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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.
Kazuaki Yanagisawa
Nuclear Technology | Volume 73 | Number 3 | June 1986 | Pages 361-377
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT86-A16078
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The influence of design parameters and burnup on pellet /cladding interaction (PCI) of current boiling water reactor fuel rods was studied through in-core diameter measurement. Thinner cladding and a smaller diametral gap enhanced the PCI during startup. At constant power, fuel with SiO2 added greatly reduced PCI due to relaxation. The fuel with a small grain size greatly reduced PCI due to densification. Preirradiation of rods up to 23 MWd / kgU caused a large PCI not only in a small gap but also in a large gap rod. Relaxation and permanent deformation was small. In the power increase experiment, one rod experienced PCI failure. The spurt times of coolant radioactivity coincided well with the sudden drop of cladding axial strain and marked crack opening at the rod surface. The estimated hoop stress predicted by FEMAXI-III was 350 MPa at the failure.
