CORE Massachusetts Institute of Nuclear Engineering Technology Department MSR Group 11 14 2004 Slide 1 Core Design Concept Develop a 100 kWe reactor with a 5 fullpower year lifetime Evaluation of options were based on design criteria Low mass Launchability Safety High Reliability Massachusetts Institute of Nuclear Engineering Technology Department MSR Group 11 14 2004 Slide 2 Core Design Choices Fast Spectrum Ceramic Fuel Uranium Nitride 33 1 w o enriched Tantalum Burnable Poison Lithium Heatpipe Coolant Fuel Pin Elements in tricusp configuration External Control By Drums Zr3Si2 Reflector material TaB2 Control material Massachusetts Institute of Nuclear Engineering Technology Department MSR Group 11 14 2004 Slide 3 Core Design Specifications UN fuel and Ta poison were chosen for heat transfer neutronics performance and limited corrosion Heat pipes eliminate the need for pumps have excellent heat transfer and reduce system mass Li working fluid operates at high temperatures necessary for power conversion unit 1800 K Massachusetts Institute of Nuclear Engineering Technology Department MSR Group 11 14 2004 Slide 4 Core Design Specifications 2 Fuel pins are the same size as the heat pipes and arranged in tricusp design Heatpipe Fuel Pin Tricusp Material Massachusetts Institute of Nuclear Engineering Technology Department MSR Group 11 14 2004 Slide 5 Core Design Specifications 3 Reflector controls neutron leakage Control drums add little mass to the system and offer high reliability due to few moving parts 88 cm Reflect or Fuel Pin 10 cm Reflector Reflector and Core Top Down View Control Drum 42 cm Fuel Core 10 cm Zr3Si2 Reflector Total Mass 2654kg Massachusetts Institute of Nuclear Engineering Technology Department Reflector Radial Reflector MSR Group 11 14 2004 Slide 6 Integration Insert picture of reactor design from Joe Massachusetts Institute of Nuclear Engineering Technology Department MSR Group 11 14 2004 Slide 7 Launch Accident Analysis Many accidents were considered however only accidents upon launch could not be prevented by extra safeguards Worst Case Scenarios Uniform dispersion of all U235 in atmosphere Undeformed core with all heat pipes ruptured lands in water or wet sand Massachusetts Institute of Nuclear Engineering Technology Department MSR Group 11 14 2004 Slide 8 Launch Accident Results Total Dispersion of the 157 kg of U235 will increase the natural background radiation by 0 0025 Water and Wet Sand Landing will not result in criticality Reflectors Stowed Reflectors Detached Keff 0 97081 0 00092 Keff 0 95343 0 00109 Wet Sand Keff 0 97387 0 00095 Keff 0 96458 0 00099 Water Massachusetts Institute of Nuclear Engineering Technology Department MSR Group 11 14 2004 Slide 9 Future Work Investigate further the feasibility of plate fuel element design Optimize core configuration Examine long term effects of high radiation environment on chosen materials Develop comprehensive safety analysis for launch accidents Massachusetts Institute of Nuclear Engineering Technology Department MSR Group 11 14 2004 Slide 10