Generation IV Gas-cooled Reactor System Concepts

Transcription

1 Generation IV Gas-cooled Reactor System Concepts Technical Working Group 2 -- Gas Cooled Reactor Systems Generation IV Roadmap Session ANS Winter Meeting Reno, NV November 13,

2 People Involved in This Work Abram, Tim British Nuclear Fuels, LTD. Ball, Syd Oak Ridge National Laboratory Ballot, Bernard Framatome-ANP Carre, Franck * Commissariat a l Energie Atomique Finck, Phillip Argonne National Laboratory Fukuda, Kosaku International Atomic Energy Agency Greneche, Dominique COGEMA Hildebrandt, Phil * EMT Inc. Kadak, Andy Massachusetts Institute of Technology Kendall, Jim International Atomic Energy Agency Khalil, Hussein Argonne National Laboratory Kim, shin whan KOPEC Lensa, Werner von EURATOM / FZJ Juelich Ogawa, Masuro JAERI Royen, Jacques OECD-NEA Shenoy, Arkal General Atomics Southworth, Finis ** *** INEEL * Co-chair ** Technical Director *** Presenter 2

3 Introduction Charter- Identify and evaluate advanced gas cooled reactor system concepts for advancing the Generation IV goals A DOE RFI and team solicitations resulted in 21 reactor system concepts submitted from France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, and the U.S. The 21 concepts were consolidated into four concept sets The four concept sets have been qualitatively screened to assess their potential to achieve the generation IV goals The screening used criteria developed by the Evaluation Methodology Group in support of each goal, and measured against existing advanced light water reactor designs 3

4 Gas Cooled Thermal Reactor General Features Reference concepts used once through LEU fuel cycles TRISO fuel -- SiC and pyrolytic graphite fission product barriers Graphite moderated, helium coolant Naturally safe designs with conductive and radiative decay heat removal High temperature direct Brayton cycle power conversion Increased fuel utilization and decreased HLW due to high thermal efficiency Significant fuel cycle flexibility within a reactor design-- LEU once-through, Pu-MA single recycle, W-Pu, HEU, Th-U233 converter 4

5 Pebble Bed Reactor Systems (PBR) Five concepts submitted Reference concept MWe, 250 MWth, direct Brayton cycle Low excess reactivity (continuous on-line refueling) Shows promise for Modest gains in sustainability Significant advance towards safety goals Comparable economics 5

6 Pebbles are 60 mm PBR Fuel 6

7 PBR With IHX Turbomachinery Module Reactor Module IHX Module 7

8 Sample 1150 MWe PBR Plant Ten-Unit MPBR Plant Layout (Top View) (distances in meters) Admin 9 Equip Access Hatch 7 Equip Access Hatch Training 10 8 Equip Access 6 Hatch 4 2 Control Bldg. Maintenance Parts / Tools Primary island with reactor and IHX Turbomachinery 8

9 PBR R&D Needs Fuel qualification at higher burnups, fluences, and temperatures. Beyond design basis event behaviors (air and water ingress) Fuel manufacturing quality improvements 9

10 Prismatic Fuel Modular Reactor Systems (PMR) Five concepts submitted Reference Concept MWe, 600 MWth, direct Brayton Cycle 850 C core exit temperature LEU once-through fuel cycle Fuel cycles submitted included waste transmutation, W-Pu burner, Th-U233 converter. Shows promise for Modest gains in sustainability Significant advance towards safety goals Comparable economics 10

11 Conceptual PMR 11

12 PMR Response to Loss of Coolant 12

13 PMR R&D Needs Similar to PBR Fuel performance qualification Fuel manufacturing quality Higher temperature vessel materials qualification Turbomachinery bearings 13

14 Very High Temperature Reactor Systems (VHTR) Four concepts submitted General features of VHTR-- >900 C coolant core exit temperature prismatic core, 600 MWth, LEU once-through cycle Shows promise for Gains in sustainability and flexibility Significant advance towards safety goals Comparable economics 14

15 Motivation for VHTRs 30 % of world primary fuel use is to generate electricity 17 % of electricity uses nuclear fuel Nuclear power can offset other primary fuels in applications other than electricity VHTRs may significantly reduce liquid and gaseous fossil fuel demands 15

16 Process Heat Applications Temperature(C) 1000 Glass manufacture Cement manufacture Iron manufacture Direct reduction method with Blast furnace Electricity generation (Gas turbine) Gasification of coal Hydrogen (IS process) Hydrogen (Steam reforming ) Ethylene (naphtha, ethane) Styrene (ethylbenzene) Town gas Petroleum refineries Deesulfurization of heavy oil Application Wood pulp manufacture Urea synthesis Desalination, District heating VHTR HTGR C 850 C LMFBR LWR, HWR 320 C 550 C Nuclear Heat 16

17 Effect of temperature on Sustainability Percent of current standard (%) Thermal efficiency (%) Power cost Fission product waste Reject heat cooling water consumption 17

18 IS Process for Hydrogen Production Hydrogen Nuclear Heat Oxygen 1 H 2 2 O C 900 C 1 H O HI Rejected H 2 SO 4 + I 2 SO 2 +H 2 O Heat C I 2 I (Iodine) Circulation 2H I + I 2 + H 2 O + H 2 O H 2 SO 4 SO 2 +H 2 O S (Sulfur) Circulation SO 2 + H 2 O Water 18

19 Temperature Capability of Concepts Very High Temperature Reactor Concept Set G-9: GA-VHTR (EG&NPH) Coolant Outlet Temperature 1500 C 1200 C 1000 C HTR-10 G-17 APBR (EG& NPH) G-18: AHTR Reference (EG&NPH) G-12 PHMHR (NPH) HTTR 950 C 850 C Pebble Bed Reactor Concept Set Prismatic Modular Reactor Concept Set 700 C EG-Electrical Generation NPH-Nuclear Process Heat Applications 19

20 Reference VHTR with IHX and Hydrogen Production 20

21 VHTR R&D Needs Higher temperature fuels (e.g. ZrC instead of SiC) Higher temperature materials (e.g. ceramic structures) Passive decay heat removal systems (e.g. heat pipes) High Temperature IHX 21

22 Gas Cooled Fast Reactor Systems (GFR) Four concepts submitted No complete reference concept Novel features of the four concepts may illuminate future development pathways. Three concepts use helium coolant, one uses CO2. Rely upon recycle. May allow passive decay heat removal Show promise for Significant advance in sustainability Comparable safety performance Unclear economics 22

23 Example GFR Prismatic Fuel Coolant holes Cermet or Metmet fuel in a metallic matrix for concept G2 Cercer fuel for concept G7 Replaceable lowdensity reflector or void Replaceable outer reflector Permanent side reflector Active core 23

24 GFR R&D Needs Fuel, structural and core materials Passive safety system capabilities Recycle techniques 24

25 Summary The advanced gas-cooled thermal reactor system concepts show promise for-- Modest improvements in sustainability Significant improvement toward safety goals Comparable economics with the potential for major improvement in applications other than electricity Fast reactor concepts show-- Significant improvement toward sustainability goals Much development is needed to define promising concepts All concept sets allow high temperature process heat applications, in addition to electrical generation. The VHTR concepts allow more applications and higher efficiencies. The next step is to quantitatively assess the concept sets and define R&D scope. 25