A Roadmap for Nuclear Energy Technology · A Roadmap for Nuclear Energy Technology ... – increase...
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A Roadmap for Nuclear Energy Technology
TanjuSofuArgonneNa/onalLaboratoryShortCourse-PhysicsofSustainableEnergyJune17,2016EnergyPolicyIns/tuteattheUniversityofChicago
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Global Nuclear Energy Market § Renewedinterestinnuclearenergyworldwideislargelydrivenby:
– needtodevelopcarbon-freeenergysources,and– rapiddevelopmentofemergingeconomies.
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U.S. National Picture
§ IntheU.S.,currentnuclearfleetof~100plantsgeneratesabout20percentofthena/on’sannualelectricity.
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U.S. National Picture (cont.)
§ ~100nuclearpowerplantsgenerate800millionmegawaX-hoursofenergy,represen/ngover60percentofthena/on’semissions-freeelectricity.
§ CurrentU.S.nucleargenera/onrepresents500milliontonsofavoidedcarbonemissions
– Asareference,theEPACleanPowerPlanisdesignedtoreducecarbonemissionsby750milliontonsby2030
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U.S. National Picture (cont.) § TheU.S.fleetisbasedonlight-waterreactortechnologywhichisadirect
descendantfromtheU.S.Navypropulsionprogram.– Itistheoldestopera/ngnuclearplantfleetintheworldand
re/rementsbeginaround2030.
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U.S. Nuclear Cliff (cont.)
§ Planneddecommissioningoftheexis/ngplantswouldposea“re/rementcliff”– Theirreplacementwithnaturalgasorcoalfiredplantswillhavea
largeeconomic,environmental,andclimatechangeimpact.
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Decarbonization of Electricity Production (cont.)
§ Beginningwith100GWofnuclearcapacityin2014,severalenergysectorscenarios*requirenuclearprojec/onsbetween160-238GWtomeet80%greenhouse-gas(GHG)reduc/ongoalby2040
§ OECDInterna/onalEnergyAgency’s(IEA)2oCScenario(2DS)projectscurrentnuclearcapacityof390GWtomorethandoubleby2050toreach930GW– Globalshareofnuclearelectricitywouldincreasefrom11%to18%
*DOE’sOfficeofEnergyPolicyandSystemsAnalysis(EPSA)Low-CarbonEnergyFuturesWorkshop(January2016)
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U.S. Department of Energy R&D Programs
§ U.S.DepartmentofEnergy(DOE)OfficeofNuclearEnergycurrentlypursuesR&Dprogramstooffsetsomeofthean/cipateddecline:– licenseextensionsfortheplantsintheexis/ngfleet,and– increasethecontribu/onsfromanewgenera/onofimprovedlight
waterreactors(LWRs)andsmallmodularreactors(SMRs).§ However,thepathrelyingheavilyonLWRsand“once-through”fuel
cyclewillnotbesustainable.§ Nextgenera/onnuclearenergysystemsunderconsidera/onaim
forsignificantadvancesoverexis/ngandevolu/onaryLWRs.– But,innovatorsfaceaclassic“valleyofdeath”thatmustbebridgedin
ordertorealizecommercialpoten/alofadvancednuclearreactor
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Status of New Builds in U.S.
§ Gen-III+designsareanevolu/onarystepinlargeLWRtechnology
§ FirstnewreactorsbeingbuiltinU.S.in30years– WaXsBar:2015– Vogtle:Late2017– V.C.Summer:2018-2020
§ SMRtechnologiesarealsoofgreatinterest– Passivedecayheatremovalby
naturalcircula/on– Simplifieddesign,belowgradesi/ng– Poten/alforreduc/oninEPZ– Reducedfinancialrisk(flexibilityto
addunits,rightsizeforcoolreplacement)
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Advanced Reactor Concepts
§ Advancedreactorconceptsunderconsidera/onaimformoredras/cimprovementsoverexis/ngandevolu/onaryLWRs:– Safety– Sustainability– Reliability– Economics– Non-prolifera/on
§ SixGenera/on-IVsystemsareconsideredinterna/onally:– Sodium-cooledFastReactor(SFR)
– HighTemperatureGas-cooledReactor(HTGR,akaVHTR)
– Lead-orLead-Bismuth-cooledFastReactor(LFR)
– Gas-cooledFastReactor(GFR)– MoltenSaltReactor(MSR)
– Super-Cri/calWater-cooledReactor(SCWR)
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U.S. Commercial Advanced Reactor Designs
Over30advancedreactordesignsarecurrentlybeingpursuedintheU.S.§ Sodium-cooledFastReactor
– TerraPower,GeneralElectric,ARCNuclear
§ HighTemperatureGas-cooledReactor– X-Energy,AREVA,HybridEnergy,UltraSafe
§ MoltenSaltReactor– Transatomic,Terrestrial,Elysium,FLIBEEnergy,TerraPower
§ Lead-orLBE-cooledFastReactor– Wes/nghouse,GenIVEnergy,Lake-Chime
§ Gas-cooledFastReactor– GeneralAtomics
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DOE Strategic Objectives for Advanced Reactors
§ Enhancetheinnova/oninfrastructurefornucleartechnologiesandimproveaccesstoDOEexper/seandcapabili/es
§ Demonstrateperformanceandre/retechnicalrisks§ Supportthedevelopmentoffuelcyclepathways§ Supporttheestablishmentofanefficientandreliable
regulatoryframework§ Effec/velyleveragepublic/privatesectorresourcesand
policyincen/vestoaidtheprivatesectorinaccelera/ngadvancedreactordeployment
§ Addresshumancapitalandworkforcedevelopmentneeds
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Advanced Reactor Concepts: Fast Reactors
§ Numerousna/onalandinterna/onalstudieshighlightimportanceofclosed-fuel-cyclesystemsusingreactorswithfast-neutronspectrumespeciallytomeetthesustainabilitygoals– Efficientresourceu/liza/on– Wasteminimiza/on
§ Fastreactorconceptsaretypicallyclassifiedbytheircoolant:– Sodium-cooledfastreactor(SFR)– Lead-orLead-Bismuth-eutec/c-cooledfastreactor(LFR)– Gas-cooledfastreactor(GFR)– Somemolten-salt/fueledfastreactorconceptsarealsoenvisioned
§ SFRsarethemostcommonFRtypeandtheycomeinallshapeandsizes:– Loop-typeorpool-type– Small,medium-sizeorlarge– Breeder,burnerorbreak-eventype– Varietyoffueltypes(metalalloys,oxide,nitride,carbide)
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Fast Reactor Concepts
§ Allfastreactorconceptsarebasedonsamebasicprinciples:– No(inten/onal)neutronmoderators(waterorgraphite),resul/ngina
“fast”(or“hard”)neutronenergyspectrumcomparedto“thermalreactors”(LWRsandHTGRs)
– Improvedneutroneconomyduetolargerfission-to-capturecrosssec/onra/oandgreaternumberofneutronsperfissionathigh-energies
– Fastneutronspectrumcanalsobeusedforbreeding,ortransmuta/onoftransuranicwasteproducts• Longcorelife(somewithoutrefueling)ispossiblewithbreed-and-burnconcepts
– Highcorepowerdensity(~5×incomparisontoanLWR)– Highcoreoutlettemperatureallowsgreaterthermalefficiency(~40%)for
energyconversion
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Design Impacts of Fast Spectrum on Fuel Cycle
§ Highfission/capturera/oisthekeytofavorabletransmuta/onperformanceinafastsystem(eventhesmallPWRfrac/onshappenpredominantlyinfastrange)
§ Netresultislesshigherac/nidegenera/oninafastreactor
– Facilitatesmass/volumereduc/onforgeologicdisposal
§ Increasesthepercentageofthenaturalfuelresourcethatisusedinafuelcyclefromafew%uptoalmost100%
0.000.100.200.300.400.500.600.700.800.901.00
U235
U238
Np237
Pu238
Pu239
Pu240
Pu241
Pu242
Am241
Am243
Cm244
Fission/Absorption
PWRSFR
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History of Fast Reactor Development
§ SFRhistorydatesbacktodaysofEnricoFermi’sdiscussionswithLeoSzilard,EugeneWignerandothersinApril1944regardingtheconceptofareactorforproduc/onoffuelandelectricity– Acompactfastreactordesignwasenvisionedbutchallengingheat
removalrequirementswererecognized– Heavyliquidmetal(Pb-Bi)wasconsidered,butthepumpingadvantage
forthelightersodium(>10Xlessdense)withthesamevolumetricheatcapacitywasnoted
§ Inthefallof1947,WalterZinnproposedaconcepttotheU.S.AECthatwouldlaterbedevelopedintothedesignofExperimentalBreederReactor-I– Construc/onofEBR-IattheNa/onalReactorTes/ngSta/oninIdaho
beganin1949– CooledwithNaK,EBR-I(CP-4)firstproducedelectricityonDecember20,
1951
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History of Fast Reactor Development (cont.) § Since1950s,fastreactortechnologyhas
beenpursuedanddemonstratedworldwide,leadingtotheconstruc/onandopera/onofseveralexperimentalandprototypereactors– Thesefastreactorshaveachievedover
400reactor-yearsofopera/on
§ UShasbuiltandoperatedsixSFRs– Firstusablenuclearelectricitywas
generatedbyEBR-Iin1951– EBR-II(20MWe)wasoperatedat
Argonne’sIdahositefrom1963to1994– FERMI-1wasfirstcommercialSFR(61
MWe)in1965– FastFluxTestFacility(400MWt)
operatedfrom1980to1992
§ NewSFRsunderconsidera/onincludeBN-1200andMBIR(Russia),PRISMandTWR-P(U.S.),4S,JSFR(Japan),ASTRID(France),PGSFR(S.Korea)
Facility Country 1stCri0cal Coolant
BR-2 Russia 1956 Mercury
BR-5/BR-10 Russia 1958 Sodium
DFR UK 1959 NaK
Rapsodie France 1967 Sodium
BOR-60 Russia 1968 Sodium
KNK-II Germany 1972 Sodium
BN-350 Kazakhstan 1972 Sodium
Phenix France 1973 Sodium
PFR UK 1974 Sodium
BN-600 Russia 1980 Sodium
JOYO Japan 1982 Sodium
FBTR India 1985 Sodium
Super-Phenix France 1985 Sodium
MONJU Japan 1995 Sodium
CEFR China 2010 Sodium
BN-800 Russia 2015 Sodium
PFBR India 2015 Sodium
SFRsOutsideU.S.
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Characteristics of Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors (SFRs)
§ Liquid-metalsodiumcoolant– ~100/mesmoreeffec/veheattransfermediumcomparedtowater– Widemargin(~350oC)toboiling– Compa/blewithstructuralcomponentsandmetallicfuels
§ Hightemperatureopera/on(>500oCcoreoutlettemperature)– Allowsgreaterthermalefficiency(~40%)forenergyconversion
§ Lowpressureprimaryandintermediatecoolantsystem– NoLOCAconcern,noneedforcoolantinjec/on– Guardvessel(andguardpipes)to“maintain”coolantinventory
§ Dedicatedsystemsfordecayheatremovaltoanul/mateheatsink– LargecoreΔT(150oCinanSFRvs.~30oCinanLWR)facilitatesrelianceonpassive
systemsdrivenbynaturalcircula/onfordecayheatremoval
§ Lowdesignpressureforcontainment– Basisistheheatproducedbyapoten/alsodiumfire
§ Simpleropera/onandaccidentmanagement– Longgraceperiodforcorrec/veac/on,ifneeded
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Summary and Conclusions
§ Pending“re/rementcliff”ofexis/ngU.S.nuclearfleetrepresen/ngover60percentofthena/on’semission-freeelectricityposealargeeconomic,environmental,andclimatechangeimpact.
§ Tomeetthechallenge,DOEhasdevelopedtheVisionandStrategyforDevelopmentandDeploymentofAdvancedReactors– hXp://energy.gov/ne/downloads/dray-vision-andstrategy-development-and-
deployment-advanced-reactors
§ DOEvisionis– SupportthecurrentLightWaterReactorfleet– Pursuetheconstruc/on/opera/onofGenera/onIII+reactors– Supportthedevelopment/licensing/deploymentofSmallModularReactors– Supportdesign/licensing/deploymentofadvanced(non-LWR)Gen-IVreactors
§ Amongthespectrumofadvancedreactors,closed-fuel-cyclesystemsusingreactorswithfast-neutronspectrumespeciallytomeetthesustainabilitygoalsofferaXrac/veop/ons.