scholarly journals New Reactor Safety Measures for the European Sodium Fast Reactor. Part II: Preliminary Assessment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Guidez ◽  
Janos Bodi ◽  
Konstantin Mikityuk ◽  
Enrico Girardi ◽  
Jeremy Bittan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fast Reactor ◽  
Heat Removal ◽  
Reactor Safety ◽  
Preliminary Assessment ◽  
Safety Measures ◽  
Decay Heat ◽  
European Project ◽  
Sodium Fast Reactor ◽  
Core Catcher ◽  
Gen Iv

Abstract The European project ESFR SMART offers innovative options of a sodium fast reactor to improve its safety. This paper explains the results of preliminary calculations made of the main options to verify the big lines of their feasibility. Design propositions and calculations are here provided of following innovative options: removal of the safety vessel, innovative decay heat removal systems, core catcher, thermal pumps and secondary loops. In conclusion, all these options seem able to fulfil the big lines of new safety rules for GEN-IV reactors. A status of the R&D necessary to validate these new options is also proposed.

New Reactor Safety Measures for the European Sodium Fast Reactor - Part I: Conceptual Design

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Guidez ◽  
Janos Bodi ◽  
Konstantin Mikityuk ◽  
Enrico Girardi ◽  
Bernard Carluec
Keyword(s):  
Fast Reactor ◽  
Heat Removal ◽  
Thermal Inertia ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Reactor Safety ◽  
Fukushima Accident ◽  
Safety Level ◽  
Safety Measures ◽  
Sodium Fast Reactor ◽  
High Thermal Inertia

Abstract Following up the previous CP-ESFR project, the ESFR-SMART project considers the safety objectives envisaged for Generation-IV reactors, taking into account the lessons learned from the Fukushima accident, in order to increase the safety level of the European Sodium Fast Reactor (ESFR). In accordance with these objectives, guidelines have been defined to drive the ESFR-SMART developments, mainly simplifying the design and using all the positive features of Sodium Fast Reactors (SFR), such as low coolant pressure, efficiency of natural convection, possibility of decay heat removal (DHR) by atmospheric air, high thermal inertia and long grace period before a human intervention is needed. In this paper, a set of new ambitious safety measures is introduced for further evaluation within the project. The proposed set aims at consistency with the main lines of safety evolutions since the Fukushima accident, but it does not yet constitute the final comprehensive safety analysis. The paper gives a first review of the new propositions to enhance the ESFR safety, leading to a simplified reactor, forgiving and including a lot of passivity. This first version is supported by the various project tasks in order to assess the relevance of the whole design in comparison to the final safety objectives.

Analysis of ESFR Decay Heat Removal Systems in Protected Station Blackout

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janos Bodi ◽  
Alexander Ponomarev ◽  
Evaldas Bubelis ◽  
Konstantin Mikityuk
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Fast Reactor ◽  
Heat Removal ◽  
Current Paper ◽  
Decay Heat ◽  
Sodium Fast Reactor ◽  
Station Blackout ◽  
Safety Assessments ◽  
The Individual

Abstract As part of the ESFR-SMART project, safety assessments are being conducted on the updated European Sodium Fast Reactor (ESFR) design. An important part of the study is the evaluation of the reactor's behavior within hypothetical accidental conditions to assess and ensure that the accident would not lead to unexpected and disastrous events. In the current paper, the analyzed accidental scenario is the so called Protected Station Blackout (PSBO), where the offsite power is lost for the power plant, simulated by using the TRACE and SIM-SFR system codes. The assessment started from the simulation of the reactor behavior without the decay heat removal systems (DHRS). Following this, calculations of multiple DHRS arrangements have been performed to evaluate the individual and combined efficiency of the systems. Where it was possible, the results from the two system codes have been compared to show the consistency of the separate calculations. Through this study, the design of the DHRSs proposed at the beginning of the project have been investigated, and certain recommendations have been made for further improvement of the DHRS systems performance.

scholarly journals ESFR-SMART Core Safety Measures and Their Preliminary Assessment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrei Rineiski ◽  
Clément Mériot ◽  
Marco Marchetti ◽  
Jiri Krepel ◽  
Christine Coquelet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fast Reactor ◽  
Severe Accident ◽  
Minor Actinides ◽  
Preliminary Assessment ◽  
Safety Measures ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
The Core ◽  
Severe Accidents ◽  
Sodium Fast Reactor ◽  
Void Effect

Abstract A large 3600 MW-thermal European Sodium Fast Reactor (ESFR) concept has been studied in Horizon-2020 ESFR-SMART (ESFR Safety Measures Assessment and Research Tools) project since September 2017, following an earlier EURATOM project, CP-ESFR. In the paper, we describe new ESFR core safety measures focused on prevention and mitigation of severe accidents. In particular, we propose a new core configuration for reducing the sodium void effect, introduce passive shutdown systems, and implement special paths in the core for facilitation of molten fuel discharge in order to avoid re-criticalities after a hypothetical severe accident. We describe and assess the control and shutdown system, and consider options for burning minor actinides.

Optimization of the European Sodium Fast Reactor Secondary Sodium Loop as Part of the ESFR-SMART Project

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Guidez ◽  
Janos Bodi ◽  
Konstantin Mikityuk ◽  
Enrico Girardi
Keyword(s):  
Fast Reactor ◽  
Reactor Safety ◽  
Secondary Circuit ◽  
Safety Measures ◽  
Design Option ◽  
Sodium Fast Reactor ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Research Tools

Abstract Based on feedback from existing reactors and current projects, the European Sodium Fast Reactor Safety Measures Assessment and Research Tools (ESFR SMART) project proposes an optimization of the secondary circuit with the main aim of improving safety. Besides, the optimization also leads to a simplification of the circuits and therefore to a reduction of the cost of the reactor. For the implementation of the proposed new design option, some points require further R&D to validate their feasibility.

Emergency Decay Heat Removal in a GEN-IV Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lap Y. Cheng ◽  
Hans Ludewig ◽  
Jae Jo
Keyword(s):  
Fast Reactor ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
Natural Circulation ◽  
Heat Removal ◽  
Forced Flow ◽  
Decay Heat ◽  
Conversion Unit ◽  
Station Blackout ◽  
Combination Approach ◽  
Gen Iv

A series of transient analyses using the system code RELAP5-3d has been performed to confirm the efficacy of a proposed hybrid active/passive combination approach to the decay heat removal for an advanced 2400MWt GEN-IV gas-cooled fast reactor. The accident sequence of interest is a station blackout simultaneous with a small break (10 sq.inch/0.645m2) in the reactor vessel. The analyses cover the three phases of decay heat removal in a depressurization accident: (1) forced flow cooling by the power conversion unit (PCU) coast down, (2) active forced flow cooling by a battery powered blower, and (3) passive cooling by natural circulation. The blower is part of an emergency cooling system (ECS) that by design is to sustain passive decay heat removal via natural circulation cooling 24 hours after shutdown. The RELAP5 model includes the helium-cooled reactor, the ECS (primary and secondary side), the PCU with all the rotating machinery (turbine and compressors) and the heat transfer components (recuperator, pre-cooler and inter-cooler), and the guard containment that surrounds the reactor and the PCU. The transient analysis has demonstrated the effectiveness of passive decay heat removal by natural circulation cooling when the guard containment pressure is maintained at or above 800kPa.

Decay Heat Characterization for the European Sodium Fast Reactor

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Jiménez-Carrascosa ◽  
Nuria Garcia Herranz ◽  
Jiri Krepel ◽  
Marat Margulis ◽  
Una Baker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fast Reactor ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Nuclear Data ◽  
Summation Method ◽  
Heat Power ◽  
Coupled Transport ◽  
Decay Heat ◽  
Sodium Fast Reactor ◽  
Detailed Assessment ◽  
Commercial Size

Abstract In this work a detailed assessment of the decay heat power for the commercial-size European Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (ESFR) at the end of its equilibrium cycle has been performed. The summation method has been used to compute very accurate spatial- and time-dependent decay heat by employing state-of-the-art coupled transport-depletion computational codes and nuclear data. This detailed map provides basic information for subsequent transient calculations of the ESFR. A comprehensive analysis of the decay heat has been carried out and interdependencies among decay heat and different parameters characterizing the core state prior to shutdown, such as discharge burnup or type of fuel material, have been identified. That analysis has served as a basis to develop analytic functions to reconstruct the spatial-dependent decay heat power for the ESFR for cooling times within the first day after shutdown.

S-CO2 Turbine Design for Decay Heat Removal System of Sodium Cooled Fast Reactor

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seong Kuk Cho ◽  
Jekyoung Lee ◽  
Jeong Ik Lee ◽  
Jae Eun Cha
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Fast Reactor ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Nuclear Reactors ◽  
Heat Removal ◽  
Design Code ◽  
Decay Heat ◽  
Turbine Design ◽  
Heat Removal System ◽  
Removal System

A Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) has receiving attention as one of the promising next generation nuclear reactors because it can recycle the spent nuclear fuel produced from the current commercial nuclear reactors and accomplish higher thermal efficiency than the current commercial nuclear reactors. However, after shutdown of the nuclear reactor core, the accumulated fission products of the SFR also decay and release heat via radiation within the reactor. To remove this residual heat, a decay heat removal system (DHRS) with supercritical CO2 (S-CO2) as the working fluid is suggested with a turbocharger system which achieves passive operational capability. However, for designing this system an improved S-CO2 turbine design methodology should be suggested because the existing methodology for designing the S-CO2 Brayton cycle has focused only on the compressor design near the critical point. To develop a S-CO2 turbine design methodology, the non-dimensional number based design and the 1D mean line design method were modified and suggested. The design methodology was implemented into the developed code and the code results were compared with existing turbine experimental data. The data were collected under air and S-CO2 environment. The developed code in this research showed a reasonable agreement with the experimental data. Finally using the design code, the turbocharger design for the suggested DHRS and prediction of the off design performance were carried out. As further works, more effort will be put it to expand the S-CO2 turbine test data for validating the design code and methodology.

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