A next generation heavy water nuclear reactor with supercritical water as coolant

Abstract

The supercritical water (SCW) cooled nuclear reactor is one of six candidate reactor concepts selected by the Generation-IV International Forum (GIF) for meeting GIF design goals, which includes enhanced safety, resource sustainability, economic benefit and proliferation resistance. As a member of GIF, Canada is developing a pressure-tube type SCW reactor, which has the potential to fulfill all major GIF goals. Employing the existing supercritical water technology used in coal plants on the balance-of-power systems, the Canadian SCWR design effort focuses mainly on the core configuration to generate supercritical water at the temperature of 625°C matching closely the existing high-pressure turbine design (thereby increasing the thermal efficiency by 40% as compared to the conventional nuclear power plants). This paper presents the pre-conceptual design of a heavy-water moderated pressure-tube type SCWR, which has evolved from the well-established CANDU reactor. It describes the core configuration, advanced thorium fuel cycle, the high-efficiency fuel channel design, passive moderator cooling system, and fuel design. These key components facilitate the fulfillment of the GIF design goals. (author)