2006 International RERTR Meeting

Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the Meeting

Investigating the Potential of Monolithic UMo for the Conversion of FRM-II

Matthias Englert, Wolfgang Liebert*,
*IANUS (Interdisciplinary Research Group in Science, Technology and Security), Darmstadt
University of Technology, Hochschulstrasse 4a, D-64289 Darmstadt

ABSTRACT

The use of monolithic UMo fuel of highest density might be a viable option for the conversion of high- flux research reactors from HEU to LEU fuel. One-element-cores are the most challenging like in the case of the German FRM-II. Going beyond linear programming calculations of the past we used the M³O code to further investigate the potential of monolithic UMo for the conversion of the FRM-II. To better address the full optimization problem and to meet the conversion requirements of a maximized flux, a minimized enrichment, and an attractive cycle length, a broader parameter space study was done for the re-design of the fuel element as a step to a global optimization routine. First results indicate that it might be possible to find a suitable set of design variables to meet the requirements perhaps even by using LEU, while keeping important operational constraints (like power peaking, heat flux etc.).

 

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