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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.
Douglas R. Smith, Robert W. Albrecht
Nuclear Technology | Volume 79 | Number 1 | October 1987 | Pages 35-50
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT87-A16003
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A recent development in passive safety devices for advanced liquid-metal reactors is the installation of manometerlike core assemblies called gas enhancement modules (GEMs). Knowledge of the liquid sodium level within the GEMs is required to monitor GEM operation. A microwave, resonant cavity level measurement technique has been laboratory tested on a scale model of a GEM assembly in a nonsodium environment. The theory behind this method is discussed, and the experimental results are shown to compare well with those predicted by theoretical calculation. The resonant cavity level detector tracked extremely well over the desired 0.1524- to 1.1176-m range of operation and provided accurate, reproducible results well within the desired ±25.4-mm actual level. When tested for vibrational stability, level errors of only 0.254 mm were observed. The effects of material differences between the experimental GEM (copper) and the actual GEM (Type 304 stainless steel) are calculated. The actual GEM will have poorer resolution but still be within ±25.4-mm actual level. Temperature effects are also calculated and produce a 10.5 kHz/°C shift in resonant frequency, which could cause the indicated level to exceed the ±25.4 mm allowed if large (∼149°C) temperature changes occur.