PRELIMINARY DESIGN AND COST ESTIMATE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF CENTRAL STATION POWER FROM AN AQUEOUS HOMOGENEOUS REACTOR UTILIZING THORIUM-URANIUM-233

The design and economics of the Aqueous Homogeneous Reactor as basically under development at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory are presented. The reactor system utilizes thorium-U-233 fuel. Conditions accompanying reactor systems generating up to l080 mw of net electrical energy are covered. The study indicates that a generating station, with a net thermal efficiency of 28.l%, might be constructed for approximately 0/kw and 0/kw at the l80 mw and l080 mw electrical levels, respectively. These values result in capital expenses of approximately 4.72 and 2.86 milis/kwh. A major part of fuel cost is the expense of chemical processing. It is therefore advantageous 10 schedule fuel through a relatively large processing system since fixed charges are insensitive to chemical plant size. By handling fuel through a plant large enough for processing 200 kg of thorium per day, total fuel costa of about 1 mill/kwh result. This cost for fuel processing appears applicable to generating stations up to abeut 540 mw in size, decreasing to about 0.6 mills/kwh at the l080 mw level. Operating and maintenance expense, including heavy water cost on a lease basis, varies between l.34 and 0.89 mills/kwh for l80 and l080 megawatts respectively. If the purchase of heavy water is required, 0.3 to 0.4 mills/kwh must be added. It is concluded that the Aqueous Homogeneous Reactor may produce electrical power competitive with conventional generating systems when the remaining technical problems are solved. It is felt ihat the research and development now programed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory will solve these problems and affect costs favorably. (auth