Light water breeder reactor using a uranium-plutonium cycle
AssigneeTouro College
InventorAlvin Radkowsky
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A light water cooled and moderated nuclear reactor for breeding fissile material on a uranium-plutonium cycle and also a method of operating a light water cooled and moderated reactor having a prebreeder section fueled from plutonium extracted from fuel discharged by a uranium burner or converter burner core. Subsequently, the prebreeder section, together with a breeder section, operated as coupled cores or modules, becomes self-sustaining and able to breed fissile plutonium fuels at a relatively high rate of gain.
Claims38
A light water receptor (LWR) for breeding fissile material using a uranium-plutonium cycle comprising:
- a prebreeder section having plutonium fuel containing a Pu-241 component, said prebreeder section being operable to produce enriched plutonium having an increased Pu-241 component;
- and
- a breeder section for receiving the enriched plutonium from the prebreeder section, said breeder section being operable for breeding fissile material from said enriched plutonium fuel.
The LWR of claim, 13 wherein said prebreeder section and said breeder section each have a core cross section comprising a plurality of seed blanket modules, a power flattening region disposed about said plurality of modules, a core baffle surrounding said power flattening region, a thermal shield disposed outside of and enclosing said core baffle and a pressure vessel disposed outside of and containing said thermal shield.
A method of operating a light water nuclear reactor (LWR) for breeding fissile material using a uranium-plutonium cycle comprising the steps of:
- operating said prebreeder to produce enriched plutonium fuel having an increased Pu-241 component;
- fueling a breeder section with said enriched plutonium fuel to breed said fissile material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.