Studies on advanced water-cooled reactors beyond generation III for power generation

China’s ambitious nuclear power program motivates the country’s nuclear community to develop advanced reactor concepts beyond generation III to ensure a long-term, stable, and sustainable development of nuclear power. The paper discusses some main criteria for the selection of future water-cooled reactors by considering the specific Chinese situation. Based on the suggested selection criteria, two new types of water-cooled reactors are recommended for future Chinese nuclear power generation. The high conversion pressurized water reactor utilizes the present PWR technology to a large extent. With a conversion ratio of about 0.95, the fuel utilization is increased about 5 times. This significantly improves the sustainability of fuel resources. The supercritical water-cooled reactor has favorable features in economics, sustainability and technology availability. It is a logical extension of the generation III PWR technology in China. The status of international R&D work is reviewed. A new supercritical water-cooled reactor (SCWR) core structure (the mixed reactor core) and a new fuel assembly design (two-rows FA) are proposed. The preliminary analysis using a coupled neutron-physics/thermal-hydraulics method is carried out. It shows good feasibility for the new design proposal.