MOX Fuel

Ingot form

Mixed oxide fuel or simply MOX fuel is a type of nuclear fuel that contains more than one fuel oxide. In the case of NTM, it is a mixture of uranium (2/3rds) and plutonium (1/3rd) fuel. For most reactors, it is a mid-range fuel between uranium and plutonium as one might expect, however, the RBMK is an exception, as it is a considerably strong fuel for its cost.

Production

It consists of 2/3rds medium enriched uranium-235 fuel and 1/3rd plutonium-239.

3

ZIRNOX

MOX Fuel

Heat/tick	75
Estimated lifespan	165,000 ticks
Start radiation	2.5 RAD/s
End radiation	150.0 RAD/s

MOX fuel for the ZIRNOX is fairly strong at 75 heat, making it somewhat stronger than even plutonium fuel. Its lifespan is somewhat low at 165k ticks, however. Since it is relatively strong for its cost, it can still be useful for comparatively cheap power generation that's stronger than uranium or thorium fuel.

Assembly

Recycling

Each depleted MOX fuel rod gives 2 "depleted MOX fuel" items, which can be processed in the PUREX:

PUREX

500mB 250mB

3

PWR

MOX Fuel

Composition
Fissile material	U-235 & Pu-239
Fertile material	U-238 & Pu-240
Statistics
Yield	1,000,000,000
Reaction function	$\log _{10}\left({\frac {x}{2500}}+1\right)\cdot 600$
Function type	Logarithmic
Function danger	Medium
Heat per flux	7.5 TU
Hazards
Start radiation	2.5 RAD/s
End radiation	25.0 RAD/s

Unlike in the ZIRNOX and RBMK, MOX fuel is part of a set of very weak fuels. It has the same flux function as MEU-235, though it does have a higher heat output level.

Graph

A plot of MOX flux reactivity in the PWR. The X-axis is inbound flux bound between 0 - 120 and the Y-axis is outbound flux bound between 0 - 240.

Assembly

Recycling

PUREX

500mB 250mB

3 4 2 3

RBMK

Mixed MEU-235 & LEPu-239 Oxide Fuel

Composition
Fissile material	U-235 & Pu-239
Fertile material	U-238 & Pu-240
Statistics
Yield	100,000,000
Self-igniting?	No
Splits with	Slow neutrons
Splits into	Fast neutrons
Flux function	$\log _{10}(x+1)\cdot 0.5\cdot 40$
Flux function type	Base 10 logarithm
Flux function danger	Medium
Depletion function	Raising slope
Xenon generation function	$x\cdot 0.5$
Xenon burn function	$x^{2}\cdot 50$
Heat at 100 flux	1°C
Diffusion	0.02 1/2
Melting point	2,815°C
Starting radiation	10.0 RAD/s

Despite being comparatively cheap, it is much stronger than MEU-235 and LEPu-239. It even exceeds the flux output of MEPu-239 up to ~120 inbound flux where their functions intersect. In addition to its strong flux function, it has a fairly high heat output at 1°C per flux. Despite its apparent strength, it uses the stable base 10 logarithm function, which while rises quickly in output flux also quickly plateaus, reducing the chance of supercriticality.

Graph

A plot of MOX flux reactivity in the RBMK. The X-axis is inbound flux bound between 0 - 120 and the Y-axis is outbound flux bound between 0 - 60.

Assembly

Recycling

Requires a SILEX with an infrared laser from the associated FEL.

Each pellet gets processed 6.0x times. If the fuel's xenon poison exceeds 50%, MOX yield is by 1%.

MOX Fuel

Depletion	MOX	Reactor Grade Plutonium	Long-Lived Nuclear Waste (U-235)	Short-Lived Nuclear Waste (U-235)	Short-Lived Nuclear Waste (Pu-239)
Brand New (1% to 19%)	84.0%	6.0%	2.0%	3.0%	5.0%
Barely Depleted (20% to 39%)	64.0%	10.0%	5.0%	8.0%	13.0%
Moderately Depleted (40% to 59%)	44.0%	14.0%	8.0%	13.0%	21.0%
Highly Depleted (60% to 79%)	24.0%	18.0%	11.0%	18.0%	29.0%
Fully Depleted (80% to 100)	4.0%	22.0%	14.0%	23.0%	37.0%

Gallery

• 

  Block

• 

  Billet

• 

  Nugget

• 

  Hot depleted PWR fuel

• 

  Depleted PWR fuel

External Links

• MOX fuel at Wikipedia