Aplicación del método simplex por medio de un programa en C++, para calcular SWU en el proceso de enriquecimiento del combustible nuclear

Abstract

The enrichment process of nuclear fuel assemblies, which were used in nuclear power reactors, requires a series of steps, the first of which takes U3O8 as the base material for conversion to UF6 and later enrichment in 235U. Gaseous diffusion is a technology used to produce enriched uranium that involves forcing UF6 gaseous through semi-permeable membranes, causing a slight separation between the 235U containing and 238U containing molecules, the successive repetition of this process leads to enriching the uranium to the desired value, the measure of effort (and associated cost) used in the enrichment process is the Separative Work Unit (SWU). Optimizing the cost of enriching uranium is a complex process in which the amount and cost of SWU and U3O8 feedstock come into play. In this work, an optimization analysis of uranium enrichment will be carried out using the Simplex Method, which is the name used to describe the general approach to the solution of linear programs using pivoting.