Abstract
The results of investigations of the parameters of an electronuclear setup, operating on solid fuel, for producing useful power are presented. The objective of the investigations is to show the attractiveness and practical possibility of producing a safe (subcritical) setup for producing energy with unlimited fuel resources. The setup contains an accelerator, two targets, and two blankets. The fissioning isotopes accumulate in one blanket, supplied with natural uranium. Actually, his blanket performs the function of enrichment for the uranium-plutonium fuel cycle in modern nuclear power. Power is generated mainly in the other blanket, which is supplied with fuel assemblies that are extracted from the first blanket. In contrast to reactors operating on natural uranium, in an electronuclear setup a high degree of fuel burnup can be achieved by converting part of the generated energy into neutrons. 1 figure, 9 references.
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Additional information
State Science Center of the Russian Federation—Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics. Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 87, No. 3, pp. 199–204, September, 1999.
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Bergel’son, B.R., Tikhomirov, G.V. & Shvedov, O.V. Single-purpose electronuclear installation using natural uranium as fuel. At Energy 87, 653–657 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02673578
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02673578