Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe Gmbh

Ramot University Authority for Applied Research

Alvin Radkowsky

In a water-cooled nuclear reactor for producing energy and having seed and blanket zones, which reactor is cooled by pressurized water and contains fissile material of plutonium and uranium, the reactor is provided, in its seed zones and blanket zones, with a plutonium composition such as obtained from light water power plant reactors after a normal service life and recycle, and with fuel elements whose geometry in the seed and blanket zones, with respect to the coolant water, is selected to produce an epithermal neutron spectrum.

Nuclear reactor

A method of operating a heavy-water moderated nuclear reactor is described enabling a significant portion of the total core power to be derived from burning natural thorium rather than uranium. In the novel method, interior rod positions of the fuel rod clusters are refueled with thorium-containing rod segments to irradiate the thorium until its multiplication factor is built up to about that of natural uranium, and then the irradiated thorium-containing rod segments are removed from the interior rod positions of the cluster and are utilized to refuel exterior rod positions of the cluster. Also described is a nuclear reactor construction wherein the fuel cluster segments have a mechanical fastener arrangement permitting the quick attachment and detachment of the rod segments within the cluster, thereby facilitating the above refueling procedure.

Growing community of inventors

Ramat Gan, Israel

Alvin Radkowsky