feasibility study of application of tho2 fuel rods in vver-1000 fuel assemblies using mcnp and origen codes

Thorium is more abundant in nature than uranium. the fertile thorium fuel can breed to fissile u-233 by absorbing a neutron. the produced fissile has good neutronic performance in both thermal and fast neutron spectra. many types of thorium-based fuels were applied in different nuclear reactors. also natural thorium oxide is used as seed/blanket configuration that the tho2 rods are used in the outer sections of any fuel assembly. the present study aims to investigate the tho2 fuel rod loading in 3000 mw vver-1000 power reactor. mcnpx and origen codes were used to evaluate its effects on the core neutronic. in addition, the gamma emission rates of tho2 spent fuel than the uo2 routine fuel of vver-1000 was investigated. the obtained results of the computational study showed the tho2 fuel rod loading in some vver-1000 fuel assemblies would not end to a breeding behavior of the reactor core even after one-year burnup at 3000 mw power. however, the enriched uranium fuel loading reduction may make a motivation for thorium fuel application in the power reactor.