Feasibility Study of a Soluble Boron–Free Small Modular Integral Pressurized Water Reactor

Mart, Justin R.; Klein, Andrew C.; Soldatov, A. I.

doi:10.13182/nt13-135

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…235 U enrichment and a 5.72 kW/ft linear power, and approximately 48 months with 4.9% 235 U enrichment and a 2.28 kW/ft linear power. The discharge burnup was consistent with estimates in the literature for cores of similar size (Mart, Klein, and Soldatov 2014).…”

Section: /27supporting

confidence: 88%

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Impact of thermal spectrum small modular reactors on performance of once-through nuclear fuel cycles with low-enriched uranium

Brown

Worrall

Todosow

2017

Annals of Nuclear Energy

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Small modular reactors (SMRs) may offer potential benefits relative to large light water reactors, such as enhanced flexibility in deployment and operation. However, it is vital to understand the holistic impact of SMRs on nuclear fuel cycle performance. The focus of this paper is the fuel cycle impacts of light water SMRs in a once-through fuel cycle with low-enriched uranium fuel. A key objective of this paper is to describe preliminary neutronics and fuel cycle analyses conducted in support of the US Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, Fuel Cycle Options Campaign. The hypothetical light water SMR example case considered in these preliminary scoping studies is a "cartridge type" one-batch core with slightly less than 5.0% enrichment. The high-level issues identified and preliminary scoping calculations in this paper are intended to inform decision makers regarding potential fuel cycle impacts of one-batch thermal-spectrum SMRs. In particular, this paper highlights the impact of increased neutron leakage and a reduced number of batches on the achievable burnup of the reactor. Fuel cycle performance metrics for the simplified example SMR analyzed herein are compared with those for a conventional three-batch light water reactor (LWR) in the following areas: nuclear waste management, environmental impact,

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Section: /27supporting

confidence: 88%

“…Note that the AP1000 average linear power is consistent with some recent scoping analyses of SMRs (Mart, Klein, and Soldatov 2014). 17/27…”

Section: /27supporting

confidence: 87%

Impact of thermal spectrum small modular reactors on performance of once-through nuclear fuel cycles with low-enriched uranium

Brown

Worrall

Todosow

2017

Annals of Nuclear Energy

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“…The fuel temperature is taken as 900 K, and the coolant temperature is set as 600 K. It can be observed that the CR value is larger than 1.02 throughout the first year. 35 Additionally, utilization of burnable absorbers seems to be another promising solution. The k eff value begins to decline at around 2 years when the accumulation of FPs counteracts the fissile breeding.…”

Section: Conceptual Design Of 3d Reactormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Soluble boron could be a possible solution to alleviating the large control rod worth at cold state, but it adds to the economic cost since additional piping and the chemical volume control system are introduced. 35 Additionally, utilization of burnable absorbers seems to be another promising solution. 36 Figure 15 presents the normalized radial power distribution at BOC, middle of cycle (MOC), and EOC.…”

Section: Conceptual Design Of 3d Reactormentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptual design of an innovative reduced moderation thorium‐fueled small modular reactor with heavy‐water coolant

et al. 2019

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Summary This paper presents an innovative conceptual design for small modular reactors, the reduced‐moderation small modular reactor (RMSMR), for the sustainable use of nuclear resources. The concept is established by a modification of the well‐understood pressurized water reactor technology. A reduced‐moderation lattice and heavy‐water coolant are used to yield an epithermal‐to‐fast neutron spectrum, which is beneficial for attaining a large conversion ratio and reducing the burnup reactivity swing throughout the core lifetime. Two‐dimensional pin cell and three‐dimensional core burnup calculations are performed to systematically analyze the neutronics influences of important parameters, such as the coolant type, moderator‐to‐fuel ratio, and fuel type. The RMSMR adopts a three‐zone uranium‐thorium dioxide fuel configuration to flatten the power distribution and ensure a negative void coefficient. The radial and axial blanket regions are found to enhance the breeding effect. The proposed RMSMR can sustain power generation of 100 MWe for 7 years without refueling and achieve a conversion ratio of 0.85 at the end of the cycle. Numerical simulations indicate that the proposed concept has satisfactory shutdown margins and reactivity coefficients and conservative thermal‐hydraulic safety. The RMSMR may be a promising candidate to fill the gap between light‐water reactors and fast breeder reactors.

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“…Thus, soluble boron‐free SMPWR designs rely only on control rods (CRs) and burnable absorbers (BAs) to achieve long‐cycle operation by suppressing the excess reactivity. Compared with boron, CRs and BAs are suitable to control the local power but not the global power; thus, they can negatively impact the axial power profile, creating power distortion and undesirable power peaks 4 . These effects eventually lead to reduced operating margin and are challenging to be overcome.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptual design of long‐cycle boron‐free small modular pressurized water reactor with control rod operation

et al. 2020

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Summary This paper presents a new conceptual design of soluble‐boron‐free small modular pressurized water reactor (SMPWR) core with the following singular features: long operation cycle, axially heterogeneous adjuster control rods, and ring‐type burnable absorbers (R‐BAs) coated on the outside of cladding materials. The core loads 37 Westinghouse‐type 17 × 17 fuel assemblies (FAs) of active fuel height 200 cm and produces 180 MW of nominal thermal power during a cycle length of 1555 effective full power days (EFPDs). Three types of burnable absorbers (BAs) are used to address the excess reactivity and obtain a long cycle: 2 w/o and 8 w/o enriched Gd2O3 integral‐type BA (IBA), natural gadolinium R‐BA, and 80 w/o enriched 10B Al2O3/B4C wet annular burnable absorber (WABA). Two types of 200 cm long axially heterogeneous adjuster control rods are used to control the reactivity and the offset in axial power distribution. The first rod type adopts HfB2 with 80 w/o enriched 10B for the bottom 140 cm and stainless steel for the top 60 cm. The second rod type uses HfB2 (natural boron) for the bottom 100 cm and HfB2 (80 w/o enriched 10B) for the top 100 cm. A detailed safety parameter analysis is conducted to verify the imposed design limits, namely, axial shape index of less than ±0.4, 3D power peaking factor of smaller than 5.09, required shutdown margin of greater than 3000 pcm, and negative isothermal temperature coefficient during the entire reactor operation. It is successfully demonstrated that the proposed novel SMPWR design satisfies all the design limits and the target cycle length of 1500 EFPDs.

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Feasibility Study of a Soluble Boron–Free Small Modular Integral Pressurized Water Reactor

Cited by 15 publications

References 5 publications

Impact of thermal spectrum small modular reactors on performance of once-through nuclear fuel cycles with low-enriched uranium

Impact of thermal spectrum small modular reactors on performance of once-through nuclear fuel cycles with low-enriched uranium

Conceptual design of an innovative reduced moderation thorium‐fueled small modular reactor with heavy‐water coolant

Conceptual design of long‐cycle boron‐free small modular pressurized water reactor with control rod operation

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