Premium
Boron‐free small modular pressurized water reactor design with new burnable absorber
Author(s) -
Choe Jiwon,
Zheng Youqi,
Lee Deokjung,
Shin Ho Cheol
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.3590
Subject(s) - boron , pressurized water reactor , nuclear engineering , materials science , modular design , shutdown , control rod , coolant , corrosion , boiler (water heating) , neutron capture , waste management , engineering , chemistry , composite material , mechanical engineering , computer science , organic chemistry , operating system
Summary This paper presents a preliminary design of a Small Modular Pressurized Water Reactor (SMPWR) aimed at boron‐free operation which can reduce the size of a nuclear power plant (NPP) and the amount of liquid radioactive waste, and also reduce the corrosion issues caused by boric acid in the coolant. The design parameter limits, such as reactivity swing, axial offset (AO), 3D pin peaking factor (Fq), and the required shutdown margin, have been established for the boron‐free SMPWR. Furthermore, a new ring type of burnable absorber (R‐BA) with Zr– 167 Er is adopted as a burnable absorber (BA) and HfB 2 is adopted as a control rod material to satisfy those design limits without liquid boron. Optimal fuel assemblies (FAs) and loading patterns have been searched through a sensitivity study, and the excess reactivity control capacity and design requirements have been demonstrated to be satisfactory. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.