High temperature gas-cooled reactors

Takeda, Tetsuaki*; Inagaki, Yoshiyuki; Aihara, Jun; Aoki, Takeshi; Fujiwara, Yusuke; Fukaya, Yuji; Goto, Minoru; Ho, H. Q.; Iigaki, Kazuhiko; Imai, Yoshiyuki; et al.

High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors; JSME Series in Thermal and Nuclear Power Generation, Vol.5, 464 Pages, 2021/02

https://doi.org/10.1016/C2018-0-05383-9

As a general overview of the research and development of a High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) in JAEA, this book describes the achievements by the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR) on the designs, key component technologies such as fuel, reactor internals, high temperature components, etc., and operational experience such as rise-to-power tests, high temperature operation at 950C, safety demonstration tests, etc. In addition, based on the knowledge of the HTTR, the development of designs and component technologies such as high performance fuel, helium gas turbine and hydrogen production by IS process for commercial HTGRs are described. These results are very useful for the future development of HTGRs. This book is published as one of a series of technical books on fossil fuel and nuclear energy systems by the Power Energy Systems Division of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Numerical evaluation on fluctuation absorption characteristics based on nuclear heat supply fluctuation test using HTTR

Takada, Shoji; Honda, Yuki*; Inaba, Yoshitomo; Sekita, Kenji; Nemoto, Takahiro; Tochio, Daisuke; Ishii, Toshiaki; Sato, Hiroyuki; Nakagawa, Shigeaki; Sawa, Kazuhiro*

Proceedings of 9th International Topical Meeting on High Temperature Reactor Technology (HTR 2018) (USB Flash Drive), 7 Pages, 2018/10

Nuclear heat utilization systems connected to HTGRs will be designed on the basis of non-nuclear grade standards for easy entry of chemical plant companies, requiring reactor operations to continue even if abnormal events occur in the systems. The inventory control is considered as one of candidate methods to control reactor power for load following operation for siting close to demand area, in which the primary gas pressure is varied while keeping the reactor inlet and outlet coolant temperatures constant. Numerical investigation was carried out based on the results of nuclear heat supply fluctuation tests using HTTR by non-nuclear heating operation to focus on the temperature transient of the reactor core bottom structure by imposing stepwise fluctuation on the reactor inlet temperature under different primary gas pressures below 120C. As a result, it was emerged that the fluctuation absorption characteristics are not deteriorated by lowering pressure. It was also emerged that the reactor outlet temperature did not reach the scram level by increasing the reactor inlet temperature 10 C stepwise at 80% of the rated power as same with the full power case.

Evaluation items to attain safety requirements in fuel and core designs for commercial HTGRs

Nakagawa, Shigeaki; Sato, Hiroyuki; Fukaya, Yuji; Tokuhara, Kazumi; Ohashi, Hirofumi

JAEA-Technology 2017-022, 32 Pages, 2017/09

JAEA-Technology-2017-022.pdf:3.59MB

As for the design of commercial HTGRs, the fuel design, core design, reactor coolant system design, secondary helium system design, decay heat removal system design and confinement system design are very important and quite different from those of LWRs. To contribute the establishment of the safety standards for commercial HTGRs, the evaluation items to attain safety requirements in fuel and core designs were studied. In this study, the excellence features of HTGRs based on passive safety or inherent safety were fully reflected. Additionally, concerning the core design, the stability to spatial power oscillation in reactor core of HTGR was studied. The evaluation items as the result of the study are applicable to the safety design of commercial HTGRs in the future.

Uncertainty analysis for source term evaluation of high temperature gas-cooled reactor under accident conditions; Identification of influencing factors in loss-of-forced circulation accidents

Honda, Yuki; Sato, Hiroyuki; Nakagawa, Shigeaki; Ohashi, Hirofumi

Proceedings of 25th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-25) (CD-ROM), 9 Pages, 2017/07

There is growing interest in uncertainty analysis for probabilistic risk assessment (PRA). Our target is the uncertainty analysis method development for depressurized loss-of-forced circulation (DLOFC) accident with failure of control rod systems (CRS). As one of key elements, this paper focuses on the quantification of uncertainty for the fuel temperature which is dominant for a source term analysis. As an initial step, this paper aims to suggest a procedure to identify influencing factors which is input parameter for uncertainty analysis, and shows the results of derivation of variable parameters by expansion of dynamic equation and extraction of uncertainties in variable factors.

Probabilistic risk assessment method development for high temperature gas-cooled reactors, 4; Use of operational and maintenance experiences with the high temperature engineering test reactor

Shimizu, Atsushi; Sato, Hiroyuki; Nakagawa, Shigeaki; Ohashi, Hirofumi

Proceedings of 2017 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2017) (CD-ROM), 8 Pages, 2017/04

Present paper provides an approach to update PRA parameters using the operational and maintenance experience obtained from the HTTR. Firstly, components subject to investigation are selected with the following criteria; The component has safety function in commercial HTGR, the component is utilized in high temperature-irradiated condition, structure or mechanism of the action for the component is unique, and the component is installed in the HTTR. Secondly, component boundaries are clarified and raw data is collected from maintenance records, monthly surveillance test records, operation and maintenance database, etc. As a preliminary study, selected PRA parameters are updated using Bayesian methods to confirm the effectiveness of the use of the HTTR experience. The results showed that the use of HTTR operational and maintenance data is effective for HTGR reliability database development.

Field test around Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant site using improved Ce:Gd(Al,Ga)O scintillator Compton camera mounted on an unmanned helicopter

Shikaze, Yoshiaki; Nishizawa, Yukiyasu; Sanada, Yukihisa; Torii, Tatsuo; Jiang, J.*; Shimazoe, Kenji*; Takahashi, Hiroyuki*; Yoshino, Masao*; Ito, Shigeki*; Endo, Takanori*; et al.

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 53(12), p.1907 - 1918, 2016/12

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2016.1185980

The Compton camera was improved for use with the unmanned helicopter. Increase of the scintillator array from 44 to 88 and expanse of the distance between the two layers contributed to the improvements of detection efficiency and angular resolution, respectively. Measurements were performed over the riverbed of the Ukedo river of Namie town in Fukushima Prefecture. By programming of flight path and speed, the areas of 65 m 60 m and 65 m 180 m were measured during about 20 and 30 minutes, respectively. By the analysis the air dose rate maps at 1 m height were obtained precisely with the angular resolution corresponding to the position resolution of about 10 m from 10 m height. Hovering flights were executed over the hot spot areas for 10-20 minutes at 5-20 m height. By using the reconstruction software the -ray images including the hot spots were obtained with the angular resolution same as that evaluated in the laboratory (about 10).

Development of safety requirements for HTGRs design

Ohashi, Hirofumi; Sato, Hiroyuki; Nakagawa, Shigeaki; Tokuhara, Kazumi; Nishihara, Tetsuo; Kunitomi, Kazuhiko

Proceedings of 8th International Topical Meeting on High Temperature Reactor Technology (HTR 2016) (CD-ROM), p.330 - 340, 2016/11

The safety requirements for the design of HTGRs has been developed by the research committee established in the Atomic Energy Society of Japan so as to incorporate the HTGR safety features demonstrated by HTTR, lessons learned from the accident of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and requirements for the coupling of the hydrogen production plants with nuclear plant. The safety design approach was determined to establish a high level of safety design standards by utilizing inherent safety features of HTGRs. This paper describes the process to develop the HTGR specific safety requirements and overview of the proposed HTGR specific safety requirements.

HTTR thermal load fluctuation test (non-nuclear heating test); Confirmation of HTGR system response against temperature transient

Honda, Yuki; Tochio, Daisuke; Nakagawa, Shigeaki; Sekita, Kenji; Homma, Fumitaka; Sawahata, Hiroaki; Sato, Hiroyuki; Sakaba, Nariaki; Takada, Shoji

JAEA-Technology 2016-016, 16 Pages, 2016/08

JAEA-Technology-2016-016.pdf:2.84MB

A system analysis code is validated with the thermal-load fluctuation absorption test with nun-nuclear heating by using the High Temperature Engineering test Reactor (HTTR) to clarify the High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) system response against temperature transient. The thermal-load fluctuation absorption test consists on the thermal load fluctuation tests (non-nuclear heating) and heat application system abnormal simulating test (non-nuclear heating). The HTGR reactor response against temperature transient is clarified in the thermal load fluctuation test (non-nuclear heating). The Intermediate Heat Exchanger (IHX) reactor response against temperature transient is clarified in the heat application system abnormal simulating test (non-nuclear heating). With the two HTTR non-nuclear heating test, HTGR system response against temperature transient is obtained.

Design approach for mitigation of air ingress in high temperature gas-cooled reactor

Sato, Hiroyuki; Ohashi, Hirofumi; Nakagawa, Shigeaki

Proceedings of 24th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-24) (DVD-ROM), 8 Pages, 2016/06

https://doi.org/10.1115/ICONE24-60232

This paper intends to propose a practical solution to protect HTGR from severe oxidation against air ingress accidents without reliance on subsystems. Firstly, a change is made to the center reflector structure to minimize temperature difference during the accident condition in order to reduce buoyancy-driven natural circulation in the reactor. Secondly, a modified structure of the upper reflector is suggested to prevent massive air ingress against a rupture in standpipes. As a preliminary study, a numerical analysis is performed for a typical prismatic-type HTGR to study the effectiveness of the proposed design concept using simplified lumped element models. The results showed that amount of air ingress into the reactor can be significantly reduced with practical changes to local structure in the reactor.

Environmental remediation for the upstream of Yotsugi Mill Tailings Pond, Ningyo-toge Uranium Mine

Saito, Hiroshi; Sato, Yasushi*; Sakamoto, Atsushi*; Torikai, Kazuyoshi; Fukushima, Shigeru; Sakao, Ryota; Taki, Tomihiro

JAEA-Technology 2015-063, 119 Pages, 2016/03

JAEA-Technology-2015-063.pdf:86.2MB

Ningyo-toge Environmental Engineering Center has been conducting environmental remediation of the Ningyo-toge Uranium Mine, after decades of mine-related activities were terminated. Its purposes are to take measures to ensure safety and radiation protection from the exposure pathways to humans in future, and to prevent the occurrence of mining pollution. As part of the remediation, upstream part of the Yotsugi Mill Tailings Pond, the highest prioritized facility, has been remediated to fiscal year 2012. Multi-layered capping has been constructed using natural material, after specifications and whole procedure being examined in terms of long-term stability, radiation protection, economics, etc. Monitoring has been carried out to confirm the effectiveness of the capping, in terms of settlement, dose and radon exhalation rates, etc. Monitoring of drainage volume of penetrated rainwater is planned. Accumulated data will be examined and used for remediation of downstream part of the Pond.