Fuel cycle simulation for marine molten chloride fast reactor; Verification and case study

Dwijayanto, A. P.*; Nishihara, Kenji  ; Okamura, Tomohiro*; Nakase, Masahiko*

NMB4 is a nuclear fuel cycle simulator capable of modelling various nuclear fuel cycle scenarios from front-end to back-end. However, its capability to simulate a Molten Chloride Fast Reactor (MCFR), a subset of Molten Salt Reactor (MSR), had yet to be tested. Verifying NMB4 capability to model MCFR fuel cycle in a nuclear energy system is crucial for determining the limit of applicability and future development of the NMB4 simulator. A mass balance comparison between the NMB4 nuclear fuel cycle simulator and the Monte Carlo code Serpent-2 was then performed. A long-lived marine-based MCFR core with minimal reprocessing was modeled in a Monte-Carlo code as the closest scheme with the depletion capability supported by NMB4. From the results, NMB4 was found to generate an acceptable mass balance compared to Serpent-2, and a simple case study using a marine-based MCFR was subsequently simulated to analyse the mass balance and the disposal area required in a once-through cycle. Several discrepancies in code verification have been discussed, and future developments are suggested.