A New IAEA coordinated research project on sodium properties and safe operation of experimental facilities in support of the development and deployment of sodium-cooled fast reactors

Monti, S.*; Latge, C.*; Long, B.*; Azpitarte, O. E.*; Chellapandi, P.*; Stieglitz, R.*; Eckert, S.*; Ohira, Hiroaki; Lee, J.*; Roelofs, F.*; Marinenko, E.*; Grandy, C.*

In order to address some inconsistencies regarding sodium physical and chemical properties, and internationally agreed standard rules for designing sodium experimental facilities, good practices and safety guidelines, the IAEA recently established a CRP on "Sodium properties and safe operation of experimental facilities in support of the development and deployment of Sodium Cooled Fast Reactors - NAPRO", to be carried out in the period 2013 - 2017. The CRP will be focused on the collection and assessment of sodium properties, and it will lead to a consistent property data set which will be published in the form of a handbook. This work will be carried out by the 11 participating organizations from 10 Member States through the review and evaluation of the existing available data, the identification of the data gaps and the development of recommendations for experimental programmes to support closing these data gaps. The CRP will also focus on the definition of design rules and best practice for sodium experimental facilities and guidelines for the safe handling of sodium, which poses hazard due to its chemical reactivity with water and air. Outcomes of this part of the CRP will include shared functional requirements, good practices, codes and standards and safety criteria for the design, construction and operation of experimental Na loops in support of innovative SFR.