Thermal design feasibility of Th-233U PWR breeder

This study explores the basic thermal-hydraulic feasibility of a self-sustainable Th-U233 fuel cycle that can be adopted in the current generation of Pressurized Water Reactors. In previous studies we explored some fuel design strategies to achieve (or to approach as closely as possible) a sustainable fuel cycle, including the use of heterogeneous seed-blanket fuel assembly design. Preliminary neutronic analysis suggested that net breeding of U233 is feasible in principle within a typical PWR operating envelope. However considerable core design tradeoffs such as a reduction of core power density would be necessary to achieve such performance. The purpose of this work is to establish the maximum achievable power density for breeding core by evaluation of limiting thermal hydraulic parameters.