Nitride Fuel for a Prospective BN-1200 Type Fast Sodium Reactor

The developers of fast sodium reactors are studying nitride fuel for use soon after oxide fuel. Together with a significant increase in the total BR, dense nitride fuel also permits improving a characteristic that is important for reactor safety – significantly decreasing the reactivity excess on burnup. The results of physical calculations of a BN-1200 reactor core, using fuel elements with gas or sodium sublayer on nitride fuel, are presented.