A Uranium-Plutonium-Neptunium Fuel Cycle to Produce Isotopically Denatured Plutonium

In view of the considerable amount of ²³⁷Np produced as a by-product in nuclear power reactors, possible utilization of this nuclide in the nuclear fuel cycle has been studied. In particular, the performance of a gas-cooled fast breeder reactor as a neptunium burner was assessed. In a neptunium burner, a major fraction of the ²³⁷Np is converted to ²³⁸Pu. The ²³⁸Pu could be discharged and used to fabricate denatured plutonium fuel elements for light water reactors (LWRs), which are considered to be more proliferation-resistant than ordinary plutonium fuel elements. A strategy was developed and mass flows were computed for a denatured plutonium LWR strategy using uranium, plutonium, and neptunium recycling.