NationalStatusofLFR Development:USA

CraigF.Smith ResearchProfessor Research Professor NavalPostgraduateSchool,USA

Seminar:ActivitiesforLeadcooledFastReactors(LFR)in GenerationIVInternationalForum(GIF) TokyoInstituteofTechnology

November9th,2012

Outlineofcomments Outline of comments

Historicalbackdrop:LMFRs LFR Activities: current status LFRActivities:currentstatus Closingcomments

USFastReactors: ARichHistoricalContext
Clementine th fi t f t Clementine:thefirstfastreactor,builtbyLANLin1946.Pufueled, t b ilt b LANL i 1946 P f l d mercurycooled,25Wtpower. EBR1:thefirstreactortogenerateelectricalpower,builtin1949 51atIdahoFalls.NaKcooled,1.4MWt,decommissionedin1964. 51 t Id h F ll N K l d 1 4 MWt d i i d i 1964 Firstbreederreactor. Fermi1:94MWeFBRprototype,builtnearDetroitin1957, operateduntil1972.Sodiumcooled. t d til 1972 S di l d LAMPRE:1 MWt FRbasedonmoltenPu fuel,sodiumcooling,and reflectorcontrol,builtatLANLinthe195761timeframe. EBRII:sodiumcooled62MWt reactor,builtinIdahoastheIFR prototypein1965;operatedfor30years. SEFOR:Experimentaltestreactoroperatedfrom1969to1972in p p Arkansas.MOXfueled,Nacooled,20MWt. FFTF:Builtin1978inWashingtonState,400MWt Nacooledtest reactor.

Clementine 1946 EBR1 1951

Fermi1 1957 EBR2 1965

SEFOR 1972 FFTF 1978

Somechemicalandthermalcharacteristics Some chemical and thermal characteristics ofliquidmetalcoolants

Coolant Melting Point
(C)

Boiling Point
(C)

Chemical Reactivity
(w/Air and Water)

Lead Bismuth Lead-Bismuth (Pb-Bi, LBE) Lead (Pb) Sodium (Na)

125 327 98

1670 1737 883

Inert Inert Highly reactive

LeadandLBECoolantsProvidePromisingOverallCharacteristics whileSodiumTechnologyisMoreHighlyDeveloped while Sodium Technology is More Highly Developed

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LFRCompliancewithGenerationIVGoals LFR Compliance with Generation IV Goals

Goal Areas G
Sustainability

Goals achievable via i t i i coolant properties plus i intrinsic l t ti l Engineering Breeding gain close to 0 Transmutation of MA Simplicity p y Compactness

Economics

Primary system at atmospheric pressure No risk of re-criticality in case of core melt Safety and Reliability (to be confirmed by severe accident analysis) Chemical inertness/high margin to boiling g g g
Proliferation Resistance and Physical P t ti Ph i l Protection

Use of fuel containing MA Use of non-reactive coolant Sealed core and/or long refueling cycle
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LFRActivitiesintheUS
LFRactivitiesintheUShave beenrelativelylimitedinthe been relatively limited in the pastfewyears Continuing(thoughmainly small)effortsinclude: small) efforts include:
WorkatUSnational laboratories Universityefforts SomeUSindustrialefforts SSTAR SSTARasaGIFreference GIF f conceptforasmall, transportableLFR transportable LFR

The Small Secure Transportable Autonomous Reactor (SSTAR)

CLOSURE HEAD CO2 OUTLET NOZZLE (1 OF 8) CO 2 INLET NOZZLE (1 OF 4) Pb TO CO Pb-TO-CO 2 HEAT EXCHANGER (1 OF 4) CONTROL ROD DRIVES CONTROL ROD GUIDE TUBES AND DRIVELINES THERMAL BAFFLE

SSTAR is a small natural circulation fast reactor of 20 MWe/45 MWt, that can be scaled up to 180 MWe/400 MWt. The compact active core is removed by the supplier as a single cassette and replaced b i l tt d l d by a fresh core.

FLOW SHROUD RADIAL REFLECTOR ACTIVE CORE AND FISSION GAS PLENUM FLOW DISTRIBUTOR HEAD

GUARD VESSEL REACTOR VESSEL

Key technical attributes include the use of lead (Pb) as coolant and a long-life sealed core in a small, modular system.
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SSTAR Reactor Core Parameters

Coolant Fuel Enrichment, % Lead Transuranic Nitride, Enriched i E i h d in N15 5 Radial Zones, TRU/HM 1.7/3.5/ 17.2/19.0/20.7 17 2/19 0/20 7 15-30 420/567 / Natural convection 81(131) Peak Fuel Temperature, C Peak Cladding Temperature, C Fuel Pin Diameter, Cm C Fuel/Coolant Volume Fractions Active Core Dimensions, Height/Diameter, m Power conversion Average (Peak) Discharge Burnup, MWd/Kg HM 841

650 2.50 0.45/0.35 0.976/1.22

Core Lifetime, years Core Inlet/Outlet C /O Temperature, C Coolant circulation

S-CO2 Brayton cycle

RecentandContinuingLFRActivities Recent and Continuing LFR Activities intheUS

EffortsatUSnationallabs LLNLsupporttoDOEs AdvancedReactorprogram ANL completion of work on ANLcompletionofworkon theSUPERSTARconcept,an extensionoftheSSTAR concept LANLworkwithMITand withUCBerkeleyonmaterial ih k l i l testingandperformance.
Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems System Research Plan for the Lead-cooled Fast Reactor

Preparing Today for Tomorrows Energy Needs Tomorrow s

Issued by the Generation IV International Forum LFR Preliminary System Steering Committee

ContinuingLFRActivitiesintheUS Continuing LFR Activities in the US

U i Universityefforts it ff t MITworkon FunctionallyGraded p Compositematerials UCBerkeleymaterial scienceandLFRdesign science and LFR design work UNLV UNLVoperationofan ti f LBEloop

Schematic vertical cut through the ENHS reactor

3m 2m 30m 27m 3m 2m 8m Cross Section of Stack Number of Stacks = 4

Seismic isolators

Steam generators
6.94m (I.D.) 3.64m (O.D; t=0.05)

Underground silo
17.625m

Reactor pool ENHS module Reactor Vessel Air Cooling System (RVACS)

ContinuingLFRActivitiesintheUS Continuing LFR Activities in the US

SomelimitedindustrialeffortsintheUS S li it d i d t i l ff t i th US HyperionPowerGroup(HPG)(now Gen4Energy) lakeChime PPRS

GenIVInternationalForum(GIF):Current StatuswithregardtoLFR
P li i PreliminarySystemSteeringCommittee(pSSC)wasformedin S t St i C itt ( SSC) f di 2005
MembersincludedEU,US,JapanandKorea , , p PreparedinitialdraftLFRSystemResearchPlan(LFRSRP) Systemsincludedalargecentralstationdesign(ELSY)andasmall modular(SMR)system(SSTAR) modular (SMR) system (SSTAR)

In2010,anMOUwassignedbetweenEUandJapancausinga reformulationofthepSSC In2011,theRussianFederationaddeditssignaturetotheMOU InApril,2012,thereformulatedpSSC metinPisaandbegunthe processofrevisingtheLFRSRP f i i th LFR SRP ThenewpSSC envisionsvariousupdatestothecentralstation andSMRthrustswhileaddingamid sizeLFR(e.g.,theBREST and SMR thrusts while adding a midsize LFR (e.g., the BREST 300)asanewthrustintheSRP

Concludingcomments Concluding comments

InspiteofarichhistoryinLMFRdevelopment, currentUSeffortsrelatedtoLFRarelimited Nevertheless,thereiscontinuinginterestin LFRtechnology,mainlyasabackupoptionto LFR technology mainly as a backup option to theSFR Asmallbutdedicatedgroupofresearchersare continuingtomaintainoptionsthrough continuing to maintain options through nationallab,universityandindustryprojects.

BACKUPSLIDES

MITWorkonFunctionallyGraded Composites(FGC)
Objective:designandproducefuelcladdingandcoolantpipingforHLM b d d d f l l dd d l f cooled(Pb/LBE)fastreactorsusingcommercialpractices. TheFGCconsistsofastructurallayerofa9Cr1Mosteel(T/F91)anda corrosionresistantprotectivelayerofanewalloywithacompositionof Fe12Cr2Si. ExtendsOperatingTemperatureto700CandFlowVelocityto p g p y 6m/sec Theprojectproceededtothepointof productionofTubeReducedExtrusion production of Tube Reduced Extrusion (TREX)productforbothODandID cladmaterial. Followonwillcontinuethe Follow on will continue the developmentandfurtherdevelop thepropertiesdatabase.
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Conclusions from MIT FGC investigations

The FGC protects against LBE corrosion in all expected environments, oxidizing or reducing, such that corrosion is no longer a concern for Pb/LBE-cooled systems. Extrapolated corrosion rates based on the experiments are less than 1 m/yr , which is p p y negligible for structural components, assuming a 60 year reactor lifetime. The FGC is diffusionally stable. The diffusional dilution zone between the two layers will not exceed 17 mm for fuel cladding (three year life) or 33 mm for coolant piping (sixty year lif ) b th assumed t operate at 700C life), both d to t t 700C. Because of these performance gains, the FGC represents an enabling technology for Pb/LBE-cooled reactors and systems. A steady-state temperature increase of up to 150C beyond the current limitation of 550C is possible, provided that suitable structural possible materials exist. The FGC is ready for immediate deployment in non-irradiated or low-dose applications. The corrosion resistance has been demonstrated, and will be verified pending longer , p g g length experiments.

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UCBerkeleycontinueswithother materialsanddesignwork i l dd i k
UseoftheICE2experimentalstationtoinvestigatetheeffectsof p g irradiationoncladdingsteelcorrosioninhightemperature chemistrycontrolledheavyliquidmetalenvironment (collaborationwithLANL) ( ll b h ) TestingHT9steelinLBEatLANLsIonBeamMaterialsLab(IBML) o Introduced 24dpa on HT9 at 430C and tested in LBE (~10 Introduced24dpaonHT9at430CandtestedinLBE( 10 5wt%oxygen). o Testedsensorequipmentunderirradiationconditions. q p o PIEtobecarriedoutatUCBerkeleyduring 2012. TestingcommercialoxygensensorsinHLM C Completedmechanicaltestingofoxidelayerstodeterminethe l d h i l i f id l d i h fracturestressneededtospallofftheoxidelayer Completeddesignfeasibilitystudiesofminimumburnup breed Completed design feasibility studies of minimum burnup breed andburn(B&B)coreconcepts.

Gen 4 Gen-4 Energy is actively promoting its HPM system

Power 70MWt, 25MWe Lifetime 8 10 years Size (m) 1.5w x 2.5h Weight (T) Less than 50 Coolant PbBi Fuel uranium nitride Enrichment <20% Sealed Core Transportable with intact core Factory Fueled

Sept 9, 2010: Small modular reactor (SMR) start-up vendor Hyperion Power Generation has agreed to build a prototype mini-nuclear reactor at a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory The company signed a memorandum of understanding with the laboratory. Savannah River Nuclear Solutions to build the first demonstration reactor at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina.

TheSTARENHS(EncapsulatedNuclearHeatSource) conceptwasdevelopedbyaUCBerkeley LedTeam concept was developed by a UC BerkeleyLed Team

3yearNERIstudywithUCB,ANL, Westinghouse, LLNL, KAIST and LLNL,KAISTand CRIEPIcompletedinFY02 Evolutionaryconceptdeveloped fromCRIEPIToshiba4Sreactor Naturalcirculationcooling Reactorcoreheattransferredfrom primarytosecondaryPbBithrough capsulewall l ll Fuelcontainedincapsule throughoutfuelcycle throughout fuel cycle Engineeringfeasibility de o s a ed bu eco o c demonstratedbuteconomic feasibilityisuncertain

Lakechime PPRS is pursuing concepts described as Evolutionary SSTAR

E-SSTAR Evolutionary SSTAR variation intended to y emphasize early deployment; currently at proposal stage. Features may include: g y
Forced cooling Oxide fuel Steam cycle power conversion Small reactor

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