Advanced Reactor R&D Craig Welling Deputy Director, Office of Advanced Reactor Technologies U.S. Department of Energy U.S. Nuclear Infrastructure Council and Argonne National Laboratory – Economics of Advanced Reactors January 27-28, 2014
Role of U.S. Department of Energy for Sustainable and Innovative Nuclear Energy
Conduct Research, Development, and Demonstration to: Reduce regulatory risk Reduce technical risk Reduce financial risk and improve economics
Manage nuclear waste Minimize the risks of nuclear proliferation and terrorism ANL AFR -100
Foster international and industry collaboration 2
Nuclear Reactor Technology R&D Key areas: Advanced Reactor Technologies • Advanced Reactor R&D • Advanced energy conversion R&D – Super Critical CO2 Brayton Cycle
Light Water Reactor Technologies • Light Water Reactor Sustainability
GE PRISM
Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) • SMR Licensing Technical Support Program – cost-shared development of innovative SMR designs
Space and Defense Power Systems • Innovative nuclear power and propulsion system technologies
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Advanced Reactor Technologies For Sustainability, economics, safety, and proliferation resistance
Fast Reactor Technologies •For actinide management and electricity production •Current focus on sodium coolant
High Temperature Reactor Technologies •For electricity and process heat production •Current focus on gas- and liquid salt-cooled systems
Advanced Reactor Generic Technologies •Common design needs for advanced materials, energy conversion, decay heat removal systems and modeling methods
Advanced Reactor Regulatory Framework •Development of licensing requirements for advanced reactors
Advanced Reactor System Studies
General Atomics EM2
•Analyses of capital, operations and fuel costs for advanced reactor types 4
Technical Risk Reduction Partnering with Industry Technical Review Panel (TRP) Process to inform R&D decisions for Advanced Reactor Concepts Established in FY12 to improve engagement with industry TRP comprised of experts from industry, academia, and national labs Assessed viability of industry submittals and identified R&D needs. Output from TRP: – Identification of R&D needs – Identification of need for an Advanced Reactor Licensing Framework • DOE/NE is using TRP results to Inform R&D activities
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Public Private Partnerships to share cost and risk DOE is funding industry-led R&D for advanced reactors • GE – EM pumps • GA – Silicon Carbide R&D Testing • Gen4 Energy – Lead Bismuth natural circulation • Westinghouse - Modeling and Validation of Sodium Plugging for Heat Exchangers in Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor Systems
Gen4 Energy 5
TRP Concepts Received and Future Plans
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Reducing Regulatory Risk Licensing Strategy Initiative for Advanced Reactors During 2012 DOE and NRC noted in the TRP report and a Report to Congress respectively the need for regulatory guidance for non-light water reactor designs • Existing licensing guidance is written for light water reactors. • A regulatory framework is needed to support reasonable timelines for design certification and licensing.
NE and NRC have initiated a joint project for development of General Design Criteria (GDC) for non-light water reactor concepts Key elements of this initiative: • Categorize the existing GDC – Nov. 2013 • Prepare draft GDC / conduct workshops - March and July 2014 • Complete the GDC and Report – Dec. 2014 • Issue Report to the NRC for consideration for a Regulatory Guide or Policy Statement
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Supercritical CO2 Brayton Conversion Cycle (sCO2) Current reactors use a steam Rankine cycle to convert core thermal energy to electricity The sCO2 Brayton Cycle Energy Conversion System has potential to dramatically improve nuclear power economics • Smaller and simpler than Rankine Cycle • More efficient – 40-50% with S-CO2 Brayton compared to ~33% efficiency for steam Rankine cycle
• Very good materials compatibility at high temperatures • Can operate at high temperature (up to 750 C) • Can be built with existing technologies • Modular construction technologies can be used
Sandia National Lab Brayton Cycle Test Loop
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Supercritical CO2 Brayton Cycle (sCO2) 5-stage Dual Turbine Lo Hi Lo
Comparison Greatly reduced cost for sCO2 compared to the cost of conventional steam Rankine cycle sCO2 compact turbo machinery is easily scalable
3-stage Single Turbine Hi Lo
20 meter Steam Turbine (300 MWe) (Rankine Cycle) Tech Team Summit/January 7, 2014
1 meter sCO2 (300 MWe) (Brayton Cycle) 9
International Reactor Collaborations Multi-lateral collaborations • Generation-IV International Forum – 13 Countries, 6 Reactor Types – VHTR - Fuels and Fuel Cycle, Materials, Hydrogen Production – SFR - Advanced Fuels, Component Design, Safety and Operation, System Integration and Assessment • Sodium Fast Reactor (SFR) Trilateral Agreement (US, Japan, France)
Bilateral collaborations • China - Fast Reactor Safety , High temperature reactors, including helium and liquid salt • Russia - Multi-purpose fast research reactor (MBIR) International User Center, High temperature gas reactors (HTGRs) and SMRs • France - Reactor and Safety Analysis for the ASTRID SFR • Japan - R&D on fast reactor materials and metal fuel, modeling and simulation, and HTGRs
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SMR Licensing Technical Support In 2012, DOE initiated the SMR Licensing Technical Support Program Accelerate commercial SMR development through public/private arrangements • Deployment as early as 2022 • Currently 6 years/$452 M Provide financial assistance for: • Design, Design Certification, and Licensing of promising SMR concepts Funding provided to industry partners though cost sharing Potential Benefits • • • • •
Enhanced safety and security Shorter construction schedules due to modular construction Improved economics and quality due to factory-setting work Electricity generation can be expanded incrementally High domestic job creation potential
mPower 11
A Possible Approach for Advanced Reactors How did we get where we are in the U.S.? We started with small reactors. Initially the U.S. explored LWR and SFR technologies. The Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program tried both a PWR concept and a sodium cooled reactor concept in submarines. It selected PWRs. The commercial industry built increasingly larger PWRs and BWRs. With Three Mile Island and changing economics we, with some exceptions, stopped new builds of Gen 2 plants several years ago. We started building new more passively safe large plants and are now looking to deploy SMRs. Natural gas prices have caused utilities to relook at their generation development plans.
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A Possible Approach for Advanced Reactors Clear Requirements for a Concept:
Safety – Inherently safe, extended station blackout times Proliferation resistant Security – meet existing regulations with smaller security force Few or no major R&D hurdles
Key Driver: Significantly reduced Capital and Operating Costs Greater fuel burn-up, less waste – may need phased development Greater energy conversion efficiency – Use of sCO2 Brayton Cycle Capital Costs- significantly less $/MW than LWRs • Gains from use of modular construction and factory builds, learning from SMR manufacturing • Reduced cost to obtain monetary capital – possibly by pursuit of smaller projects or incremental projects
Operational Costs-notable reduction • • • • •
Use of Brayton Cycle Central Engineering Staff Smaller security Staff Greater use of equipment monitoring capability Use of in-house maintenance personnel for staggered outages for multiple reactors at sites
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A Possible Approach for Advanced Reactors Design and Licensing An Advanced Reactor Licensing Framework is needed • Development of General Design Criteria is in progress in 2014. $300 - $800 Million is needed per concept to get a concept licensed Options – Prototype, Test Reactor, or Licensing Technical Support Program for Advanced Reactors • Economic conditions and budgetary considerations will impact available options. R&D is still needed for most known concepts 14
A Possible Approach for Advanced Reactors Concerns: There are many potential technologies: • SFRs • LFRs • HTGRs • GFRs • FHRs • Molten Salt (fuel in coolant) There is too little funding available from Federal, corporate or venture capital sources • DOE engagement would necessarily result in a narrowing of the field DOE funds principally limit R&D to HTGRS and SFRs Some concepts have considerable R&D challenges • Materials testing and fuel qualification takes years There is still concern that Fast Reactors are a proliferation issue
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Conclusion U.S. Advanced Reactor R&D is focused on technology innovations and licensing issues in order to reduce technical, regulatory and economic risk • Advanced Fuels and Structural Materials • Advanced Energy Conversion • Licensing Initiative for Advanced Reactors
Substantive international collaborations are an important aspect • Leverage R&D work
U.S. reactor vendors are proposing advanced reactor concepts A long term vision is needed to foster the potential to actually deploy an advanced reactor in the United States. 16
