FAST: Generation-IV nuclear reactors with a fast neutron spectrum

After finishing of the Molten Chloride Fast Reactors (MCFR) chapter for Elsevier Encyclopedia of Nuclear Energy last year, Jiri Krepel was invited to contribute another chapter to the same encyclopedia dedicated to the sustainability and reactor physics issues of nuclear fuel cycle closing in advanced reactors. The ANS group has more than 15 years of experience in closed fuel cycle simulation and analysis and belong so to one of the world leading competence centers in this area. The general insight and knowledge, together with the results from E. Losa PhD thesis, who spend in 2014 his 9 month internship finance by IAEA at PSI, were summarized in a series of three encyclopedia chapters:

I. Self-sustaining breeding in advanced reactors: Characterization of natural resources

II. Self-sustaining breeding in advanced reactors: Characterization of selected reactors

III. Self-sustaining breeding in advanced reactors: Comparison of fuel cycle performance

These chapters provide solid background in the reactor physics issues related to sustainability of the nuclear fuel cycle. The self-sustaining breeding either in open breed-and-burn cycle or in closed cycle with fuel recycling is presented as the only long-term alternative for next centuries to the ²³⁵U burning reactors employed nowadays. The three chapters are available online:

https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819725-7.00122-7

https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819725-7.00123-9

https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819725-7.00124-0

Jonathan Dietz successfully passed the MS exam. The topic of his MS study was "Chemical-Thermodynamic Simulation of the MSR-Related Systems during Normal and Accident Conditions". The goal of this work was to combine the neutronics knowledge of equilibrium fuel cycle with the thermodynamics simulations and refine the severe accident simulation with cGEMS code. The thesis was integrated in the EU H2020 SAMOSAFER project. The manuscript is available on-line at https://zenodo.org/record/4193209#.YG6-W8ritaQ

In July 2021 the 1^st edition of Elsevier Encyclopedia of Nuclear Energy should be published with Ehud Greenspan as the editor in chief. Jiri Krepel from ANS group, together with Kevin Kramer from TerraPower LLC, was invited to contribute a chapter entitled Molten Chloride Fast Reactors (MCFR) to a volume dedicated to Advanced nuclear reactor concepts under R&D edited by Alexander Stanculescu. This invitation is another recognition of the PSI pioneering role in the breed-and-burn MCFR fuel cycle research. Furthermore, from historical perspective the pioneering role in MCFR research can be traced up to the Federal Institute for Reactor Research, the predecessor of PSI. It was also a great chance to utilize the knowledge, which results from the nuclear technology monitoring mandate of the PSI. Even though the encyclopedia (ISBN: 9780128197257) will be published firstly in July 2021, the chapter is already available online: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819725-7.00037-4

New issue of FOLIO the magazine for teachers in vocational training was issued, where Cristoph Thomann discuss the possible future of nuclear reactors. He was interviewing PSI expert for Gen-IV reactor Jiri Krepel to assess the capability of these reactors to act as a CO₂ free, reliable and safe energy source. The major question was dilemma between risks related to nuclear energy utilization and risks related to CO₂ production.  

The 2020 September issue of Annals of Nuclear Energy publishes a paper "Resonance parameter adjustment in the resolved region based upon an Asymptotic Generalized Linear Least-Squares methodology in conjunction with the Monte Carlo method" by S. Pelloni and D. Rochman. In frame of a stochastic technique for adjusting basic ENDF parameters the paper proposes assimilation of the effective multiplication factor for low-enriched, U-solution, thermal systems by adjusting resonance widths for U-235 and U-238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2020.107509

The 2020 September issue of Annals of Nuclear Energy publishes a paper "The EQL0D fuel cycle procedure and its application to the transition to equilibrium of selected molten salt reactor designs" by B. Hombourger, J. Krepel and A. Pautz. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2020.107504