Abstract
The DUPIC (Direct Use of spent PWR fuel In CANDU) fuel cycle is an advanced nuclear fuel cycle option, an alternative to the once-through fuel cycle, proposed in the early 1990's by Korea. It has the benefits of not only saving natural uranium but also substantially reducing the amount of spent fuel because of its synergetic effect expectable from burning PWR spent fuel again in CANDU reactor by direct fuel refabrication without separation of pure plutonium. In the present study, evaluations were made for the DUPIC fuel cycle, compared to the once-through cycle, about several issues such as a fabrication process of the DUPIC fuel, secondary radioactive wastes generated, mass flows, decay characteristics of the DUPIC spent fuel, and resource savings and environmental benefits. Impacts of three scenarios of DUPIC fuel cycle were evaluated when these are applied to Korea, compared to the once-through cycle, in reducing the amount of required natural uranium and spent fuel waste produced in Korea, based on the nuclear power capacity projected until 2030. Then, the optimized fuel cycle strategy in Korea was proposed from the view point of the optimization for the mass balance of DUPIC fuel cycle.
