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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.
Tsuguyuki Kobayashi
Nuclear Technology | Volume 166 | Number 2 | May 2009 | Pages 134-145
Technical Papers | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT09-A7400
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Design limits on the accumulated decay heat in the molten salt of an electrorefiner (ER) are proposed based on two-dimensional steady-state calculations. It was found that forced convection cooling of the outer surface of the ER allows ~30 to 40% larger decay heat than that for natural circulation cooling. The validity of a steady-state calculation is confirmed by comparison with a one-dimensional non-steady-state calculation. Estimated decay heat limits are compared with that of NaCl resulting from the bonding Na in the spent metallic fuel and the lanthanides concentration in the salt. These comparisons suggest that consideration of the decay heat is very important for the continuous usage of the salt in the ER.