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Argonne updates: Fuel research and materials lab
Over the past two weeks, Argonne National Laboratory has announced numerous significant advancements being made by its staff to push forward nuclear fuels and materials research. Those announcements include the opening of the new Activated Materials Lab, the development of a new measurement technique, and the application of new artificial intelligence tools.
A. M. Perry, H. F. Bauman
Nuclear Technology | Volume 8 | Number 2 | February 1970 | Pages 208-219
Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT70-A28626
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
As presently conceived at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and described in this issue, the single-fluid Molten-Salt Breeder Reactor, operating on the 232Th-233 U fuel cycle and based on a reference design, has a breeding ratio of ∼1.06, specific fissile inventory of 1.5 kg/MW(e), a fuel doubling time of ∼20 years, and fuel cycle costs of ∼0.7 mill/kWh(e). Start-up may be accomplished with either enriched uranium or plutonium, with little effect on fuel cost; the breeding ratio, averaged over reactor life, is reduced 0.01 to 0.02 relative to the equilibrium cycle. Operated as a converter, with limited chemical processing, the reactor may have a conversion ratio in the range 0.8 to 0.9 with fuel cycle costs of 0.7 to 0.9 mill/kWh(e).