Patent ID: 8130896

Claim:
A method of controlling the criticality of a nuclear fuel cycle facility, comprising: producing a reactor fuel by adding from 305 to 915 ppm of gadolinia to a uranium dioxide powder with a uranium enrichment of greater than 5% and 10% or less by weight; controlling an effective neutron multiplication factor of a uranium dioxide system containing the uranium dioxide powder to which gadolina is added to be less than or equal to a maximum of an effective neutron multiplication factor of a uranium dioxide system with a uranium enrichment of 5% by weight; ensuring a control of a mass subcriticality by: not handling any fuel having a mass exceeding a predetermined value relating to criticality safety design; not handling any fuel having a size exceeding a size of a predetermined value relating to criticality safety design; and maintaining the fuel under complete submergence conditions such that spaces between particles of the uranium dioxide powder with a uranium enrichment are filled with water and the particles are surrounded by water; wherein the control of the effective neutron multiplication factor is obtained by adding an amount of gadolinia to the enriched uranium dioxide powder such that the maximum of the effective neutron multiplication factor of the enriched uranium dioxide powder is less than or equal to an effective neutron multiplication factor of uranium dioxide powder with a uranium enrichment of 5% by weight, and the amount of gadolinia added to the uranium dioxide powder with a uranium enrichment of greater than 5% by weight is proportional to the uranium enrichment thereof that exceeds 5% and a constant of the proportion is determined by dividing the amount of gadolinia added to a uranium dioxide powder with a uranium enrichment of 10% by weight by five.