Physics of Plutonium Recycling

Physics of Plutonium Recycling
Author: Nuclear Energy Agency
Publisher: OECD Publishing
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2002
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9789264199576

This report examines the recycling of plutonium as thermal mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel in pressurised water reactors (PWRs) in order to discover the number of times plutonium can effectively be recycled. In particular, it describes an exercise based on a realistic, multiple-recycle scenario, which followed plutonium through five generations of recycling in a PWR. It considers both a standard PWR design currently in use and a highly moderated design, in order to provide a better understanding of their relative merits, as well as giving an insight into the limitations of multiple recycling and the long-term toxicity of fission products and actinides.