Technical feasibility of using RU-43 fuel in the CANDU-6 reactors of the Cernavoda NPP

Abstract

Abstract Recovered uranium (RU) is a by-product of many light-water reactor (LWR) fuel recycling programs. A fissile content in the RU of 0.9 to 1.0 % makes it impossible for reuse in an LWR without re-enrichment, but CANDU reactors have a sufficiently high neutron economy to use RU as fuel. The Institute for Nuclear Research (INR) Pitesti has analyzed the feasibility of using RU fuel with 0.9 – 1.1 w% 235U in the CANDU-6 reactors of the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant (Cernavoda NPP). Using RU fuel would produce a significant increase in the fuel discharge burnup, from 170 MWh/kgU currently achieves with natural-uranium (NU) fuel to about 355 MWh/kgU. This would lead to reduced fuel-cycle cost and a large reduction in spent-fuel volume per full-power-year of operation. The RU fuel bundle design with recovered uranium fuel, known as RU-43, is being developed by the INR Pitesti and is now at the stage of final design verification. Early work has been concentrated on RU-43 fuel bundle design optimization, safety and reactor physics assessment. The changes in fuel element and fuel bundle design contribute to the many advantages offered by the RU-43 bundle. Verification of the design of the RU-43 fuel bundle is performed in a way that shows that design criteria are met, and is mostly covered by proof tests such as flow and irradiation tests. The most relevant calculations performed on this fuel bundle design version are presented. Also, the stages of an experimental program aiming to verify the operating performance are briefly described in this paper.