Investigations of accelerator reliability and decay heat removal for accelerator-driven system

Sugawara, Takanori; Takei, Hayanori; Tsujimoto, Kazufumi

Annals of Nuclear Energy, 125, p.242 - 248, 2019/03

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2018.11.001

To realize the feasible accelerator-driven system (ADS) concept, the investigations for the reliable accelerator and conceptual plant design considering safety issues were performed. As the reliable accelerator concept, the double-accelerator concept was proposed to reduce the beam-trip frequency. The estimated beam-trip frequency with the double-accelerator concept using the J-PARC LINAC operation data showed that the beam-trip frequency was significantly improved with the comparison of the single accelerator result. The basic investigation of the primary reactor auxiliary coolant system (PRACS) was performed for the safety design of the LBE cooled ADS. The concept which the PRACS heat exchanger was integrated to the steam generator was proposed and the transient analysis in the loss of heat sink accident was carried out. The result presented that the decay heat removal was appropriate when the operation of the PRACS succeeded.

Evaluation of heat removal during the failure of the core cooling for new critical assembly

Eguchi, Yuta; Sugawara, Takanori; Nishihara, Kenji; Tazawa, Yujiro; Tsujimoto, Kazufumi

Proceedings of 26th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE-26) (Internet), 8 Pages, 2018/07

https://doi.org/10.1115/ICONE26-82012

In order to investigate the basic neutronics characteristics of the accelerator-driven subcritical system (ADS), JAEA has a plan to construct a new critical assembly in the J-PARC project, Transmutation Physics Experimental Facility (TEF-P). This study aims to evaluate the natural cooling characteristics of TEF-P core which has large decay heat by minor actinide (MA) fuel, and to achieve a design that does not damage the core and the fuels during the failure of the core cooling system. In the evaluation of the TEF-P core temperature, empty rectangular lattice tube outer of the core has a significant effect on the heat transfer characteristics. The experiments by using the mockup device were performed to validate the heat transfer coefficient and experimental results were obtained. By using the obtained experimental results, the three-dimensional heat transfer analysis of TEF-P core were performed, and the maximum core temperature was obtained, 294C. This result shows TEF-P core temperature would be less than 327C that the design criterion of temperature.

Conceptual design study of beam window for accelerator-driven system with subcriticality adjustment rod

Sugawara, Takanori; Eguchi, Yuta; Obayashi, Hironari; Iwamoto, Hiroki; Tsujimoto, Kazufumi

Nuclear Engineering and Design, 331, p.11 - 23, 2018/05

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2018.02.011

This study aims to perform the coupled analysis for the feasible beam window concept. To mitigate the design condition, namely to reduce the necessary proton beam current, subcriticality adjustment rod (SAR) was installed to the ADS core. The burnup analysis was performed for the ADS core with SAR and the results indicated that the maximum proton beam current during the burnup cycle was reduced from 20 to 13.5 mA. Based on the burnup analysis result, the coupled analysis; particle transport, thermal hydraulics and structural analyses, was performed. As the final result, the most robust beam window design; the hemisphere shape, the outer radius = 235 mm, the thickness at the top of the beam window = 3.5 mm and the factor of safety for the buckling = 9.0, was presented. The buckling pressure was 2.2 times larger than the previous one and more feasible beam window concept was presented through this study.

Impact of impurity in transmutation cycle on neutronics design of revised accelerator-driven system

Sugawara, Takanori; Katano, Ryota; Tsujimoto, Kazufumi

Annals of Nuclear Energy, 111, p.449 - 459, 2018/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2017.09.017

This study aims to review the ADS design based on the outcome for the last dozen years and to investigate the impact of impurities in the transmutation cycle on the ADS neutronics design. The impact of impurities in the transmutation cycle is investigated for the reviewed reference design. For the uranium from the partitioning, the accompaniment of 20 wt.% U against the Pu weight is acceptable although the MA transmutation amount will be decreased slightly. For the rare earth (RE) from the partitioning, the accompaniment of 5 wt.% RE against the MA weight is allowable. In the reprocessing, the decontamination factor, DF=10 for RE is enough from the viewpoint of the neutronics design. The impact of the fuel composition accuracy is also investigated. The uncertainty of the ZrN ratio against the MA fuel should be less than 0.2% to minimize a surplus proton beam current due to the uncertainty.

Cladding tube burst experiment assumed MA fuel pin for transmutation physics experimental facility

Sugawara, Takanori; Tsujimoto, Kazufumi

JAEA-Research 2017-011, 35 Pages, 2017/10

JAEA-Research-2017-011.pdf:4.88MB

The construction of Transmutation Physics Experimental Facility (TEF-P) is planned in the J-PARC project. TEF-P is a critical assembly and it will treat minor actinide (MA) fuel in the experiment. The temperature when the air cooling for the TEF-P core would stop was estimated but there were no data to evaluate the soundness of the MA fuel pin. To set a tentative limit temperature for the TEF-P core, cladding tube burst experiment was performed. As the result, the cladding tube burst occurred at 660C as the severest case. Through these results and the estimation of creep rupture time, the tentative limit temperature for the TEF-P core was set to 600C.

Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses of lead sample reactivity experiments at Kyoto University Critical Assembly

Pyeon, C. H.*; Fujimoto, Atsushi*; Sugawara, Takanori; Iwamoto, Hiroki; Nishihara, Kenji; Takahashi, Yoshiyuki*; Nakajima, Ken*; Tsujimoto, Kazufumi

Nuclear Science and Engineering, 185(3), p.460 - 472, 2017/03

https://doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2016.1272976

Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses of lead (Pb) isotope cross sections are conducted with the use of sample reactivity experiments at the Kyoto University Critical Assembly (KUCA). With the combined use of the SRAC2006 and MARBLE code systems, attempts are made to precisely examine the contributions of the reactions and energy regions of Pb isotope cross sections to reactivity based on the covariance data of JENDL-4.0. Moreover, the effect of decreasing uncertainty is discussed in terms of the accuracy of sample reactivity by applying the cross section adjustment method to the uncertainty analyses. From the results of the sensitivity and uncertainty analyses, the reliability of Pb isotope cross sections, such as the Pb isotope covariance data of JENDL-4.0, is compared with the JENDL-3.3, ENDF/B-VII.0, and JEFF-3.1 libraries.

Development of three-dimensional reactor analysis code system for accelerator-driven system, ADS3D and its application with subcriticality adjustment mechanism

Sugawara, Takanori; Nishihara, Kenji; Iwamoto, Hiroki; Oizumi, Akito; Tsujimoto, Kazufumi

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 53(12), p.2018 - 2027, 2016/12

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2016.1179600

In order to perform the parametric survey for an Accelerator-Driven System (ADS) core with the subcriticality adjustment mechanism, a new calculation code system, ADS3D, was developed on MARBLE which is a comprehensive and versatile framework for reactor analysis. ADS3D can calculate the transportation of neutrons, the burn-up performance and the fuel exchange by deterministic method in three-dimensional calculation models. The application of ADS3D was also presented for the neutronics design of the ADS core with the control rod. Through the neutronics calculation, it was shown that the maximum proton beam current was decreased from 20.5mA to 11.6mA by the installation of control rods.

Fabrication and test results of testing equipment for remote-handling of MA fuel, 2; Evaluation of heat transfer parameter crossing rectangular lattice matrix

Eguchi, Yuta; Sugawara, Takanori; Nishihara, Kenji; Tazawa, Yujiro; Inoue, Akira; Tsujimoto, Kazufumi

JAEA-Technology 2015-052, 34 Pages, 2016/03

JAEA-Technology-2015-052.pdf:5.02MB

Transmutation Physics Experimental Facility (TEF-P) planned in the J-PARC project uses minor actinide (MA) fuel which has large decay heat. So it is necessary to consider the increase of the core temperature when the core cooling system is stopped. This change of the core temperature was evaluated by thermal conduction analysis. It was found that the impact of thermal insulation in the empty rectangular lattice matrix area was large. So it is necessary to verify reliability and accuracy of heat transfer effect used in this area. Testing equipment was fabricated to verify the accuracy of calculation model for the empty lattice matrix which was the free convection model of sealed fluid. By using this equipment, thermal distribution and one dimensional heat flow through the lattice were measured. It was observed that the actual equivalent thermal conductivity in the lattice was larger than the free convection model. It was also confirmed that the insertion of the aluminum block into the empty lattice could achieve the higher equivalent thermal conductivity. These results could be the useful data for the thermal conduction analysis.

Current activities for research and development on accelerator-driven system in JAEA

Sugawara, Takanori; Nishihara, Kenji; Takei, Hayanori; Iwamoto, Hiroki; Oizumi, Akito; Sasa, Toshinobu; Tsujimoto, Kazufumi

Proceedings of 21st International Conference & Exhibition; Nuclear Fuel Cycle for a Low-Carbon Future (GLOBAL 2015) (USB Flash Drive), p.648 - 656, 2015/09

The JAEA has investigated an accelerator-driven system (ADS) to transmute minor actinides which will be partitioned from the high level waste. There are various inherent issues for the research and development on the ADS. This study introduces the current two activities to get a feasible and reliable ADS concept. For the feasibility, the beam window design is one of the most important issues. To mitigate the design condition of the beam window, namely to reduce the proton beam current, the subcritical core concepts with subcriticality adjustment mechanism were investigated. As the result, the proton beam current reduced from 20mA to 10mA by the installation of the control rods. For the reliability, the two accelerators concept was proposed and the beam trip frequency was estimated by the J-PARC LINAC data and Monte-Carlo method. Through these investigations, it was confirmed that the two accelerators concept was useful to realize reliable accelerator operation for the ADS.

Design study of accelerator-driven system for minor actinide transmutation in JAEA

Tsujimoto, Kazufumi; Nishihara, Kenji; Takei, Hayanori; Sugawara, Takanori; Iwamoto, Hiroki; Sasa, Toshinobu

NEA/NSC/R(2015)2 (Internet), p.254 - 261, 2015/06

https://www.oecd-nea.org/science/docs/2015/nsc-r2015-2.pdf

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been conducting the research and development (R&D) on accelerator-driven system (ADS) as a dedicated transmutation system of long-lived radioactive nuclides. The ADS proposed by JAEA is a lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) cooled fast subcritical reactor with thermal output of 800 MW. For ADS to play important roles in the nuclear fuel cycle, several critical issues have to be resolved. The critical issue in the design of the ADS is the engineering feasibility of the beam window for the high power spallation target. Although a feasible concept of the beam window for the ADS was proposed in our previous work. To mitigate the thermal load of the beam window not only in the normal operation but also in the transient situations, the R&D for the mechanism of reactivity adjustment and the accelerator design have been performed in JAEA.