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NRC approves TerraPower construction permit
Today, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it has approved TerraPower’s construction permit application for Kemmerer Unit 1, the company’s first deployment of Natrium, its flagship sodium fast reactor.
This approval is a significant milestone on three fronts. For TerraPower, it represents another step forward in demonstrating its technology. For the Department of Energy, it reflects progress (despite delays) for the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). For the NRC, it is the first approval granted to a commercial reactor in nearly a decade—and the first approval of a commercial non–light water reactor in more than 40 years.
Patrick O’Rourke, Scott Ramsey, Brian Temple
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 196 | Number 7 | July 2022 | Pages 792-810
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2021.2018926
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This work applies the Lie Group Theory (LGT) to the neutron slowing-down equations for the n’th lethargy interval with the goal of defining the symmetry group associated with Dawn’s analytical solution. We also demonstrate two competing methods of the LGT and how they each result in the same solution and symmetry group. The two methods differ by taking advantage of the definition of a symmetry group from either a geometrical perspective or an algebraic perspective. The methods are the Traditional Lie Algorithm, which we apply to the equivalent system of ordinary differential equations for neutrons slowing down, as well as the Grigoriev-Meleshko Method, which we apply directly to the Volterra integral equation for neutrons slowing down. We also discuss the physical meaning of the symmetry group related to Dawn’s solution.