Simulation of nuclear fuel cycle options is essential to evaluate the sustainability of future nuclear systems and to support strategic decisions about the back-end of the fuel cycle and nuclear energy developments. The main challenge of fuel cycle studies is that the evaluation of different strategies can only be performed by knowing the detailed composition of the final waste, which requires the tracking of a large number of isotopes in the fuel cycle and the accurate determination of the spent fuel composition. For this purpose, fast and accurate burnup models are needed, such as the FITXS method developed at the Institute of Nuclear Techniques of BME (BME NTI), which is based on the parametrization of one-group microscopic cross-sections as functions of the detailed fuel composition. This model is implemented in the JOSETTE scenario code of BME NTI and the SITON code of the Center for Energy Research (Budapest, Hungary).
The doctoral research aims to contribute to developing the FITXS method and perform scenario analysis studies for different fuel cycle options. In this context, the following tasks are foreseen for the candidate:
- Quantify the effect of uncertainties in technological parameters and material properties on the fuel cycle simulations.
- Optimization of the accuracy of the parametrization by the FITXS methodology and the calculation efforts needed.
- Extension of the capabilities of the FITXS method for accelerator-driven systems (ADS) and breeding blankets of fast reactor cores.
- Scenario studies for the realization of different Pu and minor actinide management options involving the above developments.