2000/03/01 by Yigal Ronen, M. Aboudy, D. Regev · 3 citations
Engineering · Materials Science · #Nuclear reactor physics and engineering #Nuclear Materials and Properties #Graphite, nuclear technology, radiation studies
paper · doi:10.13182/nt00-a3071
openalex publication_date 2000/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/26
A novel system for energy production is presented. This system has a modular composition of homogeneous reactors with H2O and 242mAm as a fuel. These reactors are spheres of 0.11-m radius and 1-MW(thermal) power and with a critical mass of 0.0201 kg of 242mAm.The advantages of homogeneous reactors are constant fuel reprocessing and constant refueling. As a result, there is a reduction of fission products, which improves the ratio of natural cooling to heat production with respect to a loss-of-control accident (LOCA) and other safety aspects. Homogeneous reactors also have a large negative temperature coefficient and small inherent excess reactivity during operation.The reactor concept we have presented for a very small, homogeneous reactor, further enhances the safety aspects in the case of a LOCA, because of a large surface-to-volume ratio.The improved safety, the simplicity, and the small volume should compensate for the use of an unconventional nuclear fuel.