High-Power-Density Annular Fuel for Pressurized Water Reactors: Manufacturing Costs and Economic Benefits

Lahoda, Edward J.; Mazzoccoli, Jason P.; Beccherle, Julien

doi:10.13182/nt07-a3887

Cited by 18 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Interestingly, Internally Cooled Annular Fuel (ICAF) would not have the same hypothesized fabrication penalty as TID, as studies have been performed investigating not only the feasibility of manufacturing such a fuel form, but the cost of doing so. In fact, the calculated fabrication penalty for ICAF is so small as to be negligible [Lahoda et al, 2007]. Note, however, that these estimates were for U-235, not TRU, enriched LWR fuel.…”

Section: Economic Factors For Implementing Pin Type or Icaf Coresmentioning

confidence: 90%

Optimized Core Design of a Supercritical Carbon Dioxide-Cooled Fast Reactor

2008

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Spurred by the renewed interest in nuclear power, Gas-cooled Fast Reactors (GFRs) have received increasing attention in the past decade. Motivated by the goals of the Generation-IV International Forum (GIF), a GFR cooled by supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO 2 ), fueled with Light Water Reactor spent fuel transuranics, and directly coupled with a Brayton cycle is under investigation as part of a larger research effort at MIT. While the original GFR chosen by the GIF is a 600MWh version using Helium as a coolant, the work presented here is for a 2400 MWd, core using S-CO 2 as a coolant, which has comparable thermal efficiency (-45%) at much lower temperatures (650"C v. 850 0 C) A reactor core for use in this direct cycle S-CO 2 GFR has been designed which satisfies established neutronic and thermal-hydraulic steady state design criteria, while concurrently supporting the Gen-IV criteria of sustainability, safety, proliferation, and economics. Use of innovative Tube-in-Duct (TID) fuel has been central to accomplishing this objective, as it provides a higher fuel volume fraction and lower fuel temperatures and pressure drop when compared to traditional pin-type fuel. Further, this large fuel volume fraction allows for a large enough heavy metal loading for a sustainable core lifetime without the need for external blankets, enhancing the proliferation resistance of such an approach.Use of Beryllium Oxide (BeO) as a diluent is explored as a means for both power shaping and coolant void reactivity (CVR) reduction in fast reactors. Results show that relatively flat power profiles can be maintained throughout a batch-loaded "battery" core life using a combination of enrichment and diluent zoning, due to the slight moderating effect of the BeO. Combining BeO diluent with the innovative strategy of using a thick volume of S-CO 2 coolant as the radial reflector yields negative CVR values throughout core life, a rare, if not unique accomplishment for fast reactors. The ability to maintain negative CVR comes from a combination of the effects of spectral softening due to the BeO diluent and the enhanced leakage upon voiding of the S-CO 2 radial reflector.In support of assessing the neutronic self-controllability of this core, a simple first-order steady state design metric is developed, modified from other established methodology to suit the uniqueness of this core concept. The results of this analysis show that the core will passively shut itself down without violation of established core thermal limits in the event of several limiting Anticipated Transients Without SCRAM (ATWS) scenarios, except for a Loss of Coolant Without SCRAM at End of Core life. Since most of the requisites for passive core shutdown have been demonstrated within the parameter uncertainties of current estimates, the candidate core design is deemed sufficiently safe. Further, design solutions for fixing this deficiency are proposed.Alternative cores using traditional pin-type fuel and innovative Internally-Cooled Annular Fuel (ICAF) have also be...

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Section: Economic Factors For Implementing Pin Type or Icaf Coresmentioning

confidence: 90%

Optimized Core Design of a Supercritical Carbon Dioxide-Cooled Fast Reactor

2008

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“…Another similarity of both reactor is it use the solid formed fuel like pellets. Hejzlar [37] review annular fuel for PWR to achieve power density uprate while maintaining the safety of reactor while Edward [38] more talk about the manufacturing cost and economic benefits. Many of the following research regarding the fuel of PWR take power density and safety aspect as the main objective, for example the implementation of high conversion of Th-U233 fuel cycle in the PWR lead to significant improvement in natural resource usage and hold the cost [39].…”

Section: System Boundary and Reactor Type Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative assessment of the environmental impact of nuclear power plant technology using life cycle assessment approach: A review

Pratiwi,

Nasruddin,

Sasongko

2023

IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci.

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Nuclear power plants (NPP) are being considered as an alternative energy that could reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, there are various challenges that need to be addressed regarding the variation of current nuclear technology such as environmental impact issues. To ensure the sustainability and effectiveness of nuclear power plants technology, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach can be used to study the environmental impacts of the nuclear power plant. LCA is a method for evaluating the environmental impact of a product or process from start to finish. By conducting a preliminary LCA study of each Nuclear Power Plant technologies, the environmental impacts of the stages of construction, operation, and management of radioactive waste can be understood. This study can also help compare the environmental impacts of nuclear power plants with other energy technologies. This preliminary study will review the environmental impact from pressurized water reactor, boiling water reactor, molten salt reactor, and compare with conventional coal power plant to provide compact summary of the technology. The results of the LCA study can help identify areas that require more attention in the development of nuclear power plants in Indonesia.

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“…The annular fuel has been proposed as one of the options to achieve higher power density, larger safety margin, and reduced electricity generation cost (Feng et al, 2007;Lahoda et al, 2007). The annular fuel, mainly utilized in pressurized water reactors, is less adopted in generation IV reactors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal-hydraulic characteristics in inner and outer wire-wrapped for a fast reactor annular fuel assembly

et al. 2022

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The annular fuel has dual-cooled surfaces internally and externally. Compared with traditional cylindrical fuel, the inner flow field is introduced on the annular fuel assembly, and wire-wrapped can influence the inner flow field. In order to research and compare the effect of wire-wrapped on the sub-channels and inner flow field of the fast reactor annular fuel assembly, thermal-hydraulic properties of the fast reactor annular fuel assembly with the inner and outer wire-wrapped are investigated in this research. The flow, heat transfer, and mechanical properties are analyzed, including temperature, transverse velocity, pressure drop, and thermal stress. The temperature of three sub-channels is the key that influences the temperature characteristics. The wire-wrapped reduces the coolant temperature gradient, flattens the coolant outlet temperature, and makes the coolant outlet temperature more uniform. The transverse velocity of coolant in the sub-channels is about three times that of in the inner flow field. From the perspective of the inner flow field, the increase in the number of wire-wrapped leads to an increase in transverse velocity. The number of wire-wrapped is not as good as possible from the perspective of sub-channels. The pressure drop of the sub-channels is larger than the pressure drop of the inner flow field. No matter the sub-channels or the inner flow field, the increase in the number of wire-wrapped will cause an increase in the pressure drop. The thermal-hydraulic properties of one inner and outer wire-wrapped are better than other models. The stress in the cladding is about 1.75 times the stress in the annular fuel rod, and the stress in the inner cladding is higher than that in the outer cladding. The research provides a reference for the optimization design of the fuel assembly.

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High-Power-Density Annular Fuel for Pressurized Water Reactors: Manufacturing Costs and Economic Benefits

Cited by 18 publications

References 1 publication

Optimized Core Design of a Supercritical Carbon Dioxide-Cooled Fast Reactor

Optimized Core Design of a Supercritical Carbon Dioxide-Cooled Fast Reactor

Comparative assessment of the environmental impact of nuclear power plant technology using life cycle assessment approach: A review

Thermal-hydraulic characteristics in inner and outer wire-wrapped for a fast reactor annular fuel assembly

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