ASSESSMENT OF GAS COOLED FAST REACTOR WITH INDIRECT SUPERCRITICAL CO 2 CYCLE

Abstract

Various indirect power cycle options for a helium cooled gas cooled fast reactor (GFR) with particular focus on a supercritical indirect cycle are investigated as an alternative to a helium cooled direct cycle GFR. The balance of plant (BOP) options include helium-nitrogen Brayton cycle, supercritical water Rankine cycle, and recompression Brayton power cycle in three versions: (1) basic design with turbine inlet temperature of , (2) advanced design with turbine inlet temperature of and (3) advanced design with the same turbine inlet temperature and reduced compressor inlet temperature. The indirect recompression cycle is found attractive since in addition to easier BOP maintenance it allows significant reduction of core outlet temperature, making design of the primary system easier while achieving very attractive efficiencies comparable to or slightly lower than, the efficiency of the reference GFR direct cycle design. In addition, the indirect cycle arrangement allows significant reduction of the GFR &proximate-containment& and the BOP for the cycle is very compact. Both these factors will lead to reduced capital cost.