{"title":"An approach to Molten Salt Reactor operation and control and its application to the ARAMIS actinide burner","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.anucene.2024.110888","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Molten salt reactors (MSRs) are Generation IV nuclear reactor concepts gaining significant research interest worldwide. The present work proposes a methodology for the definition and optimization of the MSR operating conditions and control strategy. The proposed methodology employs a novel 0D steady-state model, the multi-physics system-scale MOSAICS (MOlten SAlt Incompressible Calculation System) model and a Global Sensitivity Analysis (GSA) method based on Hilbert-Schmidt Independence Criterion indices. The methodology was then applied to the ARAMIS (Advanced Reactor for Actinides Management in Salt) fast-spectrum chloride-salt burner reactor. Two alternative control strategies are proposed in order to achieve target margins to the salt freezing and structure material limit temperatures during normal operation, plus a 20 % power variation per minute load-following objective. The performance of the control strategies was assessed through comparison with the natural behavior during a load-increasing transient, as well as during Unprotected Transient Over-Power (UTOP) and Station Blackout (SBO) accidents. Controlled load variation transients are observed to reduce overall temperature variation rates throughout the salt circuits, while the inclusion of a variable fuel flow from the reactor commands can further limit these fluctuations. However, the selected operating conditions exhibited insufficient margins to freezing or the materials limit temperature under unprotected accident conditions. GSA enabled the derivation of correlations to characterize the dynamic response of MSRs to the accidents. Based on the observed reactor response to the various transients, potential modifications to the ARAMIS design and control strategies are proposed.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8006,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Nuclear Energy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annals of Nuclear Energy","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306454924005516","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Molten salt reactors (MSRs) are Generation IV nuclear reactor concepts gaining significant research interest worldwide. The present work proposes a methodology for the definition and optimization of the MSR operating conditions and control strategy. The proposed methodology employs a novel 0D steady-state model, the multi-physics system-scale MOSAICS (MOlten SAlt Incompressible Calculation System) model and a Global Sensitivity Analysis (GSA) method based on Hilbert-Schmidt Independence Criterion indices. The methodology was then applied to the ARAMIS (Advanced Reactor for Actinides Management in Salt) fast-spectrum chloride-salt burner reactor. Two alternative control strategies are proposed in order to achieve target margins to the salt freezing and structure material limit temperatures during normal operation, plus a 20 % power variation per minute load-following objective. The performance of the control strategies was assessed through comparison with the natural behavior during a load-increasing transient, as well as during Unprotected Transient Over-Power (UTOP) and Station Blackout (SBO) accidents. Controlled load variation transients are observed to reduce overall temperature variation rates throughout the salt circuits, while the inclusion of a variable fuel flow from the reactor commands can further limit these fluctuations. However, the selected operating conditions exhibited insufficient margins to freezing or the materials limit temperature under unprotected accident conditions. GSA enabled the derivation of correlations to characterize the dynamic response of MSRs to the accidents. Based on the observed reactor response to the various transients, potential modifications to the ARAMIS design and control strategies are proposed.
期刊介绍:
Annals of Nuclear Energy provides an international medium for the communication of original research, ideas and developments in all areas of the field of nuclear energy science and technology. Its scope embraces nuclear fuel reserves, fuel cycles and cost, materials, processing, system and component technology (fission only), design and optimization, direct conversion of nuclear energy sources, environmental control, reactor physics, heat transfer and fluid dynamics, structural analysis, fuel management, future developments, nuclear fuel and safety, nuclear aerosol, neutron physics, computer technology (both software and hardware), risk assessment, radioactive waste disposal and reactor thermal hydraulics. Papers submitted to Annals need to demonstrate a clear link to nuclear power generation/nuclear engineering. Papers which deal with pure nuclear physics, pure health physics, imaging, or attenuation and shielding properties of concretes and various geological materials are not within the scope of the journal. Also, papers that deal with policy or economics are not within the scope of the journal.