The utilization of thorium in Generation IV reactors

The main goal of this paper is to show how thorium, as an alternative nuclear fuel, could be applied as fuel in a Generation IV reactor. The paper focuses on the multiplication factor, the produced 233U and delayed neutron fraction in infinite lattice models. For the investigations, simplified models of a fuel assembly of five design types of the six reactor concepts were elaborated. The MSR reactor type is out of scope of this paper due to the fact that it is designed for the utilization of thorium. Although the fissile isotope content was not increased to compensate the thorium caused multiplication factor decrease, the burnup calculations suggest that the designs of ESFR (European Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor) and ELSY (European Lead-cooled System) are the most promising types according to the trend of the multiplication factor changes and the amount of produced fissionable 233U.