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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.
Martin P. Sherman, Marshall Berman
Nuclear Technology | Volume 81 | Number 1 | April 1988 | Pages 63-77
Technical Paper | Nuclear Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT88-A34079
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
It is possible to objectively determine whether a detonation can propagate in a given geometry (volume shape and size, obstacle configuration, degree of confinement) for a given mixture composition (concentrations of hydrogen, air, and steam); this is done by conservatively equating the detonation propagation criteria with the criteria for transition from deflagration to detonation. To reduce the degree of conservatism in this procedure, estimates of the probability of transition to detonation are constructed, based on subjective extrapolations of empirical data. A methodology is introduced that qualitatively ranks mixtures and geometries according to the degree to which they are conducive to transition to detonation. The methodology is then applied to analyzing the potential for local detonations in the Bellefonte reactor containment for a variety of accident scenarios. Based on codecalculated rates and quantities of hydrogen generation and calculated rates of transport and mixing, this methodology indicates a low potential for detonation except for one volume in a few cases.