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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.
Kee Nam Choo, Man Soon Cho, Sung Woo Yang, Byung Hyuk Jun, Myong Seop Kim
Nuclear Technology | Volume 195 | Number 2 | August 2016 | Pages 213-221
Technical Note | doi.org/10.13182/NT15-154
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A new capsule design was prepared and tested at the High Flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor (HANARO) for neutron irradiation of the core materials of research reactors at a low temperature (of <100°C). The capsule was first designed at HANARO to have the coolant flow through the capsule to cool down the irradiation temperature of the specimens. The safety of the newly designed capsule should be fully checked before irradiation testing. Out-pile performance and endurance testing before HANARO irradiation testing was performed using a capsule in the HANARO out-pile test facilities. The new capsule had a much higher coolant flow-induced vibration than a standard capsule, resulting in fatigue failure at the rod tip of the capsule. The lifetime of the rod tip was greatly improved by changing the material from Type 304 stainless steel to Type 316L stainless steel and by changing the welding method from tungsten inert gas welding to electron beam welding. With the optimized design, the capsule was successfully irradiated at low temperatures of <100°C for up to eight cycles (6075 MWd) at HANARO.