Ensuring the possibility of using thorium as a fuel in a pressurized water reactor(PWR)

The possibility of utilizing thorium as a fuel in a pressurized water reactor(PWR)has been proven from the neutronic perspective in our previously published work without assessing the thermal hydraulic(TH)and solid structure performances.Therefore,the TH and solid structure performances must be studied to confirm these results and ensure the possibility of using a thorium-based fuel as an excellent accident-tolerant fuel.The TH and solid structure performances of thorium-based fuels were investigated and compared with those of UO_(2).The radial and axial power peaking factors(PPFs)for UO_(2),(^(232)Th,^(235)U)O_(2),and(^(232)Th,^(233)U)O_(2)were examined with a PWR assembly to determine the total PPF of each one.Both Gd_(2)O_(3)and Er_(2)O_(3)were tested as burnable absorbers(BAs)to manage the excess reactivity at the beginning of the fuel cycle(BOC)and reduce the total PPF.Er_(2)O_(3)resulted in a more significant reduction to the total PPF and,therefore,a greater reduction to the temperature distribution compared to Gd_(2)O_(3).Given these results,we analyzed the effects of adding Er_(2)O_(3)to thorium-based fuels on their TH and solid structure performances.