The possibilities of competitive development of a liquid-salt reactor with a cavity-type core for developing thorium-uranium breeder reactor and for burning transuranium elements from the spent fuel of power reactors are described. Such a reactor is characterized by fuel-cycle flexibility, since it is capable of operating with a wide spectrum of fuel and raw-materials loads without being stopped or structurally altered. Compared with thermal liquid-salt reactors with a graphite moderator, these reactors have deeply negative temperature coefficients of reactivity (–7·10–5°C–1), and the fuel salt is completely processed in 3–4 years. Such a reactor facility can be incorporated into any strategy for the development of nuclear power.
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Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 112, No. 3, pp. 135–143, March, 2012.
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Ignatiev, V.V., Feynberg, O.S., Zagnitko, A.V. et al. Molten-salt reactors: new possibilities, problems and solutions. At Energy 112, 157–165 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-012-9537-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-012-9537-2