Concept on inherent safety in high-temperature gas-cooled reactor

Ohashi, Hirofumi ; Sato, Hiroyuki  ; Kunitomi, Kazuhiko ; Ogawa, Masuro

A new concept on inherent safety in High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) was proposed to accomplish no harmful consequences for people and the environment even in the failures in safety and safety related systems. The safety concept is that the progression of the events that lead the loss or degradation of the confinement function of the coated fuel particle is suppressed and the release of radioactive materials is kept at very low level by only physical phenomena. The feasibility studies and related information revealed that the reactor design on this safety concept is technically feasible. The physical phenomena can be appeared with the cause of event (i.e., temperature increase, oxidation of fuel cladding and explosion of carbon monoxide) and can prevent or mitigate the events.