Subchannel analysis of a fast reactor cooled by supercritical light water

The concept of a high temperature fast reactor cooled by supercritical water (SCFR-H) was developed for achieving high thermal efficiency and a compact reactor system. The core characteristics were obtained from single channel thermal-hydraulic analysis. Thus, it is necessary to carry out subchannel analysis to estimate the effect of local power peaking and cross flows. For this purpose, a subchannel analysis code is developed. It is verified by comparing the results with experimental data of High Conversion Pressurized Water Reactor (HCPWR). Sensitivities of the outlet coolant and cladding temperature to the subchannel flow area and local power peaking are high. One of the reasons is that the ratio of the coolant flow rate of SCFR-H to the power is smaller than that of LWR. Another reason is that, temperature of supercritical water is more sensitive to the enthalpy change above 450°C. The outlet coolant temperature distribution can be flattened by reducing the area of the peripheral subchannels and by enhancing the mixing between the subchannels.     

Single-pass core design of a low-temperature Super LWR

A supercritical-pressure light water cooled and moderated reactor (Super LWR) with a single-pass flow scheme is developed for simplifying upper core structures. Both coolant in the fuel channels and the water rods flow upward and are mixed in the upper plenum. It eliminates the moderator guide/distribution tubes in the upper core that were used in the previous Super LWR design adopting two-pass coolant flow scheme. This core design adopts a four-batch fuel management scheme and an out–in fuel loading pattern. One hundred and twenty-one fuel assemblies with an active height of 3.7 m are included. The flow rate fraction for water rods is 3.5%, and the thermal insulator is used to keep the moderator temperature below pseudocritical temperature. The equilibrium core is analyzed by using neutronic and thermal-hydraulic coupled calculation. The results show that the maximum cladding surface temperature (MCST) is limited to 485 °C with the average outlet temperature of 400 °C. The inherent safety is fulfilled by the positive water density reactivity coefficient and sufficient shutdown margin. On the other hand, the investigation of average outlet coolant temperature varying with MCST is carried out to explore the maximum outlet temperature by employing current MCST criterion and single-pass core design. The average outlet temperature increases with the MCST, and it achieves 465 °C with the thermal efficiency of 43.1% at the MCST criterion of 650 °C. The structure inside the reactor pressure vessel is simplified as a pressurized water reactor.     

Improved core design of the high temperature supercritical-pressure light water reactor

A new coolant flow scheme has been devised to raise the average coolant core outlet temperature of the High Temperature Supercritical-Pressure Light Water Reactor (SCLWR-H). A new equilibrium core is designed with this flow scheme to show the feasibility of an SCLWR-H core with an average coolant core outlet temperature of 530 °C.In previous studies, the average coolant core outlet temperature was limited by the relatively low temperature outlet coolant from the core periphery. In order to achieve an average coolant core outlet temperature of 500 °C, each fuel assembly had to be horizontally divided into four sub-assemblies by coolant flow separation plates, and coolant flow rate had to be adjusted for each sub-assembly by an inlet orifice. However, the difficulty of raising the outlet coolant temperature from the core periphery remained.In this study, a new coolant flow scheme is devised, in which the fuel assemblies loaded on the core periphery are cooled by a descending flow. The new flow scheme has eliminated the need for raising the outlet coolant temperature from the core periphery and removed the coolant flow separation plates from the fuel assemblies.     

Design of an indirect-cycle fast breeder reactor cooled by supercritical steam

The neutronic feasibility of a large-sized FBR cooled by supercritical steam is assessed for finding the way to reduce the costs of FBR plants. A negative coolant void reactivity is realized without much deterioration in breeding capability, by our novel concept of inserting thin zirconium-hydride layers between the seed and blanket of the radially heterogeneous core. The gross electric power is 1040 MWe. The estimated equilibrium compound system doubling time is 16 years. The discharge burnup is 78.7 GWd/T and the refueling period is 1 year with a 77% load factor. Compared with the conventional steam cooled FBR, the pumping power fraction is reduced due to the high coolant density of supercritical water. Loeffler boilers for generating steam are not neccessary. The reactor system is simplified and similar to a PWR. The thermal efficiency is 39.6%, improved 15% relatively from PWR's. The pressure vessel is 32.5 cm thick.     

Safety Analysis of Abnormal Reactivity Events in HTTR

Abstract

To confirm the safety of the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR) facility which is being constructed as the first high temperature gas cooled reactor in Japan, the representative abnormal reactivity events assumed in the safety analysis of the HTTR were analyzed. The HTTR is a graphite moderated and He-gas-cooled reactor with thermal power of 30 MW, inlet coolant temperature of 395°C and outlet coolant temperature of 950°C.

This report presents the analytical results of two representative events, “Abnormal control rod withdrawal from a subcritical condition” and “Abnormal control rod withdrawal during the full power operation”, showing that the safety of the HTTR is secured in conformity with the unique features of the HTTR with respect to the maximum fuel temperature, which is a key factor for the safety criteria.

The results of the safety analysis could demonstrate the safety of the HTTR facility with respect to abnormal reactivity events postulated in the HTTR, showing that the maximum fuel temperature is lower than the limit of the maximum fuel temperature of 1,600°C.     

Conceptual design of compact supercritical water-cooled fast reactor with thermal hydraulic coupling

Fuel rod design for high power density supercritical water-cooled fast reactor was conducted with mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel and stainless steel (SUS304) cladding under the limiting cladding surface temperature of 650 °C. Fuel and cladding integrities, and flow-induced vibration were taken into account as design criteria. Designed fuel rod has the diameter of 7.6 mm and is arranged in the fuel assembly with pitch-to-diameter ratio of 1.14. New core arrangement for negative void reactivity is proposed by three-dimensional tri-z core calculation fully coupled with thermal hydraulic calculation, where ZrH layer concept is used for negative void reactivity. The core has high power density of 156 W/cm³ and its equivalent diameter is only 2.7 m for 1000 MWe class reactor core. High average core outlet temperature of 500 °C is achieved by introducing radial fuel enrichment zoning and downward flow in seed assembly. Small pressure vessel size and simplified direct steam cycle with higher thermal efficiency give an economical potential in aspect of capital and operating cost.     

Thermal-hydraulic behavior of the NUR nuclear research reactor during a fast loss of flow transient

Nuclear safety analysis remains of crucial importance for both the design and the operation of nuclear reactors. Safety analysis usually entails the simulation of several selected postulated accidents, which can be divided into two main categories, namely reactivity insertion accident (RIA) and loss of flow accident (LOFA). In this paper, thermal-hydraulic simulations of fast LOFA accident were carried out on the new core configuration of the material test research reactor NUR. For this purpose, the nuclear reactor analysis PARET code was used to determine the reactor performance by calculating the reactor power, the reactivity and the temperatures of different components (fuel, clad and coolant) as a function of time. It was observed that during the transient the maximum clad temperature remained well below the critical temperature limit of 110 °C, and the maximum coolant temperature did not exceed the onset of nucleate boiling point of 120 °C. It is concluded that the reactor can be operated at full power level with sufficient safety margins with regard to such kind of transients.     

ATWS Characteristics of Super LWR with/without Alternative Action

Anticipated-transient-without-scram (ATWS) of the supercritical-pressure light water cooled thermal reactor with downward-flow water rods (Super LWR) is analyzed to clarify its safety characteristics. At loss-of-flow, heat-up of the fuel cladding is mitigated by the water rods removing heat from the fuel channels by heat conduction and supplying their coolant inventory to the fuel channels by volume expansion. The average coolant density is not sensitive to the pressure due to the small density difference between “steam” and “water” at supercritical-pressure. Closure of the coolant outlet of the once-through system causes flow stagnation that suppresses an increase in the coolant density due to an increase in the temperature. Therefore, the increase in power is small for pressurization events. The coolant density and Doppler feedbacks provide good self-controllability of the power against loss-of-flow and reactivity insertion. An alternative action is not needed either to satisfy the safety criteria or to achieve a high-temperature stable condition for all ATWS events. Initiating the automatic depressurization system is a good alternative action that induces a strong core coolant flow and inserts a negative reactivity. It provides an additional safety margin for the ATWS events. Even the high core power rating of the Super LWR has excellent ATWS characteristics, providing a key reactor design advantage.     

Full-scale modelling of the MNSR reactor to simulate normal operation, transients and reactivity insertion accidents under natural circulation conditions using the thermal hydraulic code ATHLET

A full-scale ATHLET system model for the Syrian miniature neutron source reactor (MNSR) has been developed. The model represents all reactor components of primary and secondary loops with the corresponding neutronics and thermal hydraulic characteristics. Under the MNSR operation conditions of natural circulation, normal operation, step reactivity transients and reactivity insertion accidents have been simulated. The analyses indicate the capability of ATHLET to simulate MNSR dynamic and thermal hydraulic behaviour and particularly to calculate the core coolant velocity of prevailing natural circulation in presence of the strong negative reactivity feed back of coolant temperature. The predicted time distribution of reactor power, core inlet and outlet coolant temperature follow closely the measured data for the quasi steady and transient states. However, sensitivity analyses indicate the influence of pressure form loss coefficients at core inlet and outlet on the results. The analysis of reactivity accidents represented by the insertion of large reactivity, demonstrates the high inherent safety features of MNSR. Even in case of insertion of total available cold excess reactivity without scram, the high negative reactivity feedback of moderator temperature limits power excursion and avoids consequently the escalation of clad temperature to the level of onset of sub-cooled void formation. The calculated peak power in this case agrees well with the data reported in the safety analysis report. The ATHLET code had not previously been assessed under these conditions. The results of this comprehensive analysis ensure the ability of the code to test some conceptual design modifications of MNSR's cooling system aiming the improvement of core cooling conditions to increase the maximum continuous reactor operation time allowing more effective use of MNSR for irradiation purposes.     

A study on reactivity insertion controlled LMR cores with metallic fuel

An inherently safe core concept with metallic fuel for sodium cooled fast reactor is proposed that has a negative void reactivity at the loss of coolant events without scram as well as a small excess reactivity during the operation cycle. The relationship of sodium void reactivities and burn-up reactivities to different core configurations has been studied quantitatively to clarify the core concept for large metallic fuel reactors. It has shown that the sodium void reactivity is greatly dependent on the core shapes while the excess reactivity is on the fuel compositions. It has also indicated that the core configuration that enables to enhance the neutron streaming through the region above the active core at coolant voiding is most effective to decrease sodium void reactivity.

A 3000 MWt core composed of the flat inner core and annular outer core where the fuel volume fraction is relatively high and the sodium plenum is placed just above the active core region has been selected as a candidate core.

The maximum excess reactivity of the candidate core at UTOP is about 0.4 $ and it can be reduced to approximately zero by power or inlet temperature adjustment during the operation cycle, meanwhile the sodium void reactivity is as low as -1.3 $ in negative that is enough to prevent ULOF sequences.     

Reactor core design optimization of the 200 MWt Pb–Bi cooled fast reactor for hydrogen production

In this study reactor core geometrical optimization of 200 MWt Pb–Bi cooled long life fast reactor for hydrogen production has been conducted. The reactor life time is 20 years and the fuel type is UN-PuN. Geometrical core configurations considered in this study are balance, pancake and tall cylindrical cores. For the hydrogen production unit we adopt steam membrane reforming hydrogen gas production. The optimum operating temperature for the catalytic reaction is 540 °C. Fast reactor design optimization calculation was run by using FI-ITB-CHI software package. The design criteria were restricted by the multiplication factor that should be less than 1.002, the average outlet coolant temperature 550 °C and the maximum coolant outlet temperature less than 700 °C. By taking into account of the hydrogen production as well as corrosion resulting from Pb–Bi, the balance cylindrical geometrical core design with diameter and height of the active core of 157 cm each, the inlet coolant temperature of 350 °C and the coolant flow rate of 7000 kg/s were preferred as the best design parameters.     

Sodium cooled small fast long-life reactor “4S”

CRIEPI and Toshiba Corp. have been exploring to realize a small-sized nuclear reactor for the needs of dispersed energy source and multi-purpose reactor. A conceptual design of 4S (Super-Safe, Small and Simple) reactor is proposed to meet the following design requirements: (1) All temperature feedback reactivity coefficients including whole core sodium void reactivity are negative; (2) The core integrity is secured against all anticipated transient without reactor scram; (3) No emergency power nor active mitigating system is required; (4) The reactivity core lifetime is more than 10 years. The 4S reactor is a metallic fueled sodium cooled fast reactor. A target of an electrical output is 10–50 MW. A remarkable feature of 4S is that its reactivity is not controlled by neutron absorber rods but by neutron reflectors to cope with a long core lifetime and a negative coolant void reactivity.

This study includes a design consideration of 4S. Design discussions are mainly focused on various core designs to meet above requirements. A tall core active height is adopted to gain long core lifetime. An averaged fuel burn-up is tried to be increased up to 100 GWd/ton from a point of economic view. The reference 4S designs are 10 MWe (30 years core lifetime) and 50 MWe (10 years core lifetime).     

Sensitivity of reactivity insertion limits with respect to safety parameters in a typical MTR

The sensitivity of various safety parameters, affecting the reactivity insertion limits imposed by clad melting temperature for a typical pool type research reactor, have been investigated in this work. The analysis was done for low enriched uranium (LEU) core with scram disabled conditions. The temperature coefficients of fuel and coolant, void/density coefficient and β_eff were individually varied and the reactor behavior for different ramp reactivity transients was studied. In this work ramp reactivity insertions from 1.6 to 2 $/0.5 s were selected and peak power, maximum fuel, clad and coolant temperatures were determined. Results show that peak power decreases with an increase in the Doppler coefficient of reactivity. However, it rises with an increase in the reactivity insertion. Core remains insensitive to the coolant temperature coefficient of reactivity for ramps in the range of 1.6–1.9/0.5 s. Peak power decreases with an increase in the void coefficient of reactivity (0.1 $/%void to 0.8 $/%void). With a decrease in the void coefficient of reactivity, the maximum fuel and clad temperatures show a non-linear rise. Power and temperature peaks in the transient are sensitive to the values of β_eff. Finally, it can be concluded that LEU is a safe core due to its smaller β_eff, larger Doppler coefficient and void coefficient of reactivity. It is inferred through this work that reactivity insertion limits of LEU core are quite insensitive to β_eff, the Doppler coefficient and the coolant temperature coefficient of reactivity. They are highly sensitive to the change of the void coefficient of reactivity in the core.     

Innovations in the ENHS reactor design and fuel cycle

A number of approaches were explored for improving characteristics of the encapsulated nuclear heat source (ENHS) reactor and its fuel cycle, including: increasing the ENHS module power, power density and the specific power, making the core design insensitive to the actinides composition variation with number of fuel recycling and reducing the positive void coefficient of reactivity. Design innovations examined for power increase include intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) design optimization, riser diameter optimization, introducing a flow partition inside the riser, increasing the cooling time of the LWR discharged TRU, increasing the minor actinides' concentration in the loaded fuel and split-enrichment for power flattening. Another design innovation described utilizes a unique synergism between the use of MA and the design of reduced power ENHS cores.

Also described is a radically different ENHS reactor concept that has a solid core from which heat pipes transport the fission power to a coolant circulating around the reflector. Promising features of this design concept include enhanced decay heat removal capability; no positive void reactivity coefficient; no direct contact between the fuel clad and the coolant; a core that is more robust for transportation; higher coolant temperature potentially offering higher energy conversion efficiency and hydrogen production capability.     

Noise analysis performed at the sodium cooled power reactor KNK I for malfunction diagnosis and plant surveillance

In order to use neutron noise analysis as an effective tool for early malfunction detection it is necessary to identify the driving forces and to calculate their contributions to the power fluctuations. In this paper the influence of a considerable number of measured noise sources on neutron noise within a large frequency range (10⁻³ Hz to 10³ Hz) is investigated for the sodium cooled power reactor KNK I (thermal core, 58 MW_th).

The experimental basis for the analysis is numerous records of the following signals at various power levels: neutron noise which has been measured with an in-core fission chamber and 3 ex-core ionisation chambers; the sodium inlet temperature and the coolant flow in both primary coolant loops and the movement of the control rods. In addition signals from acoustic-, seismic- and pressure transducers and the coolant outlet temperature were collected.

The influence of the thermohydraulic- and of the control system on neutron noise has also been calculated by means of the relations for linear and multiple-input systems. Important for this analysis is the reactivity-power transfer function. Calculations of this function could be confirmed by measurements using a pseudo-random binary signal as reactivity input.

The following results were obtained from the analysis of the auto-power spectral densities of the neutron flux: Fluctuations of the coolant inlet temperature and the coolant flow are relatively small sources for neutron noise. However, reactivity adjustments resulting from the automatic control system because of the inherent instability of the reactor turned out to be an important driving force.

The influence of still unknown driving forces increased considerably with the reactor power. Since the coolant flow was proportional to the reactor power in order to keep the coolant temperature constant, this result indicates that turbulent flow must have induced stochastical movements of core components. These movements are considered to have mainly caused the unknown reactivity driving forces. Their magnitude could be determined reliably only in the frequency range, in which external feedback mechanisms through the primary coolant system were negligible. For 30 to 50 % reactor power the contribution was about 30 % (for f > 5·10⁻³ Hz) and for full power it increased to about 80 % (for f > 5·10⁻² Hz) of the measured neutron noise. For frequencies > 5 Hz the white detection noise prevails. Single peaks in this frequency region could be explained by coherence function investigations between in-core and ex-core neutron detector signals and by correlation of these signals with displacement- and pressure fluctuations.

Though the measured neutron noise could not be unambiguously related to driving forces, the combination of analytical and empirical methods makes the results also applicable for the design of surveillance techniques for other sodium cooled reactors (e.g. LMFBRs). Examples for possible applications are given.     

Effect of Zirconium-Hydride Layers on Reducing Coolant Void Reactivity of Steam Cooled Fast Breeder Reactors

Abstract

The introduction of zirconium-hydride (ZrH_1.7) layer between the seed and blanket is very effective in reducing the coolant-void reactivity of steam-cooled FBR. The void reactivity reduction is attributed to the rapid increase of neutron absorption and to the decrease of neutron production in the blanket due to the moderation through the layer. The reason is that the neutron multiplication factor decreases, reflecting the neutron balance of the whole core. It is effective even the layer thickness is 1 or 2 cm. Compared with the conventional uniform introduction of this moderator into the seed, the fixed layer concept is more effective in reducing void reactivity and hardly deteriorate the breeding ratio. The negative void reactivity is proved for the non-flat large-sized radial heterogeneous core where the layers are placed between the seeds and blankets. The neutron absorption rate increases, the fast fission rate decreases in the central, inner and radial blankets.     

Safety analysis of a supercritical-pressure water-cooled fast reactor under supercritical pressure

The supercritical-pressure water-cooled fast reactor (SWFR) is a fast spectrum supercritical water-cooled reactor (SCWR) studied by the University of Tokyo. The SWFR is designed as a two-pass core with an outlet temperature 500 °C. The SWFR has fuel channels cooled by downward flow, higher power density, and smaller coolant density reactivity feedback compared with Super LWR. This paper describes the safety analyses of abnormal events for the SWFR. SPRAT-F code is used for the safety analysis at supercritical pressure considering the downward flow cooled seed fuel channel. This code is based on a 1-D node junction model with point kinetics and decay heat calculations. Flow redistribution among parallel paths is calculated by pressure-loss balance and momentum conservation. The initiating events are selected from those of LWRs. For the safety analysis, nine abnormal transients and four accidents are selected with considering types of abnormality. By the numerical analyses, it was found that the loss of flow events can be mitigated by the “water source” effect of the downward flow blanket channels in the abnormal transients and accidents. All the abnormal events satisfy the criteria with margin.     

一体化小型氟盐冷却高温堆瞬态特性分析

根据下一代核能系统的发展目标,提出了采用自然循环的一体化小型氟盐冷却高温堆的概念。利用修改后的RELAR5-MS系统分析程序,建立了一体化小型氟盐冷却高温堆模型,并得到其稳态特性参数。在此基础上,对其在满功率运行状态下的反应性引入事故和失热阱事故进行了分析。分析计算表明,在反应性事故工况下,由于自然循环的存在,堆芯冷却剂流量随着堆芯温度发生动态变化,最终达到新的稳态,燃料棒和冷却剂温度均处于安全限值范围内。在失热阱事故下,反应堆负反馈的特性使得堆芯功率逐渐降低并实现自动停堆,即使不考虑余热排出系统的作用,燃料组件和冷却剂温度上升缓慢,在140 h内,燃料棒和冷却剂温度均处于全限值范围内。结果表明,一回路采用自然循环冷却的一体化小型氟盐冷却高温堆具有良好的固有安全性。     

Heterogeneous cores for improved safety performance: A case study: The supercritical water fast reactor

Light water reactor (LWR) technology is nowadays the most successful commercial application of fission reactors for the production of electricity. However, in the next few years, nuclear industry will have to face new and demanding challenges: the need for sustainable and cheap sources of energy, the need for public acceptance, the need for even higher safety standards, the need to minimize the waste production are only a few examples. It is for these very reasons that a few next generation nuclear reactor concepts were selected for extensive research and development; super critical water reactors are among them. The use of a supercritical coolant would allow for higher thermal efficiencies and a more compact plant design, since steam generators, or steam separators and driers would not be needed, hence achieving a better economy. Moreover, because of the high heat capacity of supercritical water, relatively less coolant would be needed to refrigerate the reactor, therefore the feasibility to design a water cooled fast reactor: the supercritical water fast reactor (SCFR). This system presents unique features combining well-known fast and light water reactor characteristics in one design (e.g. a tendency to a positive void reactivity coefficient together with loss of coolant accident – LOCAs as a design basis accident). The core is in fact loaded with highly enriched MOX fuel (average plutonium content of 23%), and presents a peculiar and significant geometrical and material heterogeneity (use of radial and axial blankets, solid moderator layers, 12 different enrichment zones). The safety analysis of this very complex core layout, together with the optimization of the void reactivity effect through core design, is the main objective of this work.     

Measurements of the isothermal,power and temperature reactivity coefficients of the IPR-R1 TRIGA reactor

The aim of this paper is to present the experimental results of the isothermal, power and temperature coefficients of reactivity of the IPR-R1 TRIGA reactor at the Nuclear Technology Development Center – CDTN in Brazil. The measured isothermal reactivity coefficient, in the temperature range measured, was −0.5 ¢/°C, and the reactivity measurements were performed at 10 W to eliminate nuclear heating. The reactor forced cooling system was turned off during the measurements. When the reactor is at zero power there is no sensible heat being released in the fuel, and the entire reactor core can be characterized by a single temperature. The power coefficient of reactivity obtained was approximately −0.63 ¢/kW, and the temperature reactivity coefficient of the reactor was −0.8 ¢/°C. It was noted that the rise in the coolant temperature has contributed only with a small fraction to the observed negative effect of the reactivity. The power defect, which is the change in reactivity taking place between zero power and full power (250 kW), was 1.6 $. Because of the prompt negative temperature coefficient, a significant amount of reactivity is needed to overcome temperature and allow the reactor to operate at the higher power levels in steady state.