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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.
Robert A. Bari, Hans Ludewig, John R. Weeks
Nuclear Technology | Volume 115 | Number 3 | September 1996 | Pages 243-265
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A15836
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A study has been performed of the impact on performance of using low-enriched uranium (20% 235U) or medium-enriched uranium (35 % 235U) as an alternative fuel for the Advanced Neutron Source, which was initially designed to use uranium enriched to 93% 235U. Higher fuel densities and larger volume cores were evaluated at the lower enrichments in terms of impact on neutron flux, safety, safeguards, technical feasibility, and cost. The feasibility of fabricating uranium silicide fuel at increasing material density was specifically addressed by a panel of international experts on research reactor fuels. The most viable alternative designs for the reactor at lower enrichments were identified and discussed. Several sensitivity analyses were performed to gain an understanding of the performance of the reactor at parametric values of power, fuel density, core volume, and enrichment that were interpolations between the boundary values imposed on the study or extrapolations from known technology.