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U.S. Department of Energy
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PRESCOPING OPTIMIZATION FOR SELECTION OF ENRICHED URANIUM GAS-COOLED POWER REACTOR DESIGN

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:4294782

A preliminary set of performance calculations was made for enriched reactor cores based on five cylindrical vessel designs ranging from 13 to 36 ft in diameter, Both 7 and 19 rod UO/sub 2/ stainless steel clad cluster fuel elements were employed in this survey. These two fuel element designs appeared adequate to cover the potential range of interest. A lattice spacing of 7,75 inches was employed throughout as probably leading to a reasonable uranium enrichment. The number of channels per core was established in preliminary core layouts by the mechanical group. The inlet temperature was established as 450 deg F, and an outlet temperature was determined for a 13O0 deg F limiting surface temperature on the stainless steel. An optimum flow rate was established on the basis of two alternate criteria: pumping power equal to 15 per cent of gross electric power and pumping power equal to 10 per cent of gross electric power. The results of this comparison are given. In order to further select a design, capital costs per kilowatt of net electric plant power output were estimated. The performance results for the 7 rod cluster fuel element and pumping power equal to 10 per cent of gross electric power were used to make a capital cost versus vessel size comparison. (auth)

Research Organization:
Nuclear Products-Erco Div., ACF Industries, Inc., Washington, D.C.
NSA Number:
NSA-13-005942
OSTI ID:
4294782
Report Number(s):
AECU-3993; ACF-GCPR-101
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English