NUCLEAR REACTOR (VARIANTS), FUEL ASSEMBLY CONSISTING OF DRIVER-BREEDING MODULES FOR A NUCLEAR REACTOR (VARIANTS) AND A FUEL CELL FOR A FUEL ASSEMBLY

摘要

The invention relates to a structural design for light-water-moderated nuclear reactors using a thorium fuel, in particular to the structural design for caseless fuel assemblies constituting the cores of water moderated power-producing reactors, such as a WWER-1000 reactor. A thorium fuel in a breeding module together with a conventional reactor fuel containing unshaped enriched uranium or power producing plutonium in a driver module are burned in the core of a nuclear reactor which comprises a fuel assembly consisting of a driver and breeding modules. The driver module comprises a bundle of three leaf-shaped fuel cells forming screw spacer ribs. The driver and breeding modules can be coupled to each other by means of a spigot joint or be free of a rigid mechanical coupling. The inventive structural design of the fuel assembly provides the total compatibility thereof with existing fuel assemblies used in the WWER-1000 reactors. The fact that the two-section fuel assembly can be disassembled makes it possible to individually reload the driver module.