Defining a Draft for a Zero Power Reactor Experiment for Molten Salt Reactors

定义熔盐反应堆零功率反应堆实验草案

基本信息

批准号：
EP/V027239/1
负责人：
Bruno Merk
金额：
$ 163.67万
依托单位：
University of Liverpool
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2021
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2021 至无数据
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FV027239%2F1
关键词：
Defining Draft Zero Power Reactor

项目摘要

The challenge for all future energy supply is given in UN Sustainable Development Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. In a more UK centric view, the Low Carbon Transition Plan - UK's plan for building a low carbon nation: cutting emissions, maintaining secure energy supplies, maximising economic opportunities and protecting the most vulnerable - highlighted the demand in 2009. Recently, the governmental decision "UK becomes first major economy to pass net-zero emissions law" has reinforced the urgency of action. Nuclear technologies can deliver a promising solution for the share of required 24/7 reliable production which is essential for the stability of the national electricity supply. However, the current nuclear energy system is dominated by reactors which are not ideal for the required growth in energy production, since long-term operation of these reactors is not sustainable due to their limited use of the natural uranium. Their spent nuclear fuel contains still ~95% of its original energy content when it is unloaded from the reactor and considered as waste further on. Making use of this energy content still stored within the fuel can provide an almost unlimited energy resource. In addition, it can deliver a promising use for the Pu stockpile, an unused energetic asset leftover from the first attempt to close the fuel cycle. From economic and national security point of view the Pu stockpile currently has to be seen as a burden due to the requirement of safeguarded storage. This situation could be transformed by releasing its energetic and economic potential when used in a nuclear reactor.Based on this cognition, we propose a game-changer technology to support a massive and secure low carbon electricity production while achieving an almost complete reuse of spent fuel avoiding the growth of the spent fuel stockpile and the related waste problem. We propose closing the fuel cycle within an integrated system to avoid transports and the separation of fissile material with all problems related to eventual proliferation and misuse of nuclear materials. This can be achieved with innovative, liquid fuelled reactors linked to an integrated cleaning system. However, no real experiments are available for these kinds of highly innovative reactors. Following the process of establishing a new, innovative reactor system as recently developed by Merk et al., a zero-power reactor experiment would be the essential first step to accelerate the technological development. Thus, this proposal focusses on the aim to establish a zero-power experiment, to demonstrate UK's technological leadership in disruptive nuclear development to facilitate research in sustainable energy generation. This will be delivered to create evidence and support for a governmental investment decision by developing a draft core design for a multi-purpose facility as well as the correlated experimental programme by applying advanced modelling & simulation tools. However, a pre-requisite for a robust modelling & simulation study will be the reliable measurement of thermo-physical material data on the envisaged fuel salt composition to provide sufficiently reliable input data for the study of the experimental reactor. These measurements will require to produce a sufficient amount of uranium-based salt by establishing a production route on laboratory scale.All steps are designed to improve the UK skills base for a successful development of a game-changer technology. Special focus will be on modelling & simulation to re-establish the skill base in reactor physics and reactor physical experiments which is currently not sufficient for a start into new technologies. To create final evidence for a future governmental investment decision the chances and risks of the upgrading of an existing facility which would transform a burden to be decommissioned into a world leading experimental facility will be evaluated.

未来所有能源供应的挑战是在联合国可持续发展目标中给出的7：确保可以为所有人提供负担得起，可靠，可持续和现代能源。在更为以英国为中心的观点中，低碳过渡计划 - 英国建立低碳国家的计划：减少排放，维持安全的能源供应，最大化经济机会并保护最脆弱的人 - 强调了2009年的需求。最近，政府的决定“英国成为第一个主要经济，成为净零零件的首个通过净资格的发行法”，这使行动的范围增强了。核技术可以为所需的24/7可靠生产提供有希望的解决方案，这对于国家电力供应的稳定性至关重要。但是，当前的核能系统由反应堆主导，这对于能源生产所需增长而不是理想的原因，因为这些反应堆的长期运行由于对天然铀的使用有限而无法可持续。当将其从反应堆中卸载并被视为浪费时，他们所用的核燃料仍包含约95％的原始能量含量。利用仍然存储在燃料中的能源内容可以提供几乎无限的能源资源。此外，它可以为PU Stockpile提供有前途的用途，PU库存是第一次尝试关闭燃油周期的未使用的能量资产。从经济和国家安全的角度来看，由于需要保存存储的要求，目前必须将PU库存视为负担。在核反应堆中使用其能量和经济的潜力可以改变这种情况。基于这种认知，我们提出了一种改变游戏规则的技术，以支持大量且安全的低碳电力生产，同时几乎完全避免了用过的燃料重复使用，避免了用过的燃料储备和相关废物问题。我们建议关闭集成系统中的燃油周期，以避免运输和裂变材料的分离，所有问题与最终的增殖和滥用核材料有关。这可以通过与集成清洁系统相关的创新，液体燃料的反应堆来实现。但是，对于这些高度创新的反应器，没有真正的实验。随着建立默克等人最近开发的新的创新反应器系统的过程，零功率反应堆实验将是加速技术发展的重要第一步。因此，该提案的重点是建立零能力实验的目的，以证明英国在颠覆性核发展方面的技术领导地位，以促进可持续能源产生的研究。通过为多功能设施开发核心设计草案以及通过应用高级建模和仿真工具来为政府投资决定提供证据和支持，以创造证据和支持。但是，强大的建模和仿真研究的先决条件将是对所设想的燃料盐组成的热物质材料数据的可靠测量，以提供足够可靠的输入数据，以研究实验反应堆。这些测量将需要通过在实验室规模上建立生产路线来产生足够数量的基于铀的盐。所有步骤旨在提高英国技能基础，以成功地开发改变游戏规则的技术。特别的重点将放在建模和仿真上，以重新建立反应堆物理和反应堆物理实验的技能基础，而反应堆物理实验目前不足以开始使用新技术。为了为未来的政府投资决定提供最终证据，将评估现有设施的升级机会和风险，这些设施将转变为将负担退役为世界领先的实验设施的负担。