Fuel and Core Design for Long Operating Cycle Simplified BWR (LSBWR)

This paper describes an innovative core concept currently being developed for long operating cycle simplified BWR (LSBWR). The LSBWR adopts the long cycle operation (15 years) for the elimination of the fuel pool and the refueling machines and for the capacity usage ratio improvement. To achieve long cycle operation, a combination of enriched gadolinium and 0.7- times sized small bundle with peripheral-positioned gadolinium rod is adopted as a key design concept. A nuclear design for fuel bundle has been determined based on three dimensional nuclear and thermal hydraulic calculation. A core performance has been evaluated based on this bundle design and thermal performance and reactivity characteristics indicated preferable value. (authors)