Fuel Supply and Fabrication Needs, Issues, and Options for a Sodium Cooled Fast Small Modular Reactor in Canada

Abstract Sodium-cooled fast small modular reactors (SFR-SMRs) are being proposed for potential deployment in Canada. SFR-SMRs have the capability of recycling all actinide nuclides in a closed fuel cycle, and thus SFR-SMR fuel cycle can significantly increase the energy extraction from natural uranium in comparison with thermal-spectrum reactors. The continuous recycling of plutonium and minor actinides (MAs) can make great contributions to the reduction of long-term radioactive waste liabilities. Given the potential importance of the implementation SFR-SMR technology within Canada as part of a long-term sustainable nuclear energy strategy, it is important and necessary to evaluate the fuel supply and fabrication needs, and the associated issues and options for the implementation of SFR-SMRs in Canada. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of such an assessment that was carried out recently at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL). As part of this assessment, a number of different SFR fuel types (from current and historical SFR projects) were reviewed along with their associated fabrication methods and fuel supply options. Cylindrical and metallic fuel slugs for an SFR-SMR can be fabricated using a variety of methods. Injection casting is the most established fabrication method. The different kinds of fuel used in various SFR designs need special facilities to fabricate/produce fuels, and none exist in Canada currently, although expertise in fabrication of fuels relevant to metallic fuel and the mixed oxide (MOX) fuel still exist in CNL. Based on the industrial experience already gained on fast reactors within the international community, and the significant synergies with the light water reactor (LWR) and pressure-tube heavy water reactor (PT-HWR) fuel cycles, the SFR reactor fuel cycle can be considered as being relatively mature, or at least highly developed for oxide and metal-alloy fuel options. Based on an assessment of current and near-term future fuel supply and manufacturing capabilities, technical impediments can be overcome in providing the supply of fuel for SFR-SMR design.