Development and Analysis of a Metal-Fueled Accelerator-Driven Burner

Conference · Mon Jul 25 04:00:00 EDT 1994 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.49133· OSTI ID:10174650

Lypsch, F. ^[1]; Hill, R. N. ^[2]

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1. Institute for Safety Research and Reactor Technology, Juelich GmbH (Germany)
2. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

The purpose of this paper is to compare the safety characteristics of an accelerator driven metal fueled fast system to a critical core on a consistent basis to determine how these characteristics are affected solely by subcritically of the system. To accomplish this an accelerator proton beam/tungsten neutron source model is surrounded by a subcritical blanket using metallic fuel and sodium as coolant. The consequences of typical accident transients, namely unprotected transient overpower (TOP), loss of heat sink (LOHS), and loss of flow (LOP) were calculated for the hybrid system and compared to corresponding results for a metal-fueled fast reactor. Results indicate that the subcritical system exhibits superior performance for TOP (reactivity-induced) transits; however, only in the critical system are reactivity feedbacks able to cause passive shutdown in the LOHS ad LOP events. Therefore, for a full spectrum of accident initiators considered, the overall safety behavior of accelerator-driven metal-fueled systems can neither be concluded to be worse nor to be better than advanced reactor designs which rely on passive safety features.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Institute for Safety Research and Reactor Technology, Juelich GmbH (Germany)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP); USDOE Nuclear Energy Programs
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 10174650
• Report Number(s): ANL/RA/CP--82797; CONF-9407103--14; ON: DE94016897
• Conference Information: Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Volume: 346
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220600
220900
ACCELERATORS
CRITICALITY
Eigenvalue
Loss of Flow (LOF)
Loss of Heat Sink (LOHS)
Metal-Fueled Fast Reactor
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
Particle Accelerator
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
REACTOR SAFETY
RESEARCH
TEST
TRAINING
PRODUCTION
IRRADIATION
MATERIALS TESTING REACTORS
SPALLATION
SUBCRITICAL ASSEMBLIES
TRANSMUTATION
Transient Overpower (TOP)