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Overview of the United States

Gas Cooled Reactor Technology Program

Thomas J. O’Connor, Director

Office of Gas Cooled Reactor Technologies

March 28 – 30, 2011

2 March 28 -30, 2011

Delivering Nuclear Solutions for America’s Energy Challenges

Mission and Program Objectives

Mission: Demonstrate high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) technology to produce electricity and high temperature process heat via the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) Demonstration Project

Program Objectives

Partner with industry to commercialize HTGR technology

Collaborate with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to establish a licensing framework for HTGRs

Draw upon the national laboratories, universities, and international community to perform the Research and Development (R&D) necessary to decrease the technical risk

3 March 28 -30, 2011 Delivering Nuclear Solutions for America’s Energy Challenges

Strategic Linkages*

Research Objective 1 (Current Fleet)

R&D techniques developed through the NGNP program can be applied to light water reactor (LWR) technology

Research Objective 2 (New Builds)

NGNP’s HTGR technology is uniquely able to provide economical electricity and high temperature process heat with zero greenhouse gas emissions while increasing energy security by reducing the reliance on imported oil

Research Objective 3 (Sustainable Fuel Cycle)

HTGRs achieve higher burn-up rates than traditional LWRs (15% fissions per initial metal atom compared to 5% for LWRs)

Research Objective 4 (Non-proliferation)

Higher burn-up rates reduce the attractiveness of used nuclear fuel

GIF Proliferation Resistance and Physical Protection criteria will be used to evaluate NGNP designs

*Nuclear Energy Research & Development Roadmap: Report to Congress

http://www.nuclear.energy.gov/pdffiles/NuclearEnergy_Roadmap_Final.pdf

http://www.nuclear.energy.gov/pdffiles/NuclearEnergy_Roadmap_Final.pdf


Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58)

Use Generation IV technology to

Produce electricity and/or process heat for hydrogen and other applications

Establishes phased project

Phase I - R&D

Phase II - Design and Construction

Schedule

Inform technology selection – 2011

If decision to build is made – complete by 2021

Requires Licensing by the NRC

Requires siting in Idaho

Requires cost-share

Congressional Deliverables

Initial NERAC (now NEAC) program review (April 2006)

Joint DOE/NRC Licensing Strategy (August 2008)

Select technology by September 30, 2011 (on track)

NEAC recommendation on whether Project is ready to start Phase (on-going)


NGNP Funding by Activities

FY 2011 (CR) - $85M

NGNP Materials Development;

$14,050; 17%

NGNP Fuel Development;

$18,300; 22%

NGNP Project Management;

$6,500; 8%

NGNP Engineering; $4,100; 5%

NGNP Process End-User

Applications; $2,800; 3%

NGNP Regulatory Affairs;

$3,600; 4%

Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling

& Simulation (NEAMS)

(Incl. SBIR/STTR Taxes);

$1,200; 1%

Management & Integration;

$6,080; 7%

NRC Support for NGNP;

$4,500; 5%NGNP Design

Method Development;

$5,000; 6%

NGNP - SBIR / STTR;

$1,870; 2%

University Research & Education

(Incl. SBIR/STTR Taxes);

$17,000; 20%


NGNP Funding by Activities

FY 2006 – FY 2010 ($528.447M)

NGNP Materials Development;

$60,502; 11%

NGNP Design Method Development;

$29,049; 5%

NGNP Preconceptual Design

(FY'07 & FY'08); $31,795; 6%

SBIR / STTR &

Rescission / Reductions;

$10,102; 2%

Other NGNP Activities (Regulatory

Affairs, NRC Support, & Proj. MGMT);

$62,193; 12% NGNP Engineering / Conceptual

Design (FY'09 - Present);

$82,544; 16%

Other Technical Support

(GIF Support / Intl. Collaboration,

Tech. Integration, & VHTR Activities);

$28,330; 5%

University NERI Aw ards (Grants &

Mortgages) & University Research &

Education (incl. SBIR/STTR Taxes);

$81,825; 15%

Earmarks: VHTR Deep-Burn

& Russian GT-MHR;

$31,078; 6%

NGNP Fuel Development;

$111,029; 22%


The Nuclear Heat Source

Technology Development and

Qualification Needs

Graphite Characterization,

Irradiation Testing, Modeling and

Codification

Fuel Fabrication, Irradiation, and Safety Testing

Design and Safety Methods Development and Validation

High Temperature Materials Characterization, Testing

and Codification

7


Fuel Qualification Program

Fission Product Transport

and Source Term

Fuel Performance Modeling

Fuel Supply

Fuel and Materials Irradiation

Post Irradiation

Examination and

Safety Testing

• Coated Particle Fuel Fabrication

• Fuel Qualification

• Analysis Methods Development and Validation


Graphite Materials Qualification

• Structural Graphite Development

• Material Properties

• Whole Core Models

Nuclear Graphite

ASTM Tests

Unirradiated Database

Unirradiated Properties

Whole Core Modeling

y = -9.6343x + 12.381

R2 = 0.9997

y = - 10 .3 8 8 x + 13 .53 2

R2

= 0 .9 9 71

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

0.95 1.00 1.05 1.10 1.15 1.20

1000/T (K-1

)

log

10 (

OR

)

Series1

Series2

Linear (Series1)

Linear (Series2)

Graphite Type A

Program Participants INL, ORNL


High Temperature Materials Qualification

Development of Material Properties and Design Rules

and

ASME Codification

Environmental Testing

Material Characterization

Mechanical Testing

Materials: • Pressure vessel

steels • Alloys for heat

exchangers (up to 800℃)

• Control rod sleeves and other core internals

Program Participants INL, ORNL, ANL

Ni from Watts bath plating

Cr Oxide surface layer

Al Oxide intergrowth


Design & Safety Methods & Validation

Design Methods and Validation

Physics, Thermal and System Safety Methods, Code Development and Application

INL’s Matched Index of Refraction (MIR) Facility to Study 3-D Flow Effects in

Plena

35.99688

Fuel hole210 X Ø 1.27

LBP hole6 X Ø 1.27

Coolant hole102 X Ø 01.5875

Inner coolant hole6 X Ø 1.27

Fuel pitch

0.740

(1.8796 cm)

Fuel handling hole

Cross-section Measurements

at LANL

Scaled Vessel Testing

Pebble and Prismatic Physics Methods

Multi-dimensional CFD Simulations

Graphite/Air Reaction Rate Testing

Integral Systems Modeling

ANL Facility to Validate VHTR Cavity Cooling System Behavior

Separate Effects & Integral Testing Under Normal & Off-Normal Conditions


End-user Interface

Integration of nuclear energy with non-electric end-user applications System integration, diagnostics and control

Establishing efficient and well-integrated means of transferring and

transporting nuclear energy to the end-user application at high

temperatures

Coupling nuclear reactors to large chemical customers Analysis of interaction between nuclear reactor kinetics and kinetics of industrial plant

Understanding of performance of solid electrolytic cells to produce hydrogen

Studying the feasibility of effective use of carbon feedstocks such

as biomass, fossil carbon and carbon dioxide in an integrated

nuclear system


VHTR activities integrated into Next Generation Nuclear Plant

Participants: Canada, China, Euratom, France, Korea, Japan, Switzerland and United States (South Africa continuing with observer status)

US Steering Committee member Carl Sink

Project Arrangements include:

Fuels and Fuel Cycle (2008)

Materials - graphites, high-temperature metals, ceramics (chaired by U.S.) (2010)

Hydrogen Production (2008)

Computational Methods, Validation and Benchmarking (chaired by U.S.) (2011)

GIF VHTR activities integrated with national programs

China – High Temperature Reactor – Pebble Bed Modular (HTR-PM)

Euratom – RAPHAEL, PUMA and EUROPAIRS Projects

Japan – High Temperature Test Reactor (HTTR)

US – Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP)

South Africa – Pebble Bed Modular Reactor Demonstration Power Plant

GIF Very High Temperature Reactor

(VHTR) System


Work For Others Graphite qualification with PBMR Pty Ltd, South Africa (ORNL)*

Graphite irradiation with Japan (Toyo Tanso and Tokai Carbon, at ORNL)

Cooperative Research and Development Agreements CRADA with PBMR Pty Ltd for AGR-2 fuel irradiation in ATR (INL)*

CRADA with CEA for AGR-2 fuel irradiation in ATR (INL)

Potential CRADA with PBMR Pty for Graphite Creep and Composite Material Qualification (ORNL, under discussion)*

Bilateral Agreements Collaboration with Japan (JAEA) for HTTR test data (INL, under development)

Graphite irradiation with Japan (JAEA on behalf of Toyo Tansa, at ORNL, under development)

I-NERI:

– Korea on VHTR Air Ingress and Core Bypass (INL), on Advanced Computational Methods and SCO2 Energy Conversion (ANL)

– France on Metallic (INL) and Composite (ORNL) Materials

– Japan on use of ZrC in TRISO fuel

– Euratom (Italy on LFR (ANL, LLNL))

Congressionally-directed collaborations with Russia on gas reactors (in cooperation with NNSA)

International Organizations – IAEA, NEA/OCD

*Impact of PBMR Pty Ltd downsizing being evaluated.

Other International Collaborations


NGNP Licensing Path to Deployment

Overall strategy established in DOE-NRC Report to Congress

(August 2008)

Recommended Part 52 “one step” Combined License (COL) process

– Lowers licensing risk

– Increases project certainty for stakeholders

Identified initial set of priority issues

– Described process for adaptation of existing LWR rules

– Identified likely need for new or revised regulatory approaches in certain areas

Established NRC infrastructure and resource needs

Focused on steps to support NGNP deployment

– Licensing pre-application program with NRC

– NGNP license application and NRC review/approval

– Construction and plant startup with NRC oversight

NGNP Licensing Plan (2009)

Identified priority topics and described implementation plan

Defined a plan for documenting COL Application Content Guide for HTGRs


NGNP Licensing White Papers

White Papers submitted to NRC to date:

Defense in Depth (Dec 2009)

High Temperature Materials Qualification (June 2010)

Fuel Qualification (July 2010)

Mechanistic Source Terms (July 2010)

License Structure for Multi-Module Plants (August 2010)

Licensing Basis Event Selection (Sep 2010)

Safety Classification of Structures, Systems and Components (Sep 2010)

Emergency Planning Requirements (Oct 2010)

Additional white papers planned for near-term submittal include:

Use of PRA, including Integrated Risk for Multi-Module Facilities

HTGR Safety Basis – overview

Tritium Release Limits and Regulatory Issues

Nuclear/Industrial Island Licensing Boundary

Co-Location of HTGRs with Industrial Facilities


Regulatory Gap Analysis

Comprehensive review to identify “gaps” between existing LWR-

focused regulations and those needed to license HTGRs

Gap analysis is in progress and will provide regulatory

accounting of existing NRC requirements and guidance

documents applicable to HTGRs

Enable early resolution of identified gaps

Identified gaps and resolutions will be tracked to completion

Completed resolutions are then incorporated into the COLA Content Guide

for HTGRs


Interactions Related to SMR Licensing

NGNP project also involved with SMR community on generic

advanced reactor licensing topics

NRC documented key SMR policy, licensing, and technical challenges in its

SECY 10-0034 (March, 2010)

NGNP is identified in the SECY as the “test case” for addressing and

resolving many of the identified issues

NGNP has made a number of submittals and is in active dialogue with the

NRC in addressing the highest priority SECY items

NGNP participates in the NEI Licensing Task Force to provide input on

generic topics (annual fees, insurance liabilities, etc.)


Licensing Path Forward

Keep NRC resources engaged with disposition of NGNP priority

topics, including common understanding of technology issues

Continue R&D collaborations with NRC

Conduct Generic Site Hazards Assessments

Complete Regulatory Gap Analysis that will serve as basis for

creation of a license application form and content guide

Begin development of COLA Content Guide

Continue to support HTGR workshops and industry advanced

reactor forums addressing licensing topics

Implement NRC approved Appendix B Quality Assurance Program

Preliminary design detail is needed to address Content Guide open

items and develop license application documents

20

ANS 53.1 – Nuclear Safety Design

Standard for Modular Helium Cooled

Reactor (MHR) Plants

ANS 53.1 provides a process to:

Develop MHR top level nuclear regulatory safety criteria

Identify safety functions, top level design criteria, licensing basis events,

design basis accidents and methods for performing safety analyses

Determine safety classification of structures, systems, and components

(SSCs)

Identify safety-related SSCs special treatment requirements and defense-

in-depth (DID) provisions

Demonstrate adequacy of DID by applying a risk-informed approach

MHR vendors, NGNP and NRC staff involved in development of

standard

Endorsement is expected in FY2011

March 28 -30, 2011

Delivering Nuclear Solutions for America’s Energy Challenges

21

SC-MHR Demonstration Plant Configuration and

Key Design Parameters

• SC-MHR produces steam at 585°C and 16.5 MPa

• Steam conditioned to user requirements via topping cogeneration

– Representative process steam conditions assumed, 4.6MPa at ~400°C

• Nominal reactor outlet temperature (ROT) of 725°C

– Optimum ROT for selected steam conditions from standpoint of

plant cost, safety, and investment risk

Insert Photo or Image (not chart – space too small)

22

General Arrangement of SC-MHR Demonstration

Plant

Insert Chart, Photo or Image

• Plant is physically separated into

the NI and Energy Conversion Area

(ECA)

• Separation allows ECA to be

constructed and operated per non-

nuclear standards

• NI includes the SRM and non-safety

related SSCs, including systems

that would be shared in a multi-

SRM plant

• ECA includes SSCs for feedwater

supply and steam utilization, plus

the supporting systems and plant

facilities commonly referred to as

the Balance of Plant

23

General Arrangement of 4-Module SC-MHR

Reference Commercial Plant

Insert Chart, Photo or Image

• Reference commercial plant

includes four SRMs

• SRMs can be constructed and

commissioned sequentially or in

parallel

It is expected that the Demonstration

Plant will be expanded to the first-of-a-

kind, reference four-module commercial

plant by sequential addition of SRMs


Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee

(NEAC) Review

EPAct 2005 requires a review of NGNP Project by the NEAC prior to proceeding to final design and licensing (Phase 2)

Evaluate Conceptual Design deliverables, R&D results achieved to date, status of NRC licensing activities, impacts on greenhouse gas emissions and business models

Reviews:

Market Case / Design Requirements - September 30/October 1

Licensing / Program Plan/ Partnership - November 15/16

Pebble and Prismatic Designs - February 22/23

R&D - April

Recommendation Report expected in May 2011


Forming the NGNP Partnership

Forming a Cost-shared Public-Private Partnership

Market Research Conducted

– Letter sent out to HTGR industry community to solicit feedback on formation of

the partnership

Draft Funding Opportunity Announcement

– Planned for Spring 2011

– Will incorporate feedback from Market Research

Final Funding Opportunity Announcement

– Planned for Summer 2011

Preliminary thoughts

Cooperative Agreement

– Base Award to develop business plan, decision points/criteria, control of

Intellectual Property, cost share, etc

– Option #1: Preliminary Design

– Option #2: License Application Submittal

– Option #3: Construction


NGNP Path Forward

Continue Research and Development in materials, fuels, code validation experiments and end user interface analysis

Continue licensing efforts with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Complete NEAC Review

Establish Cost-shared Public-Private Partnership

Timing of Secretarial Decision influenced by NEAC Recommendation and status of Cost-shared Public-Private Partnership

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