Potentials in “nonproliferating” nuclear fuel: Design and implications on a PWR fuel cycle

Nuclear energy is considered a critical component for achieving low carbon emissions in light of the urgent need for decarbonisation to meet global climate goals. However, concerns about the potential for nuclear weapon proliferation persist due to the uncontrolled spread of nuclear materials. This study focused on assessing the impact of proliferation-resistant fuel, doped with ²⁴¹Am, on operating a standard Westinghouse 3-loop pressurised water reactor. A comprehensive investigation was carried out utilising the CASMO-4/SIMULATE-3 code package. The results result of both 2D neutronic and 3D fuel cycle analyses showed that certain limits were established to maintain a safe ²³⁸Pu ratio in total produced plutonium to consider the fuel as proliferation-resistant. In addition, it was shown that utilising ²⁴¹Am in fuel composition did not negatively influence critical factors for a safe and reliable operation, such as peaking factors, reactivity feedback parameters, power profiles and shutdown margin, although a minor reduction in effective full power days was noted.