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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.
Kazuo Azekura
Nuclear Technology | Volume 77 | Number 3 | June 1987 | Pages 255-262
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT87-A33965
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An analysis model has been proposed to evaluate reactivity due to horizontal fast breeder reactor (FBR) core deformation in seismic events by direct three-dimensional eigenvalue calculations, which are impossible for current neutronic analysis programs. The model is based on a current-centered finite difference neutron diffusion calculation method. Macroscopic neutron reaction cross sections are defined, which take into account changes in both mesh volume and material composition. Further, the expression of vertical neutron current is modified in such a way as to take into account changes in vertical mesh interface areas. By using these macroscopic neutron cross sections and the modified expression for vertical neutron current, it is possible to calculate the effective multiplication factor of a deformed FBR core within the bounds of a finite difference diffusion calculation method using the same mesh division used for the normal nondeformed core. Computation time and computer core memory required by the presented model are almost the same as in current finite difference methods. The calculated reactivities for simple one-dimensional slab, two-dimensional slab, and three-dimensional hexagonal systems agreed within 5% of those obtained by either a finite element method or a finite difference method. The agreement was particularly good (within 2%) for cases in which fuel assembly pitches decrease around the horizontal core midplane; therefore, large reactivity is inserted.