Feasibility Study of Supercritical Light Water Cooled Reactors for Electrical Power Production, 5th Quarterly Report, October - December 2002
The overall objective of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of supercritical light water cooled reactors for electric power production. The use of light water at supercritical pressures as the coolant in a nuclear reactor offers the potential for considerable plant simplification and consequent capital and O&M cost reduction compared with current light water reactor (LWR) designs. Also, given the thermodynamic conditions of the coolant at the core outlet (i.e. temperature and pressure beyond the water critical point), very high thermal efficiencies for the power conversion cycle are possible (i.e. up to about 45%). Because no change of phase occurs in the core, the need for steam separators and dryers as well as for BWR-type re-circulation pumps is eliminated, which, for a given reactor power, results in a substantially shorter reactor vessel and smaller containment building than the current BWRs. Furthermore, in a direct cycle the steam generators are not needed. If no additional moderator is added to the fuel rod lattice, it is possible to attain fast neutron energy spectrum conditions in a supercritical water-cooled reactor (SCWR). This type of core can make use of either fertile or fertile-free fuel and retain a hard spectrum to effectively burn plutonium and minor actinides from LWR spent fuel while efficiently generating electricity. One can also add moderation and design a thermal spectrum SCWR that can also burn actinides. The project is organized into three tasks:
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE - NE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC07-99ID-13727
- OSTI ID:
- 910724
- Report Number(s):
- INEEL/EXT-03-00164; TRN: US0800515
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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