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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.
Bo Kyun Seo, Jong Kyung Kim, Chang Ho Shin, Tae Je Kwon
Nuclear Technology | Volume 133 | Number 3 | March 2001 | Pages 325-337
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT01-A3177
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The feasibility of nuclear power plant lifetime extension was examined by reducing the fast neutron fluence at the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and relieving irradiation embrittlement of materials, and thus ensuring enough structural integrity beyond the design lifetime. Two fluence reduction options, peripheral assembly replacement and additional shield installation in the outer core structures, were applied to the Kori Unit-1 reactor, and the fluence reduction effect was carefully analyzed. For an accurate estimate of the neutron fluence at the RPV and a reasonable description of the modified peripheral assemblies, a full-scope explicit modeling of a Monte Carlo simulation was employed in all calculations throughout this study. The Kori Unit-1 cycle-16 core was modeled on a three-dimensional representation by using the MCNP4B code, and the fluence distribution was estimated at the inner wall beltline around the circumferential weld of the RPV. On the basis of fracture toughness requirements of the RPV, the two modified cases were predicted to have an additional life of 7 to 10 effective full-power years. Throughout the core nuclear characteristics analyses, it was confirmed that the critical peaking factors for safe reactor operation were satisfied with the design limits.