Design analysis of core assemblies for supercritical pressure conditions

Xu, Cheng; Schulenberg, Thomas S.; Bittermann, D.; Rau, P.

doi:10.1016/s0029-5493(03)00059-1

Cited by 70 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…3 Design parameters of reference fuel assembly Figure 1 shows the reference fuel assembly design of the SCWR proposed by the European Union [2]. The fuel assembly consists of fuel rods, sub-channels, moderator channels and assembly box.…”

Section: Numerical Simulation Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Extensive R&D has been conducted in Japan and European nations on various aspects of SCWR in recent years [1,2]. However, SCWR presented scientists with significant difficulties and challenges due to the complex flow channels in the core, the strong variation of the water property near the pseudo-critical point, and the high heat flux at the surface of the fuel rods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Steady-state thermal-hydraulic analysis of SCWR assembly

Liu

2008

Front. Energy Power Eng. China

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Among the six gen-IV reactor concepts recommended by the gen-IV international forum (GIF), supercritical water-cooled reactor (SCWR), the only reactor with water as coolant, achieves a high thermal efficiency and, subsequently, has economic advantages over the existing reactors due to its high outlet temperature. A thermal-hydraulic analysis of the SCWR assembly is performed in this paper using the modified COBRA-IV code. Two approaches to reduce the hot channel factor are investigated: decreasing the moderator mass flow and increasing the thermal resistance between moderator channel and its adjacent sub-channels. It is shown that heat transfer deterioration cannot be avoided in SCWR fuel assembly. It is, therefore, highly required to calculate the cladding temperature accurately and to preserve the fuel rod cladding integrity under heat transfer deterioration conditions.

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Section: Numerical Simulation Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Steady-state thermal-hydraulic analysis of SCWR assembly

Liu

2008

Front. Energy Power Eng. China

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“…In this zone the fuel assembly has Fig. 6 Example of thermal SCWR fuel assemblies (a) PWR type [15]; (b) BWR type [16]; (c) Count-current flow mode in pressure vessel Fig. 7 Scheme of the mixed SCWR core (a) Flow paths in core; (b) Fuel assembly arrangement in core a PWR-type structure, but with the co-current flow mode.…”

Section: Existing Reactor Core Designsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

2007

Front. Energy Power Eng. China

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power plays an important role in power generation and produces about 16% of the total electricity worldwide.The development of nuclear power technology can be classified into four generations. The first generation includes demonstration plants with small power capacity. Based on experience gathered from the first generation, a large number of standardized concepts of nuclear power plants (NPP) were proposed and the second-generation (GEN-II) NPP was born. Most NPPs operating nowadays belong to the second generation. After the accidents of TMI and Chernobyl intensive efforts were made to improve the safety features of secondgeneration NPP, and the third generation of nuclear power technology was developed. Compared to the second generation, the third generation has a much higher safety level. The core damage frequency (CDF) is lower than 10 −5 per reactoryear. It is expected that in the next 2-3 decades, newly constructed NPPs will mainly use reactors of GEN-III.In spite of the high safety level, GEN-III NPPs show some shortcomings related to the requirements of long-term nuclear power development. 1 Economics: continuous improvement in safety features makes the system more complicated and expensive. Economic competitiveness is strongly affected. 2 Sustainability: nearly all NPPs operating today use reactors with thermal neutron spectrum. The conversion ratio is low, e.g. in a conventional PWR the conversion ratio is about 0.6. This low conversion ratio restricts fuel utilization, which is less than 1%. For countries with limited uranium resources as China, fuel utilization is a key factor affecting the long-term nuclear power development. In addition, low fuel utilization leads to high production of nuclear waste. This would result in a more challenging task for nuclear waste management.Recently, China issued a very ambitious long-term program for nuclear power development [1]. The main reactor concepts for the next 2-3 decades have been determined. They are water-cooled reactors of generation II+ or generation III. However, the selection of reactor designs beyond GEN-III for the future nuclear power program is still open. In this paper, some criteria are suggested for the selection of future reactors. Two possible types of water cooled reactors beyond GEN-III are introduced for power generation that Abstract 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...

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“…SCWR has several key technical advantages compared to conventional water technologies that make it attractive. The main thrusts of these advantages translate into improved economics because of the increased thermodynamic efficiency and plant simplification opportunities afforded by the high-temperature, sin-gle-phase steam [2]. R&D activities are carried out for the past decades.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Primary Breeding Ratio Analysis of an Improved Supercritical Water Cooled Fast Reactor

Liu¹,

Xie²,

He³

2015

WJNST

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The purpose of the study is to analyze the breeding ratio of a supercritical water cooled fast reactor (SCFR) and to increase the breeding core of SCFR. The sensitivities of assembly parameters, core arrangements and fuel nuclide components to the breeding ratio are analyzed. In assembly parameters, the seed fuel rod diameter has higher sensitivities to the conversion ratio (CR) than the coolant tube diameter in blanket. Increasing heavy metal fraction is good to CR improvement. The CR of SCFR also increases with a reasonable core arrangement and Pu isotope mass fraction reduction in fuel, which can achieve more negative coolant void reactivity coefficient at the same time. The breeding ratio of SCFR is 1.03128 with a new core arrangement. And the coolant void reactivity coefficient is negative, which achieves a fuel breeding in initial fuel cycle.

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Design analysis of core assemblies for supercritical pressure conditions

Cited by 70 publications

References 4 publications

Steady-state thermal-hydraulic analysis of SCWR assembly

Steady-state thermal-hydraulic analysis of SCWR assembly

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

Primary Breeding Ratio Analysis of an Improved Supercritical Water Cooled Fast Reactor

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