Working Party on Physics of
Plutonium Fuels
and
Innovative Fuel Cycles (WPPR)
Mandate
Scope
Under
the guidance of
the Nuclear Science Committee
the Working Party will deal with the status and trends of reactor
physics issues related to the management of plutonium.
Objectives
To provide member countries with up-to-date
information to
preserve knowledge on and develop consensus regarding:
- Core physics and fuel cycle issues arising from the
irradiation of plutonium in present and future generation plants.
The core physics aspects considered are the basic nuclear
performance parameters such as:
- Reactivity characteristics;
- Core power/flux distributions;
- Reactivity control;
- Reactivity coefficients;
- Safety/kinetics core characteristics
- The fuel cycle issues considered are those relevant to
logistical, strategic and environmental aspects of the fuel cycle,
including
- Requirements for plutonium loading in kg/GWye or
equivalent
units;
- Net destruction/generation of plutonium loading in
kg/GWye
or equivalent units;
- Fission product and minor actinide inventories and
radiotoxicity profiles versus time
Specific reactor types considered include, but are not limited
to the following:
- MOX-loaded LWRs of the present generation, evolutionary
LWRs and innovative LWRs;
- high temperature gas reactors;
- liquid metal cooled fast reactors;
- gas cooled fast reactors;
- heavy water reactors.
To liaise closely with other NEA working groups
such as the TFRPD and the WPPT (now Working Party on the scientific
issues in Fuel
Cycle (WPFC)
to ensure the respective work programmes are complementary and to
provide advice and support where required.
To provide advice to the nuclear community on the
developments needed to meet the requirements (data and methods,
validation experiments, scenario studies) for implementing the
different plutonium management approaches.
Mandate last revised on 2 February 2001,
now activity expanded in the new Working Party on Scientific Issues of
Reactor
Systems (WPRS).
Publications
Plutonium physics (7
Volumes)
The future of the nuclear industry will depend crucially on
considerations of economics, resource utilisation and environmental
impact/waste management. For nuclear utilities who opt for
reprocessing/ recycling of spent fuel, one of the main issues pertinent
to these three areas is that of recycling plutonium. Moreover, with the
recent commitment to reduce the nuclear weapons stockpiles, there has
been renewed and generalised interest in the capabilities of both
thermal and fast reactors to help make weapons grade plutonium less
readily accessible for use in weapons. Additionally there is renewed
and widespread interest in the possible role of fast reactors in
burning minor actinides. For all these reasons the OECD/NEA Nuclear
Science Committee decided to convene an international study group, the
Working Party on Physics of Plutonium Recycling (WPPR), to review the
physics aspects of plutonium recycle.
Plutonium
Management in the Medium Term
A Review by the OECD/NEA Working Party on the Physics of Plutonium
Fuels and Innovatice Fuel Cycles (WPPR)
Language: English, Published: 03-NOV-03, 72 pages, NEA#04451, ISBN: 92-64-02151-5.
Benchmark on the
Three-dimensional VENUS-2 MOX Core Measurements, Final Report
Language: English, Published: 09-FEB-04 , 204 pages, NEA#04438, ISBN: 92-64-02160-4.
Benchmark on
Deterministic Transport Calculations Without Spatial Homogenisation,
A 2-D/3-D MOX Fuel Assembly
Language: English, Published: 08-AUG-03, 152 pages, NEA#03135, ISBN: 92-64-02139-6.
For more Information on this WPPR and WPRS, please contact Dr. Enrico Sartori (sartori@nea.fr)
For
more information on activities managed/supported by the NSC, please contact Claes Nordborg ( Claes.Nordborg@oecd.org)
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Last updated: 20 September 2007
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