IS Process Experiment Group

HTGR Research and Development Center

Japan Atomic Energy Agency

Innovation for Cool Earth Forum

8th Annual Meeting, October 6-7, 2021

Myagmarjav Odtsetseg

Technology Section 3“Nuclear Power as a Power Source for Decarbonization”

(10:10 ~ 11:10, Oct. 7, 2021)

Role of high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) for carbon neutrality in Japan

Prime Minister Suga presented a plan for global warming countermeasures (Leaders Summit on Climate,

April 22, 2021)

• Mid-term target: 46.0% reduction by FY2030 compared to FY2013

Green Growth Strategy Through Achieving Carbon Neutrality in 2050 was updated on June 18, 2021.

GHG emission in Japan (Final report of FY2018)

Ref. ： Website of Ministry of Environment, Japan

Breakdown of GHG emission (2018)

• The emission reduction in FY2018 : 12.0% compared to FY2013

• To achieve the goal,

Reduction by additional 34% by 2030

Reduction by additional 88% by 2050

Role of HTGR

• To produce hydrogen for nuclear steel making

and fuel cell vehicle

• To produce steam for conventional industries

• To absorb renewable power variation2

HTGR development at JAEA and history of HTTR

Conceptual design

System integrity

design

Basic design

H T T R

Detail design

Application and permission

of construction

Construction

First criticality

Reactor outlet coolant

temperature 850ºC (30MWt)

Reactor outlet coolant

temperature 950ºC

850ºC/ 30 days operation

950ºC/ 50 days operation

Safety demonstration test

(Control Rod drawing test)

1973

1969

～

1980

1974～

1984

1981～

1985～

19881989

19901991～

1997

1998

2001

2002

2004

2007

2010

～

Start of Loss of

Forced Cooling test

2014Safety review on the New

Regulatory Requirements toward resumption of operation

Purpose Establishment of HTGR technologies

Establishment of Heat utilization technologies

Reactor Physics

Very High Temperature Reactor

Critical Assembly (VHTRC)

Thermal Hydraulics

Helium Engineering

Demonstration Loop (HENDEL)

Fuels・Materials

In-pile Helium loop (OGL-1)

First in

the world

Restart

2020Approval of restart by NRA (June 3rd)

Specification of HTTR

● Reactor thermal power ･･30MW

● Reactor coolant････････ Helium gas

● Reactor inlet/outlet coolant temperature

･･････････ 395ºC / 850ºC, 950ºC

● Reactor material ･･････ Graphite

● Fuel ･･････････････ UO2 coated particle fuel

● Uranium enrichment ･･･ 3% ~10% (average 6%)

Pressurized Water

Cooler

Intermediate

Heat

Exchanger

(IHX)

Reactor

Building

Concentric Hot

Gas Duct

Reactor Pressure

Vessel

High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor

ＨＴＴＲ

Research and Development

Safety demonstration

tests

JAEA restarted the HTTR in July 30, 2021.

300

350

400

-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

0102030

0

50

100

Flo

w r

ate

(%

)P

ow

er

(%)

Te

mpera

ture

(ºC

)

Time(h)

Tripping gas circulators

Core cooling flow rate

Results of test

Reactor power

Results of test, Analysis

Average fuel temperature

Analysis

Reactor is naturally shut down as soon as the core

cooling flow rate is reduced to zero.

Reactor is kept stable long after the loss of core cooling.

USA France Germany Korea Czech Hungary

OECD/NEA project

Japan

3

Multi-purpose heat applications using HTGR

4

0 1200oC300oC 600oC 900oCLow

temperatureMedium temperature

High temperature

Heat

application

Iron-making

Hydrogen (IS process)

Hydrogen (steam reforming)

De-sulfurization of heavy oil

Petroleum refineries

Desalination, district heating

Gas turbine power generation

Wood pulp manufacture

LWR: Light water reactor

HWR: Heavy water reactor MSR: Molten salt reactor

HTGR: High temperature gas cooled reactor

HTGR can supply 950ºC of heat, which is significantly higher than other types of reactors.

The heat supplied by HTGR can be used for various applications.

Nuclear

heatLWR, HWR

HTGRMSR

IS process: Iodine-sulfur process

HTGR-H2 system technology development at JAEA

Lab-scale test

( ~ 1998)

Elemental technologies test

(2005 ~ 2009)

Commercial use

Transfer technology to

private sectors

5

Iodine-sulfur (IS)

processIS process decomposes

water with heat of ca. 900oC

using chemical reactions of

iodine (I) and sulfur (S).

I and S are circulated

⇒ No harmful waste

HTGR heat is used

⇒ No CO2 emission.

Filter maintenance

H2 production rate wasintentionally adjusted toreduce risk of cloggingpipe caused by I2

solidification.

Pro

du

cti

on

of

H2

an

dO

2

[m3]

Operations for 3 sections integration was successfully carried out (0.03 m3/h-H2 for 150 h).

H2 (integrated val.)O2 (integrated val.)

Time [h]

Key components in the IS process environment(corrosion resistance, heat resistance)

H2SO4

decomposerCeramic (SiC)(<900oC)

HI decomposerNi-base alloy (<500oC)

Bunsen reactorFluoro-plastic lined steel(<100oC)

• Verification of integrity of total components and stability of hydrogen production

• Development of strength evaluation methodology for ceramic components

H2 test facility (0.1 m3/h)

Ceramic (SiC)

Glass lined steel pipe

Corrosion-resistant lining vessel(fluoro-plastic, glass)

• Plant operation control systemPlant maintenance techniques

• Membrane technologies to improve thermal efficiency

Industrial material component test

(2010 ~)

Present

Bench-scale test

(1999 ~ 2004)

Uncovering an closed-cycle

continuous operation

condition (0.001 m3/h-H2)

Demonstration of

one-week continuous

H2-production by

glass apparatus

(0.03 m3/h-H2)

2045〜

R&D towards commercialization of GT and hydrogen HTGR

6

2020 20502030 2040

Target schedule**

(Priv

ate

se

cto

r)JA

EA

Technology of Steam generator, Steam

system connecting technology

High burnup fuel, High performance core

System with inherent safety

Establishment of safety standard for

steam connecting technology

HTTR-GT/H2 test

HTTR

GT facility

Hydrogen

production

facility

※GT：Gas Turbine, SR：Steam Reforming, IS：IS process, **：JAEA’s draft plan

Research reactor

Demonstration reactor

Inte

rna

tional

co

llab

ora

tion

Design of demonstration

reactor (GT, SR)

Demonstration tests for

component (GT, SR)

Construction of demonstration reactor

(GT, SR） Design of demonstration reactor (GT, IS)

Demonstration tests for component (IS)

Construction of commercial reactor

(GT, SR)

Construction of demonstration reactor

(GT, IS)

HTTR test, HTTR-GT/H2 (SR) test

Confirmation of fuel/material

performance under commercial

reactor condition

Support of establishing design/

material standard

Development of basic

technologies for IS process

HTTR-GT/H2 (IS) test

Confirmation of fuel/material

performance under commercial

reactor condition

Establishment of safety standard

through licensing

Demonstration of H2 plant coupling

technologies

Demonstration of system technologies

Training of operators

International collaboration on HTGR R&D at JAEA

Multilateral collaboration Bilateral collaboration

Civil Nuclear R&D Working Group (CNWG)

Development of simulation algorithm, validation of analytical

model, study of connecting test between HTTR and heat

utilization system

(Department of Energy: DOE, Idaho National Laboratory: INL)

HTTR The only test and

research reactor of

HTGR in the world to

supply heat of 950oC

International joint

researches for needs

of each country

Design collaboration for Kazakhstan HTGR: KHTR (National Nuclear Center: NNC)

ISTC project on irradiation research of oxidation-resistant SiC fuel compact (Institute of

Nuclear Physics: INP)

Safety research (Nuclear Technology Safety Center: NTSC)

Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR)

Hydrogen Production System Project

Fuel and Fuel Cycle Project

Material Project

Computational Methods Validation and Benchmarking Project

Joint Test by HTTR, LOFC Project (Contracted Research)

Loss of forced cooling test (Completed)

- All three primary helium gas circulators were tripped at the initial reactor power of 30%

Loss of core cooling test (planned)

- All three primary helium gas circulators are tripped at the initial reactor power of 100%

- Vessel cooling system is simultaneous tripped at reactor power of 30%

Technical Working Group on Gas Cooled Reactors (TWG-GCR)

(Number of countries: 17)

Technical Working Group on Small and Medium Sized or Modular

Reactors (TWG-SMR) (Number of countries: 21)

Coordinated Research Project (CRP)

Assessing Technical and Economic Aspects of Nuclear Hydrogen

Production for Near-term Deployment

Development of Approaches, Methodologies and Criteria for

Determining the Technical Basis for EPZ for SMR Deployment

Economic Appraisal of SMR Projects: Methodologies and Applications

Cooperation to U-Battery project (Commercial HTGR system) (URENCO, etc.)

Cooperation on HTGR technology (National Nuclear Laboratory: NNL)

Information exchange on HTGR safety (Office for Nuclear Regulation: ONR)

Czech Hungary USAFrance Germany Korea

VHTR

Information exchange and technology cooperation on HTGR based on memorandum of

cooperation (2017.5-) and implementing arrangement (2019.8-)

(National Centre for Nuclear Research: NCBJ)

Public Information exchange

(Tsinghua University, Institute of Nuclear and New

Energy Technology: INET)

Public Information exchange

(Badan Tenaga Nuklir Nasional: BATAN)GEMINI+ Project (by 2021.2, under consideration of next project)

Design and R&D of HTGR with heat application

USAFrance KoreaCanada Switzer-land

China EU Australia

Poland

United Kingdom

USA

China

Korea Public Information exchange

(Korea Atomic Energy Institute: KAERI)

Kazakhstan

Indonesia

OECD／NEA

IAEA

Generation IV International Forum (GIF)

EU

UK

7