Table Of Content

This page intentionally left blank This page intentionally left blank Fast Reactors A Solution to Fight Against Global Warming Joel Guidez Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier 125 London Wall, London EC2Y 5AS, United Kingdom 525 B Street, Suite 1650, San Diego, CA 92101, United States 50 Hampshire Street, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, United Kingdom Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. 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To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein. ISBN 978-0-12-821946-1 For information on all Academic Press publications visit our website at https://www.elsevier.com/books-and-journals Publisher: Charlotte Cockle Editorial Project Manager: Zsereena Rose Mampusti Production Project Manager: Sreejith Viswanathan Cover Designer: Vicky Pearson Esser Typeset by STRAIVE, India Contents About the author .......................................................................................................xi Foreword .................................................................................................................xiii Introduction ............................................................................................................xvii CHAPTER 1 Where do Homo sapiens get their energy? ....................1 Some history ...................................................................................2 Global warming ..............................................................................3 What are the energy needs of the future? ...................................7 The return of the electricity fairy? ..................................................9 Electrical energy without CO production? ....................................9 2 A world powered by renewables alone? .......................................10 New research for the future? .........................................................12 And nuclear? .................................................................................13 The new nuclear? ..........................................................................14 Conclusion ....................................................................................14 References .....................................................................................15 CHAPTER 2 What are the advantages of fast reactors? ..................17 Fissile and fertile material ............................................................17 Reminder on the principle of fast reactors ....................................18 Operation of water reactors without spent fuel reprocessing .......19 Water reactors with fuel reprocessing ...........................................20 Reminder on the fuel cycle of fast reactors ..................................22 Reactors that no longer need mining and fuel enrichment ...........23 Almost unlimited energy ..............................................................23 Energy that produces neither CO nor dust ..................................25 2 An energy that has almost zero chemical release in reactor operation ..................................................................25 Operation that minimizes staff dosimetry .....................................25 Energy that decreases the global amount of radioactive waste ........25 An energy that can drastically reduce the duration final nuclear waste is hazardous ...............................................26 A small ecological footprint .........................................................27 Conclusion ....................................................................................27 References .....................................................................................28 CHAPTER 3 Fast reactors exist, I’ve met them .................................29 Introduction ...................................................................................30 The very-high-temperature reactor ...............................................31 v vi Contents The supercritical water reactor .....................................................33 The gas-cooled fast reactor ...........................................................34 The lead-cooled fast reactor ..........................................................35 The sodium-cooled fast reactor.....................................................39 The molten salt reactor .............................................................40 Conclusions ...................................................................................42 CHAPTER 4 Analysis of the reasons for the failure to deploy sodium-cooled fast reactors globally in 2021 ............43 Assessment of sodium-cooled fast reactors in the world in 2021 .................................................................44 Technical difficulties specific to the sodium sector? ....................47 The additional cost compared with PWRs? ..................................48 Industrial domination of PWRs ....................................................49 Specific safety issues? ...................................................................49 The proliferation risk ...............................................................51 Existence of reprocessing plants ...................................................53 Fast reactor fuel manufacturing ....................................................54 Social acceptance ..........................................................................56 The loss of skills ...........................................................................56 Uranium availability .....................................................................57 Conclusions ...................................................................................59 References .....................................................................................61 CHAPTER 5 What fuel for a sodium-cooled fast reactor? ...............63 Introduction ...................................................................................64 Oxide fuel .....................................................................................66 Metallic fuel ..................................................................................69 Carbide fuel ..................................................................................72 Nitride fuel ....................................................................................73 Fuel/manufacturing .......................................................................75 Fuel/reprocessing ..........................................................................76 A choice of fuel according to applications and strategy? .............78 Conclusion ....................................................................................79 CHAPTER 6 Update on the technical state of sodium-cooled fast reactors in Europe ....................................................81 The ESFR-SMART project ...........................................................82 History of sodium-cooled fast reactors in Europe ........................82 Safety improvement: Objectives and methodology ......................83 Some examples of safety improvement approach in the ESFR-smart ....................................................................85 Reactivity control .....................................................................85 Contents vii Containment .............................................................................86 Decay heat removal ..................................................................89 Sodium fire ...............................................................................92 Sodium-water reaction .............................................................92 Dosimetry and releases ............................................................92 Simplicity and human factor ....................................................93 Description of ESFR-SMART primary system including these new options .....................................................................93 General plant characteristics ....................................................93 Core ..........................................................................................98 Main vessel ..............................................................................99 Inner vessel ..............................................................................99 Reactor roof .............................................................................99 Reactor pit ..............................................................................100 DHRS-3 ..................................................................................100 Primary sodium confinement .................................................101 Core support structure and connection to pump ....................102 Core catcher ...........................................................................102 Primary pump .........................................................................103 Intermediate heat exchanger ..................................................103 Polar table or dome ................................................................105 Description of ESFR-SMART secondary loops .........................105 General description of ESFR-SMART secondary loop .........105 Secondary pump .....................................................................105 Steam generator .....................................................................107 DHRS-1 system .....................................................................108 Piping .....................................................................................110 Safety analysis of the secondary loop .........................................112 General layout of the plant .........................................................115 Handling systems ........................................................................117 Spent fuel handling ................................................................117 Fresh fuel handling ................................................................119 Handling of components ........................................................119 Conclusions on safety improvements .........................................120 R&D needs for ESFR-smart options ..........................................122 Conclusion ..................................................................................124 Acknowledgment ........................................................................125 References ...................................................................................125 CHAPTER 7 Update on molten salt fast reactors ............................127 Principle of operation of molten salt reactors .............................128 The possible types of MSR .........................................................129 viii Contents Experience feedback on MSRs ...................................................130 Choice of salt (FLiBe) ...........................................................131 The materials ..........................................................................131 Neutronics and flows in the primary ......................................132 Heat extraction .......................................................................132 Salt processing .......................................................................135 Final balance sheet .................................................................136 The potential benefits of MSRs ..................................................137 The advantages of MSR in terms of safety ............................137 The advantages of MSRs in terms of the fuel cycle ..............138 Incineration ............................................................................139 The advantages of MSR in terms of network monitoring ......140 Startup of the reactor ..............................................................141 Reactor shutdown ...................................................................142 The potential advantages of MSRs in terms of compactness .............................................................142 Situation of MSRs in the world in 2021 .....................................142 Chinese program ....................................................................143 Russian program ....................................................................146 Indian program .......................................................................148 Anglo-Saxon startup projects .................................................148 Analysis of the different concepts ..........................................152 Special situation of France ..........................................................153 The technical challenges of MSRs .............................................156 Choice of salt .........................................................................156 Neutronic ................................................................................158 Neutronics and isotope separation .........................................162 Choice of material ..................................................................162 Salt/fuel chemistry .................................................................165 Fission gas management ........................................................165 Choice of intermediate fluid ..................................................166 The components .....................................................................166 Pumps .....................................................................................167 Exchangers .............................................................................167 Valves .....................................................................................167 Preheating ..............................................................................167 Drain tanks .............................................................................168 Electricity generating circuit ..................................................168 Instrumentation ......................................................................168 In-service inspection ..............................................................169 Security approach and licensing ............................................169 Contents ix Conclusion on safety ..............................................................172 Waste and dismantling ...........................................................172 Reprocessing ..........................................................................173 Proliferation ...........................................................................174 Conclusion ..................................................................................174 References ...................................................................................174 CHAPTER 8 Conclusion: What future for fast reactors and our planet? ..............................................................177 Appendix 1: Lessons learned from sodium-cooled fast reactor operation ......179 Appendix 2: Industrial demonstration of the fuel cycle of a sodium-cooled fast reactor...................................................................................187 Appendix 3: Choice of fuel salt for a U/Pu cycle molten salt reactor .............191 Index ......................................................................................................................207