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60 Years of U: Perspectives on resources, demand, and the evolving role of nuclear energy
Recent years have seen growing global interest in nuclear energy and rising confidence in the sector. For the first time since the early 2000s, there is renewed optimism about the industry’s future. This change is driven by several major factors: geopolitical developments that highlight the need for secure energy supplies, a stronger focus on resilient energy systems, national commitments to decarbonization, and rising demand for clean and reliable electricity.
Hao Wang, Zhiyao Xing, Eugene Shwageraus (Univ of Cambridge)
Proceedings | 2018 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2018) | Charlotte, NC, April 8-11, 2018 | Pages 805-814
The availability of Tritium is a problem for the Deuterium-Tritium (D-T) fusion reactors since the element does not exist in nature and has to be bred from Li-6 through neuron capture. The goal of this paper is to explore a possibility of operating a symbiotic system consisting of fleets of fission reactors coupled with fusion reactors. It is proposed in this paper to use salt with high Li-6 content in Fluoride salt-cooled High-temperature Reactor (FHRs) to produce tritium as fuel for D-T fusion reactors. Tritium breeding blankets will therefore no longer be required, potentially making fusion reactors simpler and cheaper to construct and maintain. Two FHR designs, i.e. pebble bed and prismatic block, are studied in this work to investigate the feasibility of the proposed Fission-Fusion hybrid systems. An investigation into neutronics, tritium production, and potential safety issues in the proposed FHR designs are carried out. The tradeoffs between fission reactor performance, such as achievable burnup and fresh fuel enrichment, and tritium production rate are also discussed. Results have shown that such hybrid systems are attractive and potentially feasible. The maximum tritium production rate of the selected design options can reach up to approximately 4 kg per GW thermal power per year.