Michael J. Driscoll

Compressor Design for the Supercritical CO2 Brayton Cycle

C, with a cycle efficiency of 45%. Turbomachinery used in the cycle is composed of two compressors (a main compressor and a recompressing compressor) and a turbine, which work on a single shaft. In fact the high cycle efficiency is realized by having the main compressor operate near the critical point of CO2 to benefit from reduced compression work. Introduction of the recompressing compressor which operates at a temperature higher than critical is to avoid the pinch-point problem which otherwise occurs in the subsequent recuperator. Because the perfect gas law does not apply near the saturation line, CO2 was treated as a real gas and the NIST property database was used for the purpose of CO2 thermodynamics and transport property evaluation. The preliminary design process for the supercritical CO2 compressors is mainly discussed in this paper. Steady-state design as well as off-design analysis was performed using the AXIAL TM program modified for real gas properties. The results show that the supercritical CO2 compressors are more compact than helium compressors, with equivalent adiabatic efficiency.

Engineering and Physics Optimization of Breed and Burn Fast Reactor Systems

This project is organized under four major tasks (each of which has two or more subtasks) with contributions among the three collaborating organizations (MIT, INEEL and ANL-West): Task A: Core Physics and Fuel Cycle; Task B: Core Thermal Hydraulics; Task C: Plant Design Task; and D: Fuel Design.

Heterogeneous Recycling in Fast Reactors

Current sodium fast reactor (SFR) designs have avoided the use of depleted uranium blankets over concerns of creating weapons grade plutonium. While reducing proliferation risks, this restrains the reactor design space considerably. This project will analyze various blanket and transmutation target configurations that could broaden the design space while still addressing the non-proliferation issues. The blanket designs will be assessed based on the transmutation efficiency of key minor actinide (MA) isotopes and also on mitigation of associated proliferation risks. This study will also evaluate SFR core performance under different scenarios in which depleted uranium blankets are modified to include minor actinides with or without moderators (e.g. BeO, MgO, B4C, and hydrides). This will be done in an effort to increase the sustainability of the reactor and increase its power density while still offering a proliferation resistant design with the capability of burning MA waste produced from light water reactors (LWRs). Researchers will also analyze the use of recycled (as opposed to depleted) uranium in the blankets. The various designs will compare MA transmutation efficiency, plutonium breeding characteristics, proliferation risk, shutdown margins and reactivity coefficients with a current reference sodium fast reactor design employing homogeneous recycling. The team will also evaluatemorexa0» the out-of-core accumulation and/or burn-down rates of MAs and plutonium isotopes on a cycle-by-cycle basis. This cycle-by-cycle information will be produced in a format readily usable by the fuel cycle systems analysis code, VISION, for assessment of the sustainability of the deployment scenarios.«xa0less

RISK-INFORMED BALANCING OF SAFETY, NONPROLIFERATION, AND ECONOMICS FOR THE SFR

A substantial barrier to the implementation of Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) technology in the short term is the perception that they would not be economically competitive with advanced light water reactors. With increased acceptance of risk-informed regulation, the opportunity exists to reduce the costs of a nuclear power plant at the design stage without applying excessive conservatism that is not needed in treating low risk events. In the report, NUREG-1860, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission describes developmental activities associated with a risk-informed, scenario-based technology neutral framework (TNF) for regulation. It provides quantitative yardsticks against which the adequacy of safety risks can be judged. We extend these concepts to treatment of proliferation risks. The objective of our project is to develop a risk-informed design process for minimizing the cost of electricity generation within constraints of adequate safety and proliferation risks. This report describes the design and use of this design optimization process within the context of reducing the capital cost and levelized cost of electricity production for a small (possibly modular) SFR. Our project provides not only an evaluation of the feasibility of a risk-informed design process but also a practical test of the applicability of the TNF to an actualmorexa0» advanced, non-LWR design. The report provides results of five safety related and one proliferation related case studies of innovative design alternatives. Applied to previously proposed SFR nuclear energy system concepts We find that the TNF provides a feasible initial basis for licensing new reactors. However, it is incomplete. We recommend improvements in terms of requiring acceptance standards for total safety risks, and we propose a framework for regulation of proliferation risks. We also demonstrate methods for evaluation of proliferation risks. We also suggest revisions to scenario-specific safety risk acceptance standards, particularly concerning seismic and aircraft impactrelated risks. Most importantly, within the context of the TNF historical SFR safety concerns about energetic core disruptive accidents are seen to be unimportant, but those of rare scenarios mentioned above are seen to be of dominant concern. In terms of proliferation risks the SFR energy system is seen not to be of considerably greater concern than with other nuclear power technologies, providing that highly effective safeguards are employed. We find the economic performance of proposed SFRs likely, due to the problems of using sodium as a coolant, to be inferior to those of LWRs unless they can be credited for services to improve nuclear waste disposal, nuclear fuel utilization and proliferation risk reductions. None of the design innovations investigated offers the promise to reverse this conclusion. The most promising innovation investigated is that of improving the plants thermodynamic efficiency via use of the supercritical CO{sub 2} (rather than steam Rankine) power conversion system. We were unable to reach conclusions about the economic and proliferation risk implications of competing nuclear fuel processing methods, as available designs are too little developed to justify any such results. Overall, we find the SFR to be a promising alternative to LWRs should the conditions governing the valuation change substantially from current ones.«xa0less

A Supercritical CO

Although proposed more than 35 years ago, the use of supercritical CO{sub 2} as the working fluid in a closed circuit Brayton cycle has so far not been implemented in practice. Industrial experience in several other relevant applications has improved prospects, and its good efficiency at modest temperatures (e.g., {approx}45% at 550 deg. C) make this cycle attractive for a variety of advanced nuclear reactor concepts. The version described here is for a gas-cooled, modular fast reactor. In the proposed gas-cooled fast breeder reactor design of present interest, CO{sub 2} is also especially attractive because it allows the use of metal fuel and core structures. The principal advantage of a supercritical CO{sub 2} Brayton cycle is its reduced compression work compared to an ideal gas such as helium: about 15% of gross power turbine output vs. 40% or so. This also permits the simplification of use of a single compressor stage without inter-cooling. The requisite high pressure ({approx}20 MPa) also has the benefit of more compact heat exchangers and turbines. Finally, CO{sub 2} requires significantly fewer turbine stages than He, its principal competitor for nuclear gas turbine service. One disadvantage of CO{sub 2} in a direct cycle application is themorexa0» production of N-16, which will require turbine plant shielding (albeit much less than in a BWR). The cycle efficiency is also very sensitive to recuperator effectiveness and compressor inlet temperature. It was found necessary to split the recuperator into separate high-and low-temperature components, and to employ intermediate re-compression, to avoid having a pinch-point in the cold end of the recuperator. Over the past several decades developments have taken place that make the acceptance of supercritical CO{sub 2} systems more likely: supercritical CO{sub 2} pipelines are in use in the western US in oil-recovery operations; 14 advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGR) are employed in the UK at CO{sub 2} temperatures up to 650; and utilities now have experience with Rankine cycle power plants at pressures as high as 25 MPa. Furthermore, CO{sub 2} is the subject of R and D as the working fluid in schemes to sequester CO{sub 2} from fossil fuel combustion and for refrigeration service as a replacement for CFCs. (authors)«xa0less