Improved FAST Device for Inherent Safety of Oxide-Fueled Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactors

Ahmed Amin E. Abdelhameed, Chihyung Kim and Yonghee Kim
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Ahmed Amin E. Abdelhameed: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Korea
Chihyung Kim: Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), Daejeon 34057, Korea
Yonghee Kim: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Korea

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 15, 1-14

Abstract: The floating absorber for safety at transient (FAST) was proposed as a solution for the positive coolant temperature coefficient in sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs). It is designed to insert negative reactivity in the case of coolant temperature rise or coolant voiding in an inherently passive way. The use of the original FAST design showed effectiveness in protecting the reactor core during some anticipated transients without scram (ATWS) events. However, oscillation behaviors of power due to refloating of the absorber module in FAST were observed during other ATWS events. In this paper, we propose an improved FAST device (iFAST), in which a constraint is imposed on the sinking (insertion) limit of the absorber module in FAST. This provides a simple and effective solution to the power oscillation problem. Here, we focus on an oxide fuel-loaded SFR that is characterized by a more negative Doppler reactivity coefficient and higher operating temperature than the metallic-loaded SFR cores. The study is carried out for the 1000 MWth advanced burner reactor with an oxide fuel-loaded core during postulated ATWS events that are unprotected transient over power, unprotected loss of flow, and unprotected loss of the heat sink. It was found that the iFAST device has promising potentials for protecting the oxide SFR core during the various studied ATWS events.

Keywords: sodium-cooled fast reactors; inherent safety; anticipated transients without scram; coolant temperature coefficient (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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