Fuel cycle cost analysis on molten-salt reactors.

An evaluation is made of the fuel cycle costs for molten-salt reactors (MSR's), developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Eight combinations of conditions affecting fuel cycle costs are compared, covering 233U-Th, 235U-Th and 239Pu-Th fuels, with and without on-site continuous fuel reprocessing. The resulting fuel cycle costs range from 0.61 to 1.18 mill/kWh. A discussion is also given on the practicability of these fuel cycles. The calculations indicate that somewhat lower fuel cycle costs can be expected from reactor operation in converter mode on 235U make-up with fuel reprocessed in batches every 10 years to avoid fission product precipitation, than from operation as 223U-Th breeder with continuous reprocessing.