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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.
J. A. Mowrey, P. R. Boylan, S. I. Abdel-Khalik
Nuclear Technology | Volume 124 | Number 3 | December 1998 | Pages 223-242
Technical Paper | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT98-A2922
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A RELAP5/MOD3.1 model of a boiling water reactor and an interface originally developed as a real-time test platform for the Browns Ferry Unit 2 feedwater control system and turbine governors have been expanded to include feedwater heater systems and controls and to change the reactor recirculation pump controls from the current fluid-coupled drive to a future variable speed drive. The expanded model includes feedwater heater shell-side components, associated piping, steam supplies, and condensers, and allows simulation of the Foxboro digital feedwater heater level control system. The model was updated to RELAP5/MOD3.1.1, while the interface was expanded to handle additional communications and operator actions. The simulated feedwater heater level controls were tuned and benchmarked; benchmarking was performed against steady-state data at various power levels from plant heat balance data. After the model was benchmarked, various transients were simulated to identify potential flaws in the feedwater heater level control system.