Abstract
The utilization of liquid metals as coolants for fast reactors brings several economical and practical advantages that lead to a sustainable future for nuclear energy. Molten sodium is used as a coolant in Sodium Fast Reactors (SFRs). Sodium is relatively cheaper than other metal coolants. It requires lower pumping power, causes less neutron moderation and it is non-corrosive to the fuel cladding. The SFR hexagonal subassemblies are relatively smaller than Light Water Reactors (LWRs) subassemblies. The differences in the geometrical design of SFRs compared to LWRs lead to different physical behavior of the coolant. Several models and correlations particular to sodium were implemented in thermal-hydraulics (TH) computer codes in order to model the coolant behavior accurately. CTF is a subchannel TH code that was designed and validated for LWRs. In this work, the capabilities of the code were extended to SFRs by incorporating sodium coolant properties and correlations for friction factor, flow mixing coefficient and conduction heat transfer. The code was then validated against selected steady state data from the Experimental Breeder Reactor II Shutdown Heat Removal Tests SHRT-17 and SHRT-45R. CTF was used to simulate the instrumented subassemblies XX09 and XX10. The results demonstrate the capability of CTF to model SFRs. Code validation is currently being extended to the transient phases of the SHRT experiments.
Highlights
Liquid metal coolants are used in fast reactor cores to transfer the heat generated in the fuel elements to secondary coolant loops and eventually to generate steam that is used to drive turbines to produce electrical power as in any conventional nuclear power plant [1]
Subassemblies XX09 and XX10 were simulated with CTF under SHRT-17 and SHRT-45 conditions
The code was modified to accept the Sodium Fast Reactors (SFRs) characteristics that are different from Light Water Reactors (LWRs) without crashing
Summary
Liquid metal coolants are used in fast reactor cores to transfer the heat generated in the fuel elements to secondary coolant loops and eventually to generate steam that is used to drive turbines to produce electrical power as in any conventional nuclear power plant [1]. The utilization of liquid metals as coolants for Generation IV fast reactors is a promising feature It assures a place in the future for nuclear power plants as a sustainable, economical and a clean environmentally friendly source of energy. The high thermal conductivity and the high melting point of metal coolants allow the operation of Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactors (LMFBRs) at relatively higher power densities in a smaller reactor volume. They allow the reactor to operate at near-atmospheric pressure ranges which makes the design process less complicated [2]. It is relatively cheaper than other metal coolants, requires lower pumping power, has lower moderation power and it is non-corrosive to the stainless-steel cladding [1]
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