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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.
Hasna J. Khan, Hsiang S. Cheng, Upendra S. Rohatgi
Nuclear Technology | Volume 112 | Number 2 | November 1995 | Pages 155-168
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT95-A35170
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Analysis has been performed for an anticipated transient without scram (ATWS) event in a simplified boiling water reactor. Loss of feedwater heating initiated this ATWS, which was mitigated by the insertion of fine-motion control rods. Calculations with RAMONA-4B code show that reactivity insertion, through increase in subcooling to the core, results in a rise in the core power to a new equilibrium condition. Insertion of fine-motion control rods from the bottom of the core is found to shift the peak of the axial power distribution to the upper part of the core until eventual shutdown of the reactor occurs.