[1C13-17] Next Generation Reactor Safety

[1C13] Possibility of thorium utilization by molten salt fast reactor having characteristics of fuel self-sufficiency

*Koshi Mitachi¹ (1. Beyond Energy Research & Development Association)

Keywords:Molten Salt Reactor, Fast Reactor, Chloride Salt, Trans Uranium Elements, Numerical Analysis

This study examines the possibility of thorium (Th) utilization in a chloride molten salt fast reactor (MSFR), which is started up with Trans Uranium Elements (TRU) contained in spent fuel of light water reactors. The fuel salt used is a mixed salt of NaCl, CaCl₂, ThCl₄ and TRUCl₃. This fuel salt is expected to have solidification temperature of about 530C and heavy metal solubility of about 30mol%. MSFR can reach a fuel conversion ratio of 1.0 after about several months of operation supplying both ²³²Th and TRU. After that, MSFR will continue to operate on ²³²Th supply only. Using much amount of thorium resources, it may be possible to supply a lot of electricity for a long period. These burnup characteristics of MSFR were analyzed by SRAC2006 with SRACLIB-JDL40.