Thermal-hydraulics, physical chemistry, and technology at nuclear power stations equipped with fast-neutron sodium-cooled reactors

Development of Sodium Coolant Technology for Fast Reactors

“…Their basic characteristics, such as the capacity in terms of impurities, differ by several-fold. The investigations of the characteristics of heat and mass transfer in cold traps on special experimental sections modeling different zones of traps and on models of prototypes which are designed at the Leipunskii Institute for Physics and Power Engineering (FEI) and OKBM Afrikantov [3] determined the approach to the design -three successively arranged zones: cooled settling tank, zone of final cool-down and isothermal filter. The test showed that when cold traps are used the sodium is effectively purified by removal of oxygen and hydrogen.…”

Sodium as a coolant for fast reactors

“…The disadvantages inherent to sodium are high chemical activity in an oxidative medium and intense interaction with water (with formation of hydrogen gas), induced radioactivity of 24 Na and 22 Na with half-life 15 h and 2.6 yr, respectively -resulted in a second loop, also with sodium, in the reactor facility. The second loop prevents the products of the interaction of water with sodium from entering the core and the effect of high pressure on the first loop.The experimental and computational-theoretical studies led to an understanding of the liquid-metal system of nuclear power facilities as a complex heterogeneous multicomponent system whose components react with the structural materials and with one another [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. …”

“…The experimental and computational-theoretical studies led to an understanding of the liquid-metal system of nuclear power facilities as a complex heterogeneous multicomponent system whose components react with the structural materials and with one another [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16].…”

“…In our country, sodium was chosen as the coolant for nuclear power plants with fast reactors because of its thermophysical properties and the simplicity of the technological operations during repair work [5][6][7]. The disadvantages inherent to sodium are high chemical activity in an oxidative medium and intense interaction with water (with formation of hydrogen gas), induced radioactivity of 24 Na and 22 Na with half-life 15 h and 2.6 yr, respectively -resulted in a second loop, also with sodium, in the reactor facility.…”