Conceptual design study of transportable reactor SPECTRA-L for lunar base (I); Safety evaluation of launch fallure accldent

Nomura, Norio; Haga, Kazuo; not registered

Liquid Metal cooled Fast Reactor is a good candidate of a large-scale energy supply system to a manned lunar base because of the compact structure and being free of refueling. A 300 kWe transportable reactor SPECTRA-L is being studied as the power source on the moon. Because the reactor system is launched by a launch vehicle, safety evaluation is necessary to the launch failure accident. We examined (i) the possibility of recriticality, and (ii) the influence of nuclear fuel leakage to the environment in the case of reactor damage. The followings are the main findings of this preliminary study. (1)Under-criticality is maintained even the reactor falls into water or crashes against the earth. (2)The external exposure dose by a radiation cloud of released fuel is less than the natural radiation. (3)The internal exposure dose by inhaling the cloud is less than 1 mSv/year which is a reco㎜ended dose limit to the public. (4)The surface radioactive density increased of land by the accident is be less than 0.4 Bq/square centimeter, which is a limit for things contaminated by alpha radiation to be transported from a controlled area, regardless the whether. This estimation is based on a leakage of five percent fuel, but the exposure dose would be far less than the estimated from the following reasons. (1)Nuclear fuel is in a ceramic form called pellets, and they are inserted in fuel cladding, and contained in the coolant material (metal) and the reactor vessel. (2)The nuclear fuel does not break into fragment as aerosol by the accident.