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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.
Friedrich Burtak, Gerhard J. Schlosser
Nuclear Technology | Volume 123 | Number 3 | September 1998 | Pages 268-277
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT98-A2898
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
It is proposed that weapons-grade Pu recovered under the strategic arms reduction agreement be used in existing light water reactors under the current safety and licensing criteria. Based on experience with the commercial use of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel in German pressurized water reactors, MOX fuel assemblies containing weapons-grade Pu have been designed. The related fuel management studies are presented. The possibility of using corresponding hexagonal MOX fuel assemblies in Russian-type VVER 1000 reactors is also discussed. In addition, the use of weapons-grade Pu in modern boiling water reactors is addressed. It can be stated that safe normal operation and benign accident behavior are achievable.