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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.
Peter Royl, Barry D. Ganapol, Charles R. Bell
Nuclear Technology | Volume 71 | Number 1 | October 1985 | Pages 145-161
Technical Paper | Nuclear Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT85-A33716
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The potential for fuel removal through the inner blanket intersubassembly gaps before the formation of interconnected pools of fuel and steel has been investigated for the Clinch River Breeder Reactor heterogeneous core under conditions of an unprotected loss of flow accident. The relevant physical phenomena were simulated with the SIMMER-II accident analysis code with the necessary model adaptations identified. A base case has only been set up for the four inner sub-assembly rings. Based on the understanding gained from this case and an evaluation of a sensitivity study, combined variations for an enhancement of fuel removal are examined. For low flow resistance in the gap, sustained pressurization in the driver assemblies, and delayed blanket gap wall failure, a substantial amount of fuel can be removed from the active core through the inner blanket gaps. The analyzed problem is closely related to the thermal propagation issue.