Nuclear Engineering and Environmental Laboratory as the lead organization; 'Fuel for a Once-Through Cycle (Th,U)O2 in a Metal Matrix', with Argonne National Laboratory as the lead; and 'A Proliferation Resistant Hexagonal Tight Lattice BWR Fuel Core Design for Increased Burnup and Reduced Fuel Storage Requirements', with Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) as the lead. The fourth project is 'The Radkowsky Thorium Fuel project', also under BNL lead. This paper describes the three NERI thorium fuel cycle projects. (author)