Development of a plant dynamics computer code for analysis of a supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle energy converter coupled to a natural circulation lead-cooled fast reactor.
STAR-LM is a lead-cooled pool-type fast reactor concept operating under natural circulation of the coolant. The reactor core power is 400 MWt. The open-lattice core consists of fuel pins attached to the core support plate, (the does not consist of removable fuel assemblies). The coolant flows outside of the fuel pins. The fuel is transuranic nitride, fabricated from reprocessed LWR spent fuel. The cladding material is HT-9 stainless steel; the steady-state peak cladding temperature is 650 C. The coolant is single-phase liquid lead under atmospheric pressure; the core inlet and outlet temperatures are 438 C and 578 C, respectively. (The Pb coolant freezing and boiling temperatures are 327 C and 1749 C, respectively). The coolant is contained inside of a reactor vessel. The vessel material is Type 316 stainless steel. The reactor is autonomous meaning that the reactor power is self-regulated based on inherent reactivity feedbacks and no external power control (through control rods) is utilized. The shutdown (scram) control rods are used for startup and shutdown and to stop the fission reaction in case of an emergency. The heat from the reactor is transferred to the S-CO{sub 2} Brayton cycle in in-reactor heat exchangers (IRHX) located inside the reactor vessel. The IRHXs are shell-and-tube type heat exchangers with lead flowing downwards on the shell side and CO{sub 2} flowing upwards on the tube side. No intermediate circuit is utilized. The guard vessel surrounds the reactor vessel to contain the coolant, in the very unlikely event of reactor vessel failure. The Reactor Vessel Auxiliary Cooling System (RVACS) implementing the natural circulation of air flowing upwards over the guard vessel is used to cool the reactor, in the case of loss of normal heat removal through the IRHXs. The RVACS is always in operation. The gap between the vessels is filled with liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) to enhance the heat removal by air by significantly reducing the thermal resistance of a gas-filled gap.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC02-06CH11357
- OSTI ID:
- 910536
- Report Number(s):
- ANL-06/27; TRN: US0704255
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
BRAYTON CYCLE
CARBON DIOXIDE
COMPUTER CODES
CONTROL ELEMENTS
COOLING SYSTEMS
FAST REACTORS
FUEL PINS
HEAT EXCHANGERS
NATURAL CONVECTION
REACTOR CORES
REACTOR VESSELS
SPENT FUELS
STAINLESS STEELS