VO Kernenergie und Umwelt TU Graz Eileen Langegger,
Small Modular Nuclear Power Plants
Small Modular Reactor Advanced Reactors that produce electric power up to 300 MW, built in factories and transported as modules to utilities and sites for installation as demand arises. A nuclear option to meet the need for flexible power generation for wider range of users and applications 3
Expected Advantages 4
Is small beautiful? Small is beautiful Studies on people mattered economics Infuential essay collection of the 70s In contrast with bigger is better In nuclear energy Permanent aspiration to smaller units Nowadays stronger aside of main stream 5
Current issues Main obstacles to new build projects: High investement costs Lenghty installations Significant financial rist Other issues that are considered Safety Radioactive waste Low amounts usually Advanced technology methods Solutions exist 6
Capacity 7
Opportunities and Challenges +? - Pros Modularity Smaller investment Flexible installation Efficiency Safeguards Market opportunities Cons Licensing obstacles Lengthy licensing Competitiveness Econonomy of scale 8
Integrated Design The reactor and the primary circuit combined in a tall and narrow vessel 9
SMR classification 10
Economy Factors influencing on SMR price tag Plant 11
Economy of scales vs. multiples 12
Small and Medium Power Reactors
Miniature Nuclear Power Plants Until now NPP s increased constantly up to 1600 MWe to reduce cost per kw installed Such large NPP s are not suitable for small electrical grids in Asia, Africa and South America Large components have to be manufactured and assembled at the site Small units can be produced in modules and transported to the site and number of units can increased as required Possibility to place units underground for better protection against external events
Miniature Nuclear Power Plants Small sized reactors < 300 MWe Medium sized reactors between 300 MWe and 700 MWe Passive safety systems Integrated design: Steam generator in RPV Mainly for region with limited infrastructure and lack of electricity networks Additional application could be H2 production and desalination About 50 SMR concepts under development, 3 phases realized: being built detailed concept: nearby construction start design concept: to be emplyed between 2030 to 2050
FUJI (Internat.Consortium JP, RU,USA) minifuji: power 7 MWe, core 1,8 x 2,1 m, 90% graphite moderator 10% liquid fuel, small breeder reactor, possibilty to use Th for breeding reaction FUJI: Molten salt reactor 200 MWe, pre-project to GEN IV MSR Inherently safe, no core melt, chemical inert, possibilty for transmutation July 2010 consortium founded, aim to construct minifuji within 5-6 years Conversion factor 1
Fuji vs. minifuji 17
mpower (Babcock&Wilcox) PWR pressure vessel and steam generator in 1unit Gen 3+ Underground containment Including fuel storage for whole life time of 60 years Power 125 MWe 3 years construction time Refuelling time 4,5 years Each module operates independently Project terminated in 2017 www.babcock.com/products/modular_nuclear/ www.generationmpower.com
mpower Modular Reactor (BabcockWilcox)
NuScale Small modular reactor, each module 50 MWe Each module containment 25 m x 4,5 m diameter Pressure vessel length 14 m, diameter 3 m Steam generator and pressurizer inside PV Passive ECCS Refuelling cycle 2-4 years Construction time for 12 modules: 3 years All components workshop manufactured and transported to site Applications: Electricity Co-generation; Process steam or heat http://www.nuscalepower.com/
NuScale Modular Reactor
Integrated Helical Coil Steam Generator Steam Generator is fully integrated within the reactor pressure vessel Contained in annulus between the upper riser and the RPV shell Feed flow enters the feed plenums, flows upward through the inside of the tubes and is discharged via the steam headers Reactor coolant flows upward through the upper riser, is turned by the pressurizer baffle plate, and flows down through the helical bundle 22
Plant Layout 23
Reactor Building 24
Safety Natural Convection for Cooling Inherently safe, gravity-driven natural circulation of water over the fuel No pumps, no need for emergency generators Seismically Robust Containment is submerged in a pool of water below ground in an robust building Reactor pool attenuates ground motion and dissipates energy Simple and Small Reactor is 1/20th the size of large reactors Integrated reactor design, no large-break loss-of-coolant accidents Defense-in-Depth Multiple additional barriers to protect against the release of radiation to the environment 25
Decay heat removal 26
Westinghouse SMR Small modular reactor, simple and compact Power: 800 MWth, 225 MWe Integral PWR with all primary components in pressure vessel Passive safety systems <5% enrichment 24 month refuelling No operator intervention for 7 days http://www.westinghousenuclear.com/smr/index.htm
Westinghouse SMR Reduced fuel, resulting in reduced radioactivity amounts released in the case of an accident Passive heat removal with on-site water inventory, which relies on the natural forces of evaporation, condensation and gravity Underground containment Innovative, integral design eliminates a number of accident scenarios Improved energy security and reduction in the overall lifecycle carbon footprint when used to provide power for liquid transportation fuel from resources of oil sands, oil shale and coalto-liquid applications 28
SMART (System-integrated Modular Advanced Reactor) (Korea) 330 MWth, 100 MWe, 40 000 m³ desalinated water Life time: 60 years Load following capability Core height: 2 m 57 fuel assemblies with 17 x17 fuel rods using UO 2 less than 5 % enriched 24 control rods 6 years in-core time 8 steam generators, 4 pumps, 1 pressurizer all inside pressure vessel More details: http://smart.kaeri.re.kr/
SMART Pressure Vessel
Application Electricity and fresh water for 100.000 people 31
SMART No large RPV penetrations Less than 2 inch penetrations In-Vessel Steam Pressurizer 8 Helical Steam Generators Once through SG Produce superheated steam 4 Reactor Coolant Pumps Canned motor type Horizontally mounting 57 Fuel Assemblies Standard 17x17 UO 2 (< 5 w% U-235) w/ reduced height (2m) Performance proved at operating PWRs 32
KLT-40S Originating from Russian icebreakers Floating PWR on island 144 m x 30 m Factory built and shipped to site Two NPP s each 35 MWe or 150 MWth Passive safety systems Fuel cycle 3-4 years 40 years life time Resistant to major external event
KLT floating plant Thermal Power: 150 MWe Coolant: Light water Operational pressure: 12.7 MPa Steam temperature: 290 C 26000 h continous operation 40 years lifetime Refuelling 2,5 3 years Enrichment: < 20 % 34
Reactor Core 35
EM 2 (General Atomics) He cooled FBR 265 MWe or 500 MWth Sited underground Four modules factory built and assembled locally Pressure vessel: D: 4,6 m H: 12 m Possibility to transmute spent LWR fuel 30 years operation with same fuel http://www.ga.com/advanced-reactors
EM 2 37
Waste Burner 38
CAREM http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf33.html
CAREM start up 2019 Modular 100 MWt (27 MWe gross) PWR 12 integral steam generators For electricity generation or as a research reactor or for water desalination Entire primary coolant system within the reactor pressure vessel, selfpressurized and relying entirely on convection Fuel is standard 3.4% enriched PWR fuel in hexagonal fuel assemblies, with burnable poison
IMSR Power Plant (Terrestrial Energy) 42
IMSR LEU fueled MSR Burner 7 years Core unit seal and swap 400 MWth, 192 MWe Pre Licensing granted in November 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=52&v=p CIbVAmTC7s 43
Presently 16 units 220 MWe and 2 units 540 MWe in operation
SMR operating and under construction operating Name Capacity Type Developer CNP-300 300 MWe PWR SNERDI/CNNC, Pakistan & China PHWR-220 220 MWe PHWR NPCIL, India EGP-6 11 MWe LWGR at Bilibino, Siberia (cogen, soon to retire) Under construction Name Capacity Type Developer KLT-40S 35 MWe PWR OKBM, Russia RITM-200 50 MWe integral PWR OKBM, Russia CAREM-25 27 MWe integral PWR CNEA & INVAP, Argentina HTR-PM 2x250 MWt HTR INET, CNEC & Huaneng, China ACPR50S 60 MWe PWR CGN, China
SMR near term deployment Name Capacity Type Developer VBER-300 300 MWe PWR OKBM, Russia NuScale 50 MWe integral PWR NuScale Power + Fluor, USA SMR-160 160 MWe PWR Holtec, USA + SNC-Lavalin, Canada ACP100 125 MWe integral PWR NPIC/CNPE/CNNC, China SMART 100 MWe integral PWR KAERI, South Korea PRISM 311 MWe sodium FNR GE Hitachi, USA ARC-100 100 MWe sodium FNR ARC, USA Integral MSR 192 MWe MSR Terrestrial Energy, Canada BREST 300 MWe lead FNR RDIPE, Russia SVBR-100 100 MWe lead-bi FNR AKME-engineering, Russia 60
SMR designs at early stages 61 Name Capacity Type Developer EM2 240 MWe HTR, FNR General Atomics (USA) VK-300 300 MWe BWR NIKIET, Russia AHWR-300 LEU 300 MWe PHWR BARC, India CAP200 220 MWe PWR SNERDI, China SNP350 350 MWe PWR SNERDI, China ACPR100 140 MWe integral PWR CGN, China IMR 350 MWe integral PWR Mitsubishi Heavy Ind, Japan Westinghouse SMR 225 MWe integral PWR Westinghouse, USA* mpower 195 MWe integral PWR BWXT, USA* VSBWR 300 MWe BWR GE Hitachi Rolls-Royce SMR 220+ MWe PWR Rolls-Royce, UK PBMR 165 MWe HTR PBMR, South Africa* HTMR-100 35 MWe HTR HTMR Ltd, South Africa Xe-100 75 MWe HTR X-energy, USA MCFR large? MSR/FNR Southern Co, USA TMSR-SF 100 MWt MSR SINAP, China PB-FHR 100 MWe MSR UC Berkeley, USA Integral MSR 192 MWe MSR Terrestrial Energy, Canada Moltex SSR 300 MWe MSR/FNR Moltex, UK Moltex SSR global 40 MWe MSR Moltex, UK Thorcon MSR 250 MWe MSR Martingale, USA Leadir-PS100 36 MWe lead-cooled Northern Nuclear, Canada
Very small designs developed Name Capacity Type Developer U-battery 4 MWe HTR Urenco-led consortium, UK Starcorea 10-20 MWe HTR Starcore, Quebec USNC MMR-5&10 5 MWe HTR UltraSafe Nuclear, USA Gen4 module 25 MWe Lead-bismuth FNR Gen4 (Hyperion), USA Sealer 3-10 MWe Lead FNR LeadCold, Sweden 62
What you should remember Why small NPPs? What are the advantages? Which potential applications? Only LWR s? Name a few SMR designs
References http://energy.inel.gov/gen-iv/ www.world-nuclear.org -> search for Generation IV http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf08.html ADVANCED REACTORS Miniature Nuclear Power Plants Atomwirtschaft 2011, p.407 Small and Medium Sized Reactors Atomwirtschaft 2012, p733 http://www.babcock.com/products/modular_nuclear/ http://www.nuscalepower.com/ http://smart.kaeri.re.kr/ IAEA Nuclear Technology Review 2011 www.iaea.org/books Small and Medium Sized Reactor Designs http://aris.iaea.org NucNet Insider / No. 18 / 15 November 2016, How UK Is Preparing For Major Push Towards World s First SMR