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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.
Jason Chao, V. K. Chexal, William H. Layman, Gary Vine, Peter J. Jensen, Adi R. Dastur
Nuclear Technology | Volume 83 | Number 3 | December 1988 | Pages 289-301
Technical Paper | Fifth International Retran Meeting / Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow | doi.org/10.13182/NT88-A34142
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The two power peaks during the Chernobyl accident were analyzed using the system thermal-hydraulic code RETRAN-02. The time and magnitude of the first power peak predicted by the RETRAN model compared well with the data presented by the Soviets. The analysis also revealed that one of the contributing factors to the second power peak was the depressurization of the system. Depressurization occurred upon rupture of the pressure boundary, which was caused by the first power peak. The depressurization of the system generated more voids, resulting in additional reactivity insertion, which produced a second peak. A parametric study showed that the positive reactivity introduced by the scram rods and the reactivity caused by the positive void coefficient were both important in contributing to the accident.