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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 J. Wolfgang, Rayford L. Patterson
Nuclear Technology | Volume 87 | Number 3 | November 1989 | Pages 616-623
Technical Paper | TMI-2: Remote Technology and Engineering / Nuclear Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT89-A27713
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The 1979 Three Mile Island Unit 2 accident caused fuel particles (fines) and debris to be transported throughout the reactor coolant system (RCS). Estimates of the fuel quantities in the RCS outside the reactor vessel boundary (defined as ex-vessel areas) have been developed. These estimates, in conjunction with as-low-as-reasonably-achievable considerations, were used to determine which ex-vessel areas required defueling.
