Page 35 - Thermal Hydraulics Aspects of Liquid Metal Cooled Nuclear Reactors

10 Thermal Hydraulics Aspects of Liquid Metal Cooled Nuclear Reactors

1.5.2.3 Description of the safety concept

ALFRED is equipped with two diverse, redundant, and separate shutdown systems:
The first system, which performs also the control function, is made of absorber rods
passively inserted by buoyancy from the bottom of the core; the second is made of
absorbers rods passively inserted by a pneumatic system (using depressurization) from
the top of the core. The decay heat removal system consists of two passive, redundant,
and independent systems, each one composed of four isolation condenser systems con-
nected to four steam generator secondary sides. Three out of four isolation condensers
are sufficient to remove the decay heat power. Both systems are passive, with actively
actuated valves used to put the system into operation. Two-dimensional seismic isola-
tors are installed below the reactor building to cut the horizontal seismic loads.

1.5.2.4 Deployment status and planned schedule
ALFRED reached the conceptual design maturity level in 2013, at the end of
LEADER project. Currently, different design options are under investigation to fur-
ther improve the robustness of the primary system configuration, taking into account
the most recent technology advancements. The ALFRED project, supported by the
Fostering ALFRED Construction (FALCON) international consortium, set among
Ansaldo Nucleare, National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable
Economic Development (ENEA) (Italy), Institutul de Cercetari Nucleare (ICN) Pitesti
ˇ
(Romania), and Centrum Vy ´zkumu Rez ˇ (CVR) (Czech Republic), has been
established to pursue the European vision, aiming at bringing the LFR technology
to industrial maturity. The Mioveni nuclear platform is the ALFRED candidate site,
thanks to its strategic role for the development of nuclear energy in Romania since
1971. The road map for the realization of the industrial-scale first-of-a-kind European
LFR implies the realization of the ALFRED demonstrator around 2030.

1.5.3 MYRRHA (Fig. 1.4)

Full name: Multipurpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech Applications
Designer: Belgian Nuclear Research Center (SCK CEN)
l
Reactor type: Heavy liquid-metal-cooled reactor
Electric capacity: Not applicable
Thermal capacity: 100MW(th)
Coolant: Lead-bismuth eutectic
System pressure: 0.1MPa
System temperature: 270°C/325°C (core inlet/outlet)
No. of safety trains: 4 redundant and 1 diverse (for cooling)
Emergency safety Two diverse shutdown systems
systems:
Residual heat removal Two diverse passive systems
systems:
Design status: Conceptual design
New/distinguishing Accelerator-driven system, lead-bismuth eutectic, in-vessel fuel
features: storage, and fast-spectrum irradiation facility