Prospects for development of an innovative water-cooled nuclear reactor for supercritical parameters of coolant

• Published in: Thermal engineering Vol. 61; no. 8; pp. 551 - 557
• Main Authors: Kalyakin, S. G., Kirillov, P. L., Baranaev, Yu. D., Glebov, A. P., Bogoslovskaya, G. P., Nikitenko, M. P., Makhin, V. M., Churkin, A. N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01-08-2014
• Subjects: Engineering; Engineering Thermodynamics; Heat and Mass Transfer; Nuclear Power Stations; supercritical water pressure; nuclear power installation; 4th generation; reactor; advantages of the INPRO methodology
• ISSN: 0040-6015; 1555-6301
• DOI: 10.1134/S0040601514080084

The state of nuclear power engineering as of February 1, 2014 and the accomplished elaborations of a supercritical-pressure water-cooled reactor are briefly reviewed, and the prospects of this new project are discussed based on this review. The new project rests on the experience gained from the development and operation of stationary water-cooled reactor plants, including VVERs, PWRs, BWRs, and RBMKs (their combined service life totals more than 15 000 reactor-years), and long-term experience gained around the world with operation of thermal power plants the turbines of which are driven by steam with supercritical and ultrasupercritical parameters. The advantages of such reactor are pointed out together with the scientific-technical problems that need to be solved during further development of such installations. The knowledge gained for the last decade makes it possible to refine the concept and to commence the work on designing an experimental small-capacity reactor.