So the depleted nuclear fuel cannot be used to heat the reactor, but still has plenty of energy in the form of radiation. Why this radiation cannot be used or eliminated by trapping the neutrons from it and produce heat?
In: Physics
If I took my entire spent fuel pool, about 6 reactor cores of spent fuel, and build a class 1 pressure vessel with control systems, a small turbine, safety systems, etc, and let’s say I just let the decay heat boil water into steam and run a turbine.
I may get 1-3 MW of electricity depending on how recently we offloaded the last core.
It’s very little energy with a high cost to try and utilize it.
Plus having hot pressurized fuel cladding would also further corrode and degrade it. The fuel cladding isn’t designed or tested for extended pressurized operation for more than about 8 years.
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