Evaluation of a Versatile Experimental Salt Irradiation Loop (VESIL) inside the Advanced Test Reactor

Abou-Jaoude, Abdalla; Sterbentz, James W.; Palmer, Joe; Calderoni, P.

doi:10.2172/1511048

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Some studies have qualitatively suggested that SM-LWRs could achieve equal or lower specific capital costs (i.e., capital costs per unit of nameplate electrical generating capacity) compared to LM-LWRs [10,11]. However, quantitative meta-analyses and other quantitative studies have not supported these findings [6,12]. These quantitative studies concluded that while individual SM-LWRs are expected to have lower total capital costs per reactor or plant, their specific capital costs are likely to be significantly higher than those of LM-LWRs [6,13].…”

Section: Figure 1 Annual Capacity Additions From Commercial Nuclear P...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Labor Needs for Fleet-Scale Deployments of Large vs. Small Modular Light Water Reactors

Stewart,

Krellenstein,

Wilkinson

et al. 2024

Preprint

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The United States aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, which will require the construction of over 500 GWe of new, firm, zero-emission electrical power, with at least 200 GWe met by new nuclear generating capacity. This study compares the labor requirements for deploying 200 GWe of small modular light water reactors (SM-LWRs) and large modular light water reactors (LM-LWRs) using the Nuclear Cost Estimation Tool (NCET). Results show that deploying SM-LWRs, such as the 300 MWe SM-BWR (based on the BWRX-300) and 924 MWe MMNC (NuScale Voygr) designs, would require a significantly larger total labor force compared to LM-LWRs like the 1,117 MWe LPSR (AP1000) and 1,350 MWe LM-BWR (ABWR) designs. Deploying 200 GWe of SMBWRs would necessitate a perpetual direct construction workforce of 116,904, nearly twice that of LPSR (62,372) or LM-BWR (60,648). The analysis also found that the large modular LWR surrogate designs exhibited a slightly higher ratio of offsite to onsite work compared to the SMR surrogate designs, contrary to the purported advantage of increased offsite manufacturing for SMRs. Given the immense scale of deployment required, the potential early learning advantages of SMRs are largely offset in fleet deployment scenarios. The study concludes that LM-LWRs offer significant advantages over SM-LWRs in terms of total labor requirements for large-scale nuclear deployments.

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Section: Figure 1 Annual Capacity Additions From Commercial Nuclear P...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Labor Needs for Fleet-Scale Deployments of Large vs. Small Modular Light Water Reactors

Stewart,

Krellenstein,

Wilkinson

et al. 2024

Preprint

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“…To provide the capability for an integrated effects testing platform to study the mechanisms outlined above for MSRs, the Versatile Experimental Salt Irradiation Loop (VESIL) is currently under consideration at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) for deployment in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) [10]. A feasibility assessment of this capability is carried out in this research article.…”

Section: Ib Background On Vesilmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A schematic illustration of the loop is shown in Figure 1. Natural circulation was opted for, following an INL internal review that concluded that the development needs for a pump capable of withstanding the high neutron flux in the ATR and the corrosive salt environment would be prohibitive [10]. Two wall boundaries provide additional barriers to release.…”

Section: Ib Background On Vesilmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feasibility Assessment of a Natural-Circulation Salt Irradiation Loop in the Advanced Test Reactor

et al. 2021

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Molten-salt reactors (MSRs) will likely require some level of irradiation testing as part of their licensing basis. An ideal experiment would consider the integrated effect of neutron flux and fission product generation in addition to circulating flow conditions. The feasibility of a natural-circulation irradiation salt loop in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) is assessed here. The flow is induced by the innovative combination of gas-gaps and fin-gaps along the capsule wall to finetune radial heat conductance and therefore drive an axial temperature gradient across the experiment height. Following multiple design optimizations, a promising configuration was identified. The 45-kW experiment would generate a 0.15 m/s flow velocity with 6 kg of fuel-bearing salt. This demonstrates the possibility of generating appreciable flow rates within manageable experimental conditions (e.g., total size and heat generation). An initial assessment of species mass tracking inside the experiment was also performed to gain an understanding of radionuclide behavior within the system. Results showed that significant quantities of Xe can be extracted in the off-gas (1.7 kCi) for 8% bubble removal efficiency rate. These results highlight the potential value of such experiments. Further work will involve detailed engineering drawings and analyses of the loop, as well as more computationally expensive modeling of species mass tracking.

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“…The Versatile Experimental Salt Irradiation Loop (VESIL) shown below in Figure 1a, is a proposed fuel-bearing integrated effect experiment currently under investigation at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) [1]. This natural circulation molten salt loop would contain a fuel-bearing salt and is envisaged to be irradiated in one of the I-positions of the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coupled Thermal-Hydraulic Analysis and Species Mass Transport in a Versatile Experimental Salt Irradiation Loop (VESIL) Using CTF

Walker

Abou-Jaoude

Taylor

et al. 2021

JNE

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With the resurgence of interest in molten salt reactors, there is a need for new experiments and modeling capabilities to characterize the unique phenomena present in this fluid fuel system. A Versatile Experimental Salt Irradiation Loop (VESIL) is currently under investigation at Idaho National Laboratory to be placed in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). One of the key phenomena this proposed experiment plans to elucidate is fission product speciation in the fuel-salt and the subsequent effects this has on the fuel-salt properties, source term generation, and corrosion control. Specifically, noble gases (Xe & Kr) will bubble out to a plenum or off-gas system, and noble metals (Mo, Tc, Te, etc.) will precipitate and deposit in specific zones in the loop. This work extends the mass transfer and species interaction models in CTF (Coolant-Boiling in Rod Arrays—Two Fluids) and applies these models to give a preliminary estimation of fission product behavior in the proposed VESIL design. A noble metal–helium bubble mass transfer model is coupled with the thermal-hydraulic results from CTF to determine the effectiveness of this insoluble fission product (IFP) extraction method for VESIL. Amounts of IFP species extracted to the off-gas system and species distributions in VESIL after a 60-day ATR cycle are reported.

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Evaluation of a Versatile Experimental Salt Irradiation Loop (VESIL) inside the Advanced Test Reactor

Cited by 6 publications

References 23 publications

Evaluating Labor Needs for Fleet-Scale Deployments of Large vs. Small Modular Light Water Reactors

Evaluating Labor Needs for Fleet-Scale Deployments of Large vs. Small Modular Light Water Reactors

Feasibility Assessment of a Natural-Circulation Salt Irradiation Loop in the Advanced Test Reactor

Coupled Thermal-Hydraulic Analysis and Species Mass Transport in a Versatile Experimental Salt Irradiation Loop (VESIL) Using CTF

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