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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.
Allen C. Smith, James E. Blake, Michael T. Childerson, Ted R. Ohrn, Robert M. Privette
Nuclear Technology | Volume 106 | Number 2 | May 1994 | Pages 254-260
Technical Note | Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow | doi.org/10.13182/NT94-A34980
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Analytical studies of the effects of power on flow instability in parallel channels with upward flow of coolant have predicted that the Ledinegg flow instability, encountered as flow is decreased for typical operating power levels, would not be experienced at low-power levels. For a system in which the flow of coolant is upward, the increased buoyancy enhances flow in the channel, so that as the void increases, the overall pressure loss decreases. Under this condition, flow instability does not occur. Testing was performed to confirm the predicted behavior and to provide data for benchmarking of computer codes used for predicting the performance of reactor fuel elements. The demand curves traced in these tests are part of the multidimensional demand surface for the test apparatus. The basic coordinates of this surface are flow rate, pressure drop, and power. A fourth significant independent variable is system pressure, so that the behavior of the system is represented by a family of Δp-flow-power surfaces for each pressure level. This testing confirmed that, at low power levels comparable to decay heat removal power, the buoyancy effects may become dominant so that the demand curve for the fuel assembly turns downward and flow instability will not occur.