Conceptual design modifications of the cooling system of MNSR reactor to increase its maximum continuous operation time
| Autor: | Ali Hainoun, Suleiman Al Issa |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2007 |
| Předmět: |
Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Work (thermodynamics) Engineering Waste management Continuous operation business.industry Mechanical Engineering Nuclear engineering Continuous reactor Thermal hydraulics Nuclear Energy and Engineering Conceptual design Nuclear reactor core Heat exchanger Water cooling General Materials Science Safety Risk Reliability and Quality business Waste Management and Disposal |
| Zdroj: | Nuclear Engineering and Design. 237:2275-2281 |
| ISSN: | 0029-5493 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.nucengdes.2007.03.027 |
| Popis: | To increase the maximum daily operation time of Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) reactor several conceptual thermal hydraulic design modifications have been investigated aiming at the improvement of reactor cooling conditions to limit the increase of average core temperature. For this purpose an integrated full-scale thermal hydraulic-neutronics model using the advanced code ATHLET has been developed, tested and verified. The selected design modifications rely upon introducing auxiliary cooling systems operating in four different modes to cool pool water or reactor water using heat exchanger located either inside or outside of reactor pool. The simulation results show that the increase of continuous reactor operation time varies between 1 and 8 additional operation hours. The optimal results are achieved for the second and the fourth options that use external heat exchanger. The second option enables the extending of continuous operation time up to 10 h and the fourth up to 15 h, both at nominal reactor power and under the assumption of initial excess reactivity corresponding to the fresh reactor core. The analysis included the evaluation of xenon poisoning effect on the increase of operation time. It has been shown that its remarkable effect starts after the first 3 operation hours and increases continuously after that. For the best cooling options, where the average core temperature is being fixed at certain value resulting in complete elimination of reactivity feedback of cooling temperature, xenon effect becomes the exclusive limiting effect during the later operation phase. The analysis discuss also general aspects of technical realization for the different cooling options in relation with the specific features of MNSR and the preliminary engineering safety measures and operational radiological protection that have to be taken. The performed analysis and the achieved results during this work would make valuable contribution for updating the Safety Analysis Report (SAR) of MNSR. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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