Fast Breeder Reactor Programs: 8 History and Status Thomas B
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Breeder Reactors: a Renewable Energy Source Bernard L
Am. J. Phys. 51(1), Jan. 1983 Breeder reactors: A renewable energy source Bernard L. Cohen Department of Physics. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260 Since energy sources derived from the sun are called “renew- giving an equilibrium Q = S/8. Assuming that equilibrium has been able,” that adjective apparently means that they will be available in reached, 8–1 = Q/S = (4.6×109 tonne)/ (3.2×104 tonne/yr) = 140 000 undiminished quantity at present costs for as long as the current yr. Since this is such a short time geologically, it is reasonable to relationship between the sun and Earth persists, about 5 billion assume that equilibrium has been reached, and that the value of Q years. It is the purpose of this note to show that breeder reactors at t = 0 is immaterial to the discussion. Moreover, the fact that 8–1 using nuclear fission fulfill this definition of a renewable energy is so much longer than the time for dilution of material through the source, and in fact can supply all the world’s energy needs at world’s oceans, less than 1000 yr,5 means that nonuniformity of present costs for that time period. uranium concentration is not a long-term problem. The world’s uranium resources are sufficient to fuel light-water If we were to withdraw uranium at a rate R, the differential reactors for only a few tens of years, and since uranium is used equation for Q would become about 100 times more efficiently as an energy source in breeder dQ/dt = S – R – 8Q, 8 reactors than in light-water reactors, it is frequently said that the leading to an equilibrium Q = (S – R)/ = Q00(1 – R/S), where Q is amount of uranium available can support the world’s energy needs the present value of Q. -
小型飛翔体/海外 [Format 2] Technical Catalog Category
小型飛翔体/海外 [Format 2] Technical Catalog Category Airborne contamination sensor Title Depth Evaluation of Entrained Products (DEEP) Proposed by Create Technologies Ltd & Costain Group PLC 1.DEEP is a sensor analysis software for analysing contamination. DEEP can distinguish between surface contamination and internal / absorbed contamination. The software measures contamination depth by analysing distortions in the gamma spectrum. The method can be applied to data gathered using any spectrometer. Because DEEP provides a means of discriminating surface contamination from other radiation sources, DEEP can be used to provide an estimate of surface contamination without physical sampling. DEEP is a real-time method which enables the user to generate a large number of rapid contamination assessments- this data is complementary to physical samples, providing a sound basis for extrapolation from point samples. It also helps identify anomalies enabling targeted sampling startegies. DEEP is compatible with small airborne spectrometer/ processor combinations, such as that proposed by the ARM-U project – please refer to the ARM-U proposal for more details of the air vehicle. Figure 1: DEEP system core components are small, light, low power and can be integrated via USB, serial or Ethernet interfaces. 小型飛翔体/海外 Figure 2: DEEP prototype software 2.Past experience (plants in Japan, overseas plant, applications in other industries, etc) Create technologies is a specialist R&D firm with a focus on imaging and sensing in the nuclear industry. Createc has developed and delivered several novel nuclear technologies, including the N-Visage gamma camera system. Costainis a leading UK construction and civil engineering firm with almost 150 years of history. -
An Advanced Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor Core Concept Using Uranium-Free Metallic Fuels for Maximizing TRU Burning Rate
sustainability Article An Advanced Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor Core Concept Using Uranium-Free Metallic Fuels for Maximizing TRU Burning Rate Wuseong You and Ser Gi Hong * Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyung Hee University, Deogyeong-daero, GiHeung-gu, Yongin, Gyeonggi-do 446-701, Korea; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +82-31-201-2782 Received: 24 October 2017; Accepted: 28 November 2017; Published: 1 December 2017 Abstract: In this paper, we designed and analyzed advanced sodium-cooled fast reactor cores using uranium-free metallic fuels for maximizing burning rate of transuranics (TRU) nuclides from PWR spent fuels. It is well known that the removal of fertile nuclides such as 238U from fuels in liquid metal cooled fast reactor leads to the degradation of important safety parameters such as the Doppler coefficient, coolant void worth, and delayed neutron fraction. To resolve the degradation of the Doppler coefficient, we considered adding resonant nuclides to the uranium-free metallic fuels. The analysis results showed that the cores using uranium-free fuels loaded with tungsten instead of uranium have a significantly lower burnup reactivity swing and more negative Doppler coefficients than the core using uranium-free fuels without resonant nuclides. In addition, we considered the use of axially central B4C absorber region and moderator rods to further improve safety parameters such as sodium void worth, burnup reactivity swing, and the Doppler coefficient. The results of the analysis showed that the final design core can consume ~353 kg per cycle and satisfies self-controllability under unprotected accidents. The fuel cycle analysis showed that the PWR–SFR coupling fuel cycle option drastically reduces the amount of waste going to repository and the SFR burner can consume the amount of TRUs discharged from 3.72 PWRs generating the same electricity. -
Fast-Spectrum Reactors Technology Assessment
Clean Power Quadrennial Technology Review 2015 Chapter 4: Advancing Clean Electric Power Technologies Technology Assessments Advanced Plant Technologies Biopower Clean Power Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Value- Added Options Carbon Dioxide Capture for Natural Gas and Industrial Applications Carbon Dioxide Capture Technologies Carbon Dioxide Storage Technologies Crosscutting Technologies in Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Fast-spectrum Reactors Geothermal Power High Temperature Reactors Hybrid Nuclear-Renewable Energy Systems Hydropower Light Water Reactors Marine and Hydrokinetic Power Nuclear Fuel Cycles Solar Power Stationary Fuel Cells U.S. DEPARTMENT OF Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Brayton Cycle ENERGY Wind Power Clean Power Quadrennial Technology Review 2015 Fast-spectrum Reactors Chapter 4: Technology Assessments Background and Current Status From the initial conception of nuclear energy, it was recognized that full realization of the energy content of uranium would require the development of fast reactors with associated nuclear fuel cycles.1 Thus, fast reactor technology was a key focus in early nuclear programs in the United States and abroad, with the first usable nuclear electricity generated by a fast reactor—Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-I)—in 1951. Test and/or demonstration reactors were built and operated in the United States, France, Japan, United Kingdom, Russia, India, Germany, and China—totaling about 20 reactors with 400 operating years to date. These previous reactors and current projects are summarized in Table 4.H.1.2 Currently operating test reactors include BOR-60 (Russia), Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) (India), and China Experimental Fast Reactor (CEFR) (China). The Russian BN-600 demonstration reactor has been operating as a power reactor since 1980. -
The Environmental and Regulatory Aspects of the Breeder Reactor, 2 B.C
Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review Volume 2 | Issue 1 Article 13 5-1-1972 The nE vironmental and Regulatory Aspects of the Breeder Reactor William O. Doub Follow this and additional works at: http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/ealr Part of the Energy and Utilities Law Commons, and the Environmental Law Commons Recommended Citation William O. Doub, The Environmental and Regulatory Aspects of the Breeder Reactor, 2 B.C. Envtl. Aff. L. Rev. 237 (1972), http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/ealr/vol2/iss1/13 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND REGULATORY ASPECTS OF THE BREEDER REACTOR By William O. Doub* On January 14,1972, in Washington, D.C., the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Dr. James R. Schlesinger, announced that the Commission had accepted, "as a basis for de tailed negotiation, a joint proposal of the Commonwealth Edison Company of Chicago and the Tennessee Valley Authority for the construction and operation of the nation's first demonstration liq uid metal fast breeder reactor plant."l The plant, a joint industry Government effort, is to be built in Eastern Tennessee at a specific location still to be designated. Work was scheduled to begin within the year. The plant is expected to go on the line by 1980.2 Nationwide attention had been focused on the breeder reactor as a result of the President's Energy Message to Congress on June 4, 1971. -
Molten Plutonium Chloride Fast Breeder Reactor Cooled by Molten Uranium Chloride
Annals of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Vol. 1, pp. 277 to 281. Pergamon Press 1974. Printed in Northern Ireland MOLTEN PLUTONIUM CHLORIDE FAST BREEDER REACTOR COOLED BY MOLTEN URANIUM CHLORIDE MIECZYSLAW TAUBE and J LIGOU Swiss Federal Institute of Reactor Research, Würenlingen, Switzerland Abstract—A fast breeder reactor of 2000 ~MWt output using molten chlorides as fuel and coolant is discussed. Some of the most significant characteristics are: The liquid fuel contains only PuCl3/NaCl. The coolant is molten UCl3/NaCl and also forms the fertile material along with the blanket system, again UCl3/NaCl: the coolant blanket system is divided into 2 or more independent circuits. The fuel circulates through the core by forced convection; the core is not divided. The thermal stability of the reactor is very good. Power excursions or fuel temperature transients are quickly damped by the phenomena of fuel expansion pushing part of the fissile material out of the critical zone. The loss of coolant accident results in a loss of half (or ⅓, ⅔) of blanket which, without relying on a reactor scram, results in an automatic adjustment of the reactor power level. Corrosion effects form the most difficult problem. Thermodynamic studies suggest the use of molybdenum alloys as structural materials. Breeder reactors differ from other reactor types in that The coolant blanket circuits are in the form of at they are not only power-producing devices but also a least two independent systems: the core vessel is not source of fissile material and therefore should be divided. considered as part of a complex “breeding system” The core is directly connected with: overflow buffer which includes both the power reactor (producing vessel (for thermal expansion of fuel), emergency fuel electricity and heat) and the reprocessing and fuel drainage tank, reprocessing and fuel preparation plant, preparation plant. -
Nuclear France Abroad History, Status and Prospects of French Nuclear Activities in Foreign Countries
Mycle Schneider Consulting Independent Analysis on Energy and Nuclear Policy 45, allée des deux cèdres Tél: 01 69 83 23 79 91210 Draveil (Paris) Fax: 01 69 40 98 75 France e-mail: [email protected] Nuclear France Abroad History, Status and Prospects of French Nuclear Activities in Foreign Countries Mycle Schneider International Consultant on Energy and Nuclear Policy Paris, May 2009 This research was carried out with the support of The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (www.cigionline.org) V5 About the Author Mycle Schneider works as independent international energy nuclear policy consultant. Between 1983 and April 2003 Mycle Schneider was executive director of the energy information service WISE-Paris. Since 2000 he has been an advisor to the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Reactor Safety. Since 2004 he has also been in charge of the Environment and Energy Strategies Lecture of the International Master of Science for Project Management for Environmental and Energy Engineering at the French Ecole des Mines in Nantes, France. In 2007 he was appointed as a member of the International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM), based at Princeton University, USA (www.fissilematerials.org). In 2006-2007 Mycle Schneider was part of a consultants’ consortium that assessed nuclear decommissioning and waste management funding issues on behalf of the European Commission. In 2005 he was appointed as nuclear security specialist to advise the UK Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM). Mycle Schneider has given evidence and held briefings at Parliaments in Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, UK and at the European Parliament. -
Regulatory Technology Development Plan Sodium Fast Reactor Mechanistic Source Term – Metal Fuel Radionuclide Release
ANL-ART-38 Regulatory Technology Development Plan Sodium Fast Reactor Mechanistic Source Term – Metal Fuel Radionuclide Release Nuclear Engineering Division About Argonne National Laboratory Argonne is a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC under contract DE-AC02-06CH11357. The Laboratory’s main facility is outside Chicago, at 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439. For information about Argonne and its pioneering science and technology programs, see www.anl.gov. DOCUMENT AVAILABILITY Online Access: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reports produced after 1991 and a growing number of pre-1991 documents are available free via DOE’s SciTech Connect (http://www.osti.gov/scitech/) Reports not in digital format may be purchased by the public from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS): U.S. Department of Commerce National Technical Information Service 5301 Shawnee Rd Alexandria, VA 22312 www.ntis.gov Phone: (800) 553-NTIS (6847) or (703) 605-6000 Fax: (703) 605-6900 Email: [email protected] Reports not in digital format are available to DOE and DOE contractors from the Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI): U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information P. O . B o x 6 2 Oak Ridge, TN 37831-0062 www.osti.gov Phone: (865) 576-8401 Fax: (865) 576-5728 Email: [email protected] Disclaimer This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor UChicago Argonne, LLC, nor any of their employees or officers, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. -
RCED-94-16S Nuclear Science: Developing Technology to Reduce
United States General Accounting Office Supplement to a Report to the Chairman, GAO Subcommittee on Energy, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, House of Representatives Decmeber 1993 NUCLEAR SCIENCE Developing Technology to Reduce Radioactive Waste May Take Decades and Be Costly 6 GAOLRCED-94-16s Notice: This is a reprint of a GAO report. FOREWORD A number of concepts have been proposed that, if found to be technically and economically feasible, might reduce the volume and radioactive life of wastes destined for burial in a deep geological repository. These concepts involve transmuting (changing) constituents of the waste into elements with shorter radioactive lives or to nonradioactive elements through nuclear action in a reactor or an accelerator. At the request of the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy, House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, we reviewed five transmutation concepts --three using reactors and two using accelerators. The results of our review are contained in our report entitled Nuclear Science: Developinu Technolouv to Reduce Radioactive Waste Mav Take Decades and Be Costly (GAO/RCED-94-16). This supplement to the report provides a more detailed description of concepts being proposed for transmuting commercial spent nuclear fuel. The supplement contains information about the performance of the five transmutation concepts based on information supplied by the proponents of each concept in various reports or through interviews. Estimated costs and schedules are meant only to provide some indication of the magnitudes involved. Costs do not include escalation effects or discounting in a consistent way. Processing times do not include the effects of changing isotopic composition of the materials transmuted. -
The Jules Horowitz Reactor Research Project
EPJ Web of Conferences 115, 01003 (2016) DOI: 10.1051/epjconf/201611501003 © Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2016 nd 2 Int. Workshop Irradiation of Nuclear Materials: Flux and Dose Effects November 4-6, 2015, CEA – INSTN Cadarache, France The Jules Horowitz Reactor Research Project: A New High Performance Material Testing Reactor Working as an International User Facility – First Developments to Address R&D on Material Gilles BIGNAN1, Christian COLIN1, Jocelyn PIERRE1, Christophe BLANDIN1, Christian GONNIER1, Michel AUCLAIR2, Franck ROZENBLUM2 1 CEA-DEN-DER, JHR Project (Cadarache, France) 2 CEA-DEN-DRSN, Service d'Irradiations en Réacteurs et d'Etudes Nucléaires, SIREN (Saclay, France) The Jules Horowitz Reactor (JHR) is a new Material Testing Reactor (MTR) currently under construction at CEA Cadarache research center in the south of France. It will represent a major research infrastructure for scientific studies dealing with material and fuel behavior under irradiation (and is consequently identified for this purpose within various European road maps and forums; ESFRI, SNETP…). The reactor will also contribute to medical Isotope production. The reactor will perform R&D programs for the optimization of the present generation of Nuclear Power Plans (NPPs), will support the development of the next generation of NPPs (mainly LWRs) and also will offer irradiation capabilities for future reactor materials and fuels. JHR is fully optimized for testing material and fuel under irradiation, in normal, incidental and accidental situations: with modern irradiation loops producing the operational condition of the different power reactor technologies ; with major innovative embarked in-pile instrumentation and out-pile analysis to perform high- quality R&D experiments ; with high thermal and fast neutron flux capacity and high dpa rate to address existing and future NPP needs. -
Low Enriched Uranium from France ITC Sunset Review Hearing
Low Enriched Uranium From France ITC Sunset Review Hearing Daniel W. Klett Capital Trade Incorporated September 10, 2013 AREVA Presence in the U.S. Market is Significant AREVA's U.S. Market Share 25% 20% 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Prehearing Staff Report at Table 11-10. Prepared by Capital Trade, Inc. Centrifuge Enrichment Is Capital Intensive and but Capacity can be Added Incrementally • "With centrifuge technology it is easy to add capacity with modular expansion, but it is inflexible and best run at full capacity with low operating cost." -Uranium Enrichment, World Nuclear Association (updated July 2013). • "While gaseous diffusion plants have the advantage of being less capital intensive than gaseous centrifuge plants, there appear to be a number of important advantages of the gaseous centrifuge facilities that render them technologically superior to the gas diffusion facilities, especially the more up-to-date centrifuge technologies. These include lower electrical costs, higher capacity utilization rates, and the ability to incrementally add gaseous centrifuge capacity based on market needs/' - Prehearing Staff Report at IV-11. Prepared by Capital Trade, Inc. AREVA's Georges Besse II Plant Will Outstrip Its Georges Besse I (Eurodif) Plant's Production by 2014 Enrichment: controlled technology transition EURODIF GBII Sales out of Inventories End of the legacy contract with EDF (2011-2012) Eurodif Georges BesseI PRODUCTION (SWUs) June 2012: Eurodif is shut down 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 A AREVA Overview - December 2012 p.106 Performance and objectives by BG ARE V A AREVA's Georges Besse II Plant Has Significant Capacity and the Ability to Expand That Capacity • "It will have a production capacity of 7.5 million SWU (Separative Work Units), which could be increased to 11 million SWU." - AREVA Press Release: Enrichment: Inauguration ofthe Georges Besse II Plant (December 14, 2010). -
The French Nuclear Dream: Promises for Disillusion
The French nuclear dream: promises for disillusion Nuclear energy might be marginal on a world-wide scale, but see how successful it can be in France, from an economical, industrial or environmental perspective! In view of such benefits, why not follow the French path? The idea deserves consideration: what lies behind the repetitive vulgate of an industry selling its technical and economical success, claiming that it guarantees French energy independency, protects the climate, controls its waste and preserves the environment, that it is safe against terrorism, etc.? What is the reality of the French nuclear experience in terms of industrial policy, safety, proliferation, waste management or economy? This chapter explores, on each of these issues, the gap between the talks and the facts. Global Chance Nuclear Power: the great illusion 34 Overview The nuclear industry in France – An overview French scientists contributed to the main stages in the discovery of radioactivity and its properties. Right after the Second World War, the country embarked on a nuclear development programme – initially military and then civil. The nuclear industry’s organisation is still heavily based upon the structures created at this key period, even if their status has developed. The Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique (CEA – Atomic Energy Commission), set up in 1946, was charged with overseeing the research and development, up to the industrial stage, of all the processes necessary for the military programme and subsequently for nuclear electricity generation, including the uranium extraction and fuel manufacture (upstream) stages and the management of spent fuel and waste (downstream). A branch of the public research body CEA was created to manage all its industrial activities, mainly through the Compagnie Générale des Matières Nucléaires (Cogema – General Company for Nuclear Materials), a private company set up in 1976.