| Abstract: | Conclusions The use of plutonium in the fuel cycle during complex utilization of thermal and fast reactors in nuclear energetics permits solving the problem of ensuring nuclear fuel for a long period. Oxide uranium-plutonium fuel facilitates the development of technology of fast reactors and so far it is considered as the basic type of fuel. At the same time, oxide fuel cannot ensure the required rate of plutonium accumulation, in view of which the investigations of more efficient fuel and constructional materials become a pressing problem. The use of uranium-plutonium oxide fuel in thermal reactors requires improvements in the construction of fuel elements and organization of large-scale completely automatic production.Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 43, No. 5, pp. 412–417, November, 1977.
Editors' Remarks. For the completeness of the discussion of the problem it is, of course, necessary to consider the possibility of using plutonium in fast and thermal reactors as done by the authors. However, it should be kept in mind that by its nuclear-physical parameters plutonium as a nuclear fuel is more suitable for use in fast reactors than in thermal reactors. The use of plutonium in thermal reactors can reduce the demands of natural uranium for the development of nuclear power in all by 10–15%, whereas its use in fast reactors reduces the demand for uranium by a factor of 10.All this indicates the feasibility of using plutonium only in fast reactors even if its accumulation is required over a certain period. |
