FUEL CYCLE ANALYSIS OF THE SABR SUBCRITICAL TRANSMUTATION REACTOR CONCEPT

A fuel cycle analysis was performed for the SABR transmutation reactor concept, using the ERANOS fast reactor physics code. SABR is a sodium-cooled, transuranic (TRU)-Zr-fueled, subcritical fast reactor driven by a tokamak fusion neutron source. Three different four-batch reprocessing fuel cycles, in which all the TRUs from spent nuclear fuel discharged from light water actors are fissioned to >90% (by recycling four times), was examined. The total fuel residence time in the reactor was limited in these three cycles by a radiation damage limit (100, 200, or 300 displacements per atom) to the cladding material. In the fourth cycle the fuel residence time was determined by trying to achieve 90% burnup in a once-through cycle without reprocessing.