Design of Small-size Ultra-long Cycle Fast Reactor with PWR Spent Fuel

Abstract

A new design of small-size (100 MWe) Ultra-long Cycle Fast Reactor (UCFR-100) has been developed with the light water reactor (LWR) spent fuel loaded in the upper region of the core as a blanket material for breeding. The low enriched uranium (LEU) in the bottom region plays a role of igniter of the core burning and the active burning region of the core moves upward at a speed of 1 cm/year. It has been confirmed that the full power operation for 60 years without refueling is feasible in the aspect of neutronics by the core depletion analysis using McCARD Monte Carlo depletion code. The core performance characteristics of UCFR-100 have been evaluated in terms of axial/radial power distribution, reactivity feedback coefficients, and the average discharge burnup.