Year
2010
Abstract
The UK National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) has developed a methodology for objectively assessing reactor and fuel cycle systems for proliferation resistance. This is an important requirement in the analysis of advanced reactors and fuel cycles and is an area where NNL has extensive knowledge and experience as the Research Division of the former British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL). With the potential growth of new nuclear build in the UK, including the potential re- use of the UK’s 100 tonnes of separated plutonium and the establishment of the “Nuclear Centre of Excellence”, such a capability and understanding is imperative for the UK against the backdrop of various future fuel cycle options. NNL’s methodology was developed independently of other international efforts and the purpose of this work, (part of the NNL’s Signature Research Programme), was to generalize the approach to include other methods recommended by the international community and compare their results. The method has been generalized to include the approach recommended by the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) and other similar categorization methods. A comparison of four different reactor systems has been undertaken and the results for the eight different combinations of models compared with the NNL results in order to benchmark and ensure confidence in the newly developed methodology. The paper presents the approach to the methodology and the findings, details of the objectives for developing the approach adopted and the results of the benchmarking exercise against international results and provides future recommendations.