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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.
Te-Chuan Wang, Shih-Jen Wang, Chun-Sheng Chien
Nuclear Technology | Volume 131 | Number 3 | September 2000 | Pages 319-331
Technical Paper | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT00-A3119
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The MELCOR code, developed by Sandia National Laboratories, is capable of simulating the severe accident phenomena of light water reactor nuclear power plants (NPPs). A specific large-break loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) for Kuosheng NPP is simulated with the use of the MELCOR 1.8.4 code. This accident is induced by a double-ended guillotine break of one of the recirculation pipes concurrent with complete failure of the emergency core cooling system. The MELCOR input deck for the Kuosheng NPP is established based on the design data of the Kuosheng NPP and the MELCOR users' guides. The initial steady-state conditions are generated with a developed self-initialization algorithm. The effect of the MELCOR 1.8.4-provided initialization process is demonstrated. The main severe accident phenomena and the corresponding fission product released fractions associated with the large-break LOCA sequences are simulated. The MELCOR 1.8.4 predicts a longer time interval between the core collapse and vessel failure and a higher source term. This MELCOR 1.8.4 input deck will be applied to the probabilistic risk assessment, the severe accident analysis, and the severe accident management study of the Kuosheng NPP in the near future.