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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.
Michael S. McGough, William E. Austin, George J. Knetl
Nuclear Technology | Volume 87 | Number 3 | November 1989 | Pages 648-659
Technical Paper | TMI-2: Remote Technology and Engineering / Nuclear Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT89-A27717
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The lower core support assembly (LCSA) of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor was not structurally damaged during the accident. In order to permit defueling of that region of the core, the LCSA was cut to permit access. A five-axis teleoperator was developed to deliver plasma cutting, rotary grinding, and abrasive water-jetting end effectors to the LCSA. In addition, the automated cutting equipment system (ACES) manipulator and plasma system were used for vertical sectioning of the baffle plates. The ACES and the end effectors were designed, fabricated, tested, and implemented in the field by PCI Energy Services. Complex geometry sectioning was completed in a mock-up facility at chemistry and pressure conditions simulating those of the vessel, prior to actual in-vessel operations. In-vessel activities began in early May of 1988 and were completed on April 11, 1989.