Closed Thorium-Uranium-Plutonium Cycle Concept in Nuclear Power Engineering

Abstract

The use of ²³²Th instead of ²³⁸U as a fertile isotope, ²³³U instead of ²³⁹Pu as the main fissile isotope, heavy water instead of light water as a coolant, and its dilution with light water in the VVER reactor campaign make possible self-enrichment of fuel with fissile isotopes, including the time upon achieving the balanced isotopic abundance ratio of actinides, and also provide conditions for closing the Th-U-Pu fuel cycle. This allows increasing the fuel lifetime by around two orders of magnitude, making it much easier to handle radioactive waste, reducing the nuclear hazard of PWE reactors, and providing a technological barrier to prevent the distribution of fissile materials and nuclear technologies.