Analysis of neutronic and hydrogen production potential of a triso-coated CANDU nuclear-fueled hybrid reactor with thermochemical cycles

In this study, firstly, time-dependent neutronic analyses of a hybrid reactor with a 5 MW/m 2 wall load and FLiNaK coolant using TRISO-coated CANDU spent fuel were performed. Neutronic analyses were performed using the XSDRNPM/SCALE nuclear code program. The effects of TRISO coated CANDU spent nuclear fuel on tritium breeding ratio (TBR), total fission rate (Σf), energy multiplication factor (M) and Burn up (BU) were investigated. Over the 48-month time period, the TBR value increased from approximately 1.082 at the beginning to approximately 1.14 at the end of 48th month. M, burn up and fissile fuel rates have also increased continuously during these 48-months. While the initial values of M was approximately 1.97, this value was obtained as 2.351 at the end of period. Also, the BU value was performed as 53.85 GWd/tM at the end of 48-month study period. Secondly, the potential of hydrogen production in the hybrid reactor integrated hydrogen production facility which has the magnesium chloride (Mg-Cl), vanadium chloride (V-Cl) and copper chloride (Cu-Cl) thermochemical cycles were investigated. As a result, the highest amount of the hydrogen production with Mg-Cl was obtained as 11.94 kg/s followed by the Cu-Cl as 5.62 kg/s depends on energy multiplication factor at the end of operation.