Multipurpose Advanced "inherently" Safe Reactor (MARS): Core design studies

In the year 2005, in collaboration with CEA, the University of Rome 'La Sapienza' investigated a new core model with the aim at increasing the performances of the reference one, by extending the burn-up to 60 GWD/t in the case of multi-loading strategy and investigating the characteristics and limitations of a 'once-through' option, in order to enhance the proliferation resistance. In the first part of this paper, the objectives of this study and the methods of calculation are briefly described, while in the second part the calculation results are presented. (authors)