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Nuclear Waste Management
Published in William J. Nuttall, Nuclear Renaissance, 2022
Despite most countries, except Russia and India, turning away from fast reactors in recent decades, the possibility remains that surplus plutonium could be used to fuel a new generation of fast reactors. One credible option for UK plutonium disposition via fuel use would be in a new fast reactor system. General Electric has proposed the use of its PRISM sodium-cooled fast reactor for such a task. The idea relies on a relatively simple pool-based design. One key benefit of the GE proposal is the suggestion that they would be willing, essentially, to be paid by results. This is in contrast to proposed MOX-based solutions which would, presumably, require new upfront tax-payer funding for major fuel preparation infrastructures. The use of UK separated civil plutonium in fast reactors remains a credible, if still rather distant, option in official UK policy. One added benefit is that fast reactor utilisation is not sensitive to the slowly increasing difficulties of americium-241 and hence it is not as time-pressured as MOX-related decision-making. While possible, it seems on balance unlikely that this would form a significant part in any early phase of a Nuclear Renaissance. In many parts of the world, the momentum of the fast reactor programmes has been lost and activity is restricted to research and development. Certainly in Europe and North America, fast reactors would seem to be off the agenda for the time being. We shall consider the potential role of fast reactors further in Chapter 8. Within the scope of fast reactors, there are more radical and innovative approaches greatly assisted by technology improvements seen in the 50 years since critical fast reactors were first in vogue. Among such ideas is the use of particle accelerator technology to transmute problematic plutonium into more easily handled materials. This modern form of alchemy that would have the added benefit of generating electricity, this idea will also be discussed in depth in Chapter 8.
An Experimental Investigation of Two-Phase Frictional Pressure Drop in Straight-Tube Steam Generator Used in SFR
Published in Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2023
S. P. Pathak, K. Velusamy, K. Devan, V. A Suresh Kumar
The sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) uses sodium as the primary coolant, and the fission energy produced in the reactor core is transported through sodium to a steam generator (SG). Various designs of sodium-heated SGs are in use in SFRs worldwide. SFR SGs are capable of producing steam at higher pressures and temperatures. The present study considers the once-through, straight-tube shell-and-tube-type SG. In these SGs, the feedwater enters the SG inlet water channel and flows upward through the tubes, picking up the heat from secondary sodium flowing downward through the shell side. The feedwater experiences various flow regimes along the tube length, and finally, it is converted to superheated steam while leaving the SG.