Abstract
The Transformational Challenge Reactor is a 3-MW(thermal) helium-cooled experimental nuclear reactor designed using an additive manufacturing–informed agile design process. This design process leverages rapid prototyping and advanced materials from emerging additive manufacturing technologies, key characteristics that enable rapid design maturation. The resulting core design incorporates a blend of advanced reactor technologies into an intermediate-spectrum microreactor, including conventionally manufactured tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel particles in an advanced manufactured SiC fuel element and a solid yttrium hydride moderator encapsulated in steel. Matured during the design effort, these technologies are incorporated with additively manufactured steel support and fluidic structures to form a 75-cm-outer-diameter cylindrical active core region. Below and above the active core region are axial SiC reflectors, which are housed inside the reactor pressure vessel. The reactor is controlled with an annular shroud actuated external to the pressure vessel in the gap between the pressure vessel and a steel radial reflector. A safety rod is at the center of the core to shut down the reactor when necessary. Helium pressurized at 5 MPa is forced into the pressure vessel below the core and around the core to the top plenum before it is forced down through the axial reflectors and the active core region. The primary pressurized helium loop is operated up to 500°C and includes the pressure vessel, the circulator, and the hot side of a helium-to-air heat exchanger. The secondary loop rejects all heat from the primary loop to ambient air through a heat exchanger. A vented temporary confinement building contains the entire primary loop, with penetrations for a stack, cooling, and the secondary ambient air loop. This is the first advanced nuclear microreactor designed using additive manufacturing technologies, demonstrating their applicability in an accelerated advanced design process.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1399-1424 |
| Number of pages | 26 |
| Journal | Nuclear Science and Engineering |
| Volume | 196 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2022 |
Funding
This work was supported by the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy Transformational Challenge Reactor Program. Contributions from the TCR design and analysis contributors is noted, including Casey Jesse from Idaho National Laboratory; Alberto Talamo, Prasad Vengendla, and Subhasish Mohanty from Argonne National Laboratory; and Alex Huning, Arzu Alpan, Joel Risner, Joseph Burns, Briana Hiscox, Jordan Rader, Santosh Bhatt, Jesse Heineman, Peter Wang, Nate See, Steven Hilmes, Justin Weinmeister, Jianwei Hu, Emilian Popov, Adrian Sabau, Danny Schappel, Eliott Fountain, and Venu Varma from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The authors would also like to thank Tara Pandya of Oak Ridge National Laboratory for a thorough technical review. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the DOE. The U.S. government retains and the publisher, by accepting the paper for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for U.S. government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ). This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the DOE. The U.S. government retains and the publisher, by accepting the paper for publication, acknowledges that the U.S. government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for U.S. government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan). This work was supported by the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy Transformational Challenge Reactor Program. Contributions from the TCR design and analysis contributors is noted, including Casey Jesse from Idaho National Laboratory; Alberto Talamo, Prasad Vengendla, and Subhasish Mohanty from Argonne National Laboratory; and Alex Huning, Arzu Alpan, Joel Risner, Joseph Burns, Briana Hiscox, Jordan Rader, Santosh Bhatt, Jesse Heineman, Peter Wang, Nate See, Steven Hilmes, Justin Weinmeister, Jianwei Hu, Emilian Popov, Adrian Sabau, Danny Schappel, Eliott Fountain, and Venu Varma from Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The authors would also like to thank Tara Pandya of Oak Ridge National Laboratory for a thorough technical review.
Keywords
- Additive manufacturing
- TRISO, hydride
- advanced reactor
- microreactor
