Micro heat pipe nuclear reactor concepts: Analysis of fuel cycle performance and environmental impacts
Abstract
The demand for more practical and innovative nuclear reactor designs capable of providing clean energy to meet new global demands is revolutionizing the nuclear industry. Here, we present the fuel cycle and neutronics analysis of a design expected to be similar to the Westinghouse eVinci™ heat pipe (HP) reactor. The concept considered here uses low enriched urania rods and potassium liquid metal-cooled HPs to remove heat from the core. The fuel and HPs are contained in steel monolith to form the core which is surrounded by an alumina reflector. There is no need for forced circulation to remove heat from the active core region, thus eliminating the use of pumps, valves and tube piping. The concept is designed to operate safely and provide a reliable autonomous power supply in support of off-grid missions. This study shows that the HP reactor design can operate for more than 10 years without refueling. Further, we show that the current design of the HP reactor concept is best suited to serve as a nuclear battery rather than a centralized power source. We also studied the nuclear fuel cycle performance of the HP reactor concept in a once-through fuel cycle. The natural resource utilization, wastemore »
- Authors:
-
- Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
- Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP); USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1501599
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1636446
- Report Number(s):
- BNL-211373-2019-JAAM
Journal ID: ISSN 0306-4549
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0012704
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Annals of Nuclear Energy (Oxford)
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Annals of Nuclear Energy (Oxford); Journal Volume: 126; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0306-4549
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS; 11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; Heat pipe reactor; Fuel cycle performance; Modular microreactor
Citation Formats
Hernandez, Richard, Todosow, Michael, and Brown, Nicholas R. Micro heat pipe nuclear reactor concepts: Analysis of fuel cycle performance and environmental impacts. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1016/j.anucene.2018.11.050.
Hernandez, Richard, Todosow, Michael, & Brown, Nicholas R. Micro heat pipe nuclear reactor concepts: Analysis of fuel cycle performance and environmental impacts. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2018.11.050
Hernandez, Richard, Todosow, Michael, and Brown, Nicholas R. Mon .
"Micro heat pipe nuclear reactor concepts: Analysis of fuel cycle performance and environmental impacts". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2018.11.050. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1501599.
@article{osti_1501599,
title = {Micro heat pipe nuclear reactor concepts: Analysis of fuel cycle performance and environmental impacts},
author = {Hernandez, Richard and Todosow, Michael and Brown, Nicholas R.},
abstractNote = {The demand for more practical and innovative nuclear reactor designs capable of providing clean energy to meet new global demands is revolutionizing the nuclear industry. Here, we present the fuel cycle and neutronics analysis of a design expected to be similar to the Westinghouse eVinci™ heat pipe (HP) reactor. The concept considered here uses low enriched urania rods and potassium liquid metal-cooled HPs to remove heat from the core. The fuel and HPs are contained in steel monolith to form the core which is surrounded by an alumina reflector. There is no need for forced circulation to remove heat from the active core region, thus eliminating the use of pumps, valves and tube piping. The concept is designed to operate safely and provide a reliable autonomous power supply in support of off-grid missions. This study shows that the HP reactor design can operate for more than 10 years without refueling. Further, we show that the current design of the HP reactor concept is best suited to serve as a nuclear battery rather than a centralized power source. We also studied the nuclear fuel cycle performance of the HP reactor concept in a once-through fuel cycle. The natural resource utilization, waste output, and environmental impact, as defined in a reference study from the literature, did not perform as well on a GWe per year energy basis compared to light water reactors with less than 5% enriched uranium in a once-through fuel cycle. Parasitic absorption in the steel monolith structure and neutron leakage lower the reactivity of the core, which decreases the discharge burnup of the fuel. Finally, analysis of modifications of the monolith material and size of the reference core configuration showed that the neutron leakage impact on the small sized HP core is the most limiting factor on the fuel cycle performance.},
doi = {10.1016/j.anucene.2018.11.050},
journal = {Annals of Nuclear Energy (Oxford)},
number = C,
volume = 126,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Dec 03 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Mon Dec 03 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}
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