Assessment of a Transuranic Mixed Oxide fuelled CANDU Reactor

Abstract

The extraction of transuranic actinides from spent fuel and use in current thermal reactors is an important step to providing an intermediary option before use in fast reactor fuel cycle in order to remove actinides from the nuclear waste stream. A transuranic mixed oxide fuel can provide a high level of burnup and actinide reduction in a current CANDU® reactor. The effects of this fuel change on operations and performance must be assessed to ensure the reactor still operates within its designed envelope. Operational evaluations of this fuel/reactor combination are made and compared to a standard natural uranium configuration detailing a similar performance envelope.