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UIUC submits MMR construction permit application
The University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign, in partnership with Nano Nuclear Energy, has submitted a construction permit application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for construction of a Kronos micro modular reactor (MMR). This is the first major step in the two-part 10 CFR Part 50 licensing process for the research and test reactor and is the culmination of years of technical refinement and regulatory alignment.
The team chose to engage with the NRC in a preapplication readiness assessment, providing the agency with draft versions of the majority of the CPA’s technical content for feedback, which is expected to ensure a high-quality application.
Alberto D. Mendoza España, Daniel Wojtaszek, Ashlea V. Colton, Blair P. Bromley
Nuclear Technology | Volume 203 | Number 3 | September 2018 | Pages 232-243
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2018.1447209
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This study assesses the resource throughput and utilization of various thorium-based fuel concepts for near-term deployment in a pressure-tube heavy water reactor (PT-HWR). Such fuel concepts may be of interest to nations with thorium reserves that are interested in exploiting PT-HWRs. Given that nations with abundant thorium reserves and relatively small uranium reserves have an interest in reducing their dependence on natural uranium (NU) imports, the thorium-based fuel concepts are assessed in terms of their ability to conserve uranium resources and their impact on national income using an economic multiplier analysis. It is found that there are some thorium-augmented and thorium-based fuel concepts that are capable of both conserving resources and reducing reliance on importing NU, which would reduce the negative impact on national income from importing NU. A PT-HWR fuel bundle concept of 1.2 wt% 235U/U + Th (in a central fuel element and small amounts mixed into the outer 36 fuel elements) was found to be the most advantageous and attractive for implementation to improve nuclear fuel resource utilization.
