Nuclear power to be sustainable requires the fulfilling of peculiar constraints, which include addressing the proliferation risk. One possible route for sustainability is that to adopt a fuel cycle based on thorium. However, comparison with uranium cycle indicates that thorium cycle utilization is premature. Instead, a promising short-term option is the use of inert matrix fuels, possibly containing thoria, in a once-through cycle. Irradiation tests performed in the Halden reactor show encouraging behaviour under irradiation. Furthermore, these fuels are very well suited for a direct disposal in a geological repository.
Thoria and Inert Matrix Fuels for a Sustainable Nuclear Power
2008
Abstract
Nuclear power to be sustainable requires the fulfilling of peculiar constraints, which include addressing the proliferation risk. One possible route for sustainability is that to adopt a fuel cycle based on thorium. However, comparison with uranium cycle indicates that thorium cycle utilization is premature. Instead, a promising short-term option is the use of inert matrix fuels, possibly containing thoria, in a once-through cycle. Irradiation tests performed in the Halden reactor show encouraging behaviour under irradiation. Furthermore, these fuels are very well suited for a direct disposal in a geological repository.File in questo prodotto:
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