2023, Shmelev, A. N., Geraskin, N. I., Apse, V. A., Kulikov, G. G., Kulikov, E. G., Glebov, V. B., Глебов, Василий Борисович, Куликов, Евгений Геннадьевич, Куликов, Геннадий Генрихович, Апсэ, Владимир Александрович, Гераскин, Николай Иванович

The paper presents the estimates for the possibility for large-scale production of 238Pu in the core of a VVER-1000 power reactor. The Np-fraction of minor actinides extracted from transuranic radioactive waste is proposed to be used as the starting material. The irradiation device with NpO2 fuel elements is installed at the reactor core center. The NpO2 fuel lattice pitch is varied and the irradiation device is surrounded by a heavy moderator layer to create the best possible spectral conditions for large-scale production (~ 3 kg/year) of conditioned plutonium with the required isotopic composition (not less than 85% of 238Pu and not more than 2 ppm of 236Pu). Plutonium with such isotopic composition can be used as the thermal source in thermoelectric radioisotope generators and in cardiac pacemakers. It has been demonstrated that the estimated scale of the 238Pu production in a VVER-type power reactor exceeds considerably the existing scale of its production in research reactors.

2020, Shmelev, A. N., Geraskin, N. I., Kulikov, G. G., Kulikov, E. G., Apse, V. A., Glebov, V. B., Гераскин, Николай Иванович, Куликов, Геннадий Генрихович, Куликов, Евгений Геннадьевич, Апсэ, Владимир Александрович, Глебов, Василий Борисович

© Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.The article is devoted to the urgent problem of large-scale production of plutonium-238. Various starting isotopes and Pu-238 production schemes are analyzed. The isotope characteristics of the chain based on the starting Np-237 isotope are presented. It has been substantiated that the region of neutron resonant absorption for the isotope Np-237 is the preferred spectrum of its irradiation. It is proposed to form a region with a preferred neutron spectrum in the fast reactor core for irradiation of neptunium-237. The preferred spectrum is achieved by a heterogeneous target structure including neptunium-237 and a moderator with a high atomic weight (Pb, Pb-208, Bi, Pb-Bi eutectic). It is shown that when a moderator with a high atomic weight is used, it becomes possible to form an extensive region with the preferred spectrum. In conclusion, the main conditions for the large-scale production of isotopically pure Pu-238 in a fast reactor are formulated.