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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.
Ioannis A. Papazoglou
Nuclear Technology | Volume 130 | Number 3 | June 2000 | Pages 329-350
Technical Paper | Nuclear Plant Operations and Control | doi.org/10.13182/NT00-A3097
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A special Markov reliability model is used to simulate the effects of frequency of testing and allowable bypass time of the analog channels and logic trains on the performance of a pressurized water reactor, reactor protection system (RPS). The effects of these technical specifications (TSs) on the unavailability of the RPS and on the frequencies of spurious scrams, core damage, anticipated transients without scram, and large early releases are assessed. The use of these results to support decision making concerning changing the TSs in light of the relevant policy statement by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on risk-informed decision making is demonstrated. The analysis includes point-value calculations sensitivity and uncertainty analysis.