Review of the Status of Supercritical Water Reactor Technology

Abstract

OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE OF REVIEW At the request of the AEC, an evaluation of the supercritical water reactor was made. The evaluation was to include (l) a review and summary of information on supercritical water reactors, (2) an analysis of supercritical water reactors for production of economic nuclear energy, and (3) recommendation of the necessary research and development program to carry the concept to the stage where an economic energy producer can be constructed. This report encompasses only the first part of the proposed evaluation, namely, a review and summary of the technology that has been developed to date for the use of supercritical water as the coolantmoderator and the working fluid in a supercritical water reactor system. The objective of this survey was to determine whether sufficient technology exists to perform a realistic analysis of the supercritical water reactor as a possible economic power producer. This report is not intended as an all-inclusive review of supercritical water systems. Instead its purpose is to review those aspects which were thought to be most important or crucial in a nuclear reactor. Both the classified and unclassified literature was studied, and in particular the AEC-supported work in this field was reviewed. The information necessary for such an evaluation is contained in the unclassified literature. An attempt was made to make the summary as self-sufficient as possible. Figures and parts of text have been duplicated from other reports where necessary so that the possession of the complete bibliography is not needed to follow the context of the report. In addition, comments on various aspects of the work reviewed are interjected where deemed pertinent.

Heat transfer to supercritical fluids flowing in channels—empirical correlations (survey)

“…Concepts of nuclear reactors cooled with water at supercritical pressures were studied as early as the 1950s and 1960s in the USA and Russia (Oka, 2000;Wright and Patterson, 1966;Bishop et al, 1962;Skvortsov and Feinberg, 1961;Marchaterre and Petrick, 1960;Supercritical pressure power reactor, 1959). After a 30-year break, the idea of developing nuclear reactors cooled with supercritical water became attractive again, and several countries (Canada, Germany, Japan, Russia and USA) have started to work in that direction.…”

Feasibility Study of Supercritical Light Water Cooled Reactors for Electric Power Production, Progress Report for Work Through September 2003, 2nd Annual/8th Quarterly Report

“…Therefore, we have explored an alternative design based on vertical power channels and hexagonal fuel assemblies, which may counter the shortcomings of the aforementioned approaches. This design is effectively a much-simplified version of the 1950s' Westinghouse SCR concept described by Oka [2000], and Marchaterre and Petrick [1960].…”

Review of SCWR research in Japan

“…In 1960, Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) published the report titled "Review of the status of Supercritical Water Reactor Technology" (Marchaterre 1960). It was the era when the first supercritical coal fired power plant, Philo began operation.…”