Characteristics of Spent Fuel from Plutonium Disposition Reactors. Vol. 3: A Westinghouse Pressurized-Water Reactor Design

This report discusses the results of a simulation study involving the burnup of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel in a Westinghouse pressurized-water reactor (PWR). The MOX was composed of uranium and plutonium oxides, where the plutonium was of weapons-grade composition. The study was part of the Fissile Materials Disposition Program and considered the possibility of fueling commercial reactors with weapons plutonium. The isotopic composition, the activities, and the decay heat, together with the gamma and neutron dose rates are discussed for the spent fuel. For the steady-state situation involving this PWR burning MOX fuel, two burn histories are reported. In one case, an assembly is burned in the reactor for two cycles, and in the second case and assembly is burned for three cycles. Furthermore, assemblies containing wet annular burnable absorbers (WABAs) and assemblies that do not contain WABAs are considered in all cases. The two-cycle cases have a burnup of 35 GWd/t, and the three-cycle cases have a burnup of 52.5 GWd/t.