Even Mass Plutonium Isotope Analysis for Plutonium Proliferation Resistance Aspect and Its Contribution to Nuclear Fuel Breeding

There are many advantages for adopting recycling options of nuclear spent fuel not only in term of reduction level of nuclear waste accumulation, but also to increase capacity factor of nuclear fuel utilization and improving level of proliferation resistance of nuclear fuel. Composition of spent nuclear fuel consists of some actinides including used uranium and plutonium as main actinide and well-commercialized nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants, it also contains some transuranium component such as minor actinides which can be used for additional fuel utilization. Recyling option of MA also can be used to reduce long-lived radioactive waste volume and their intensity as well as to increase the level of proliferation resistance. Minor actinides (MA) can be utilized as useful material which can be transmuted to increase nuclear fuel production as fuel breeding capability and producing some even mass plutonium such as Pu-238, Pu-240 and Pu-242 to be used as a parameter for protected plutonium production. Identification and classification of the advantage of even mass plutonium production for proliferation resistance aspect and fuel breeding contribution, especially for Pu-238 isotope composition are investigated in this present study. As a reference model for analysis and evaluation, a large fast breeder reactor (FBR) model is used and 800 days length operation per-cycling for 4 fuel batches systems. Loading MA in the core and blanket gives some significant quantity especially to increase Pu-238 production as main product from transmuted MA in the reactor to be categorized as fertile material which can be converted to Pu-239 by neutron capture as well as some contribution from other even mass plutonium. Pu-239 from converted Pu-238 can be categorized as additional fuel for extending reactor operation, while some initial Pu-239 make fission or converted into some other nuclide. Pu-238 compositions in the reactor can also categorized as some level of protected plutonium productions in term of fuel composition, decay heat (DH) and spontaneous fission neutron (SFN) intensities as well as other even mass plutonium isotopes.