Citation:
M. Yildiz Sakarya, “Proliferation Resistance Analysis of Multiple Recycling of Re-enriched Reprocessed Uranium Fuel in Commercial Light Water Reactors”, M.S. Thesis, Nuclear Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX (2023).
Abstract:
The rapidly growing demand for electricity, combined with the limitations of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, as well as excessive CO2 emissions from fossil fuels, makes nuclear power an increasingly attractive option as a significant supply of energy. However, to develop a robust nuclear energy framework, one of the aspects that must be considered is nuclear non-proliferation. The aspects of nuclear fuel cycles that are sensitive to nuclear proliferation, such as the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel (SNF), have been the subject of numerous studies over the years. This study analyzes the proliferation resistance (PR) of re-enriched reprocessed uranium fuel discharged from a light water reactor (LWR), which is the Vodo-Vodyanoi Enyergeticheskiy Reactor (VVER-1000MWe). This analysis involves estimating the growth in the desired amounts of even-numbered uranium (U) and plutonium (Pu) isotopes, specifically 236U and 238Pu, to render the SNF less viable for military purposes.