Neutronics of BRIG-300 breeder reactor

4/04/2015 2015 - #01 Physics and technology of nuclear reactors

Samokhin D.S. Znak I.M. Terehova A.M.

https://doi.org/10.26583/npe.2015.1.16

The article deals with description of some of the characteristics of the BRIG 300 reactor design. Evaluation of neutronics characteristics of a breeder reactor BRIG 300 are made in the software package TRIGEX. The results of the calculation of the effective multiplication factor, the balance of neutrons in the core of the reactor plant.

At the very beginning of the nuclear age, many of physicists was expressed the idea that the full development of nuclear energy is possible only on the basis of a closed fuel cycle with fast reactors. Despite a major breakthrough in the development and operation of fast reactors with sodium coolant, the nuclear community is still interested in the development of advanced, fuel efficient and safer fast reactors.

The purpose of the pilot commercial nuclear power plant BRIG 300 gas cooled fast reactor coolant dissociating [1, 4], as an alternative, sodium breeders is to create plants with a simple single circuit at low metal content and time consuming manufacturing equipment. NPP with fast reactors on dissociating gases allow to predict the best technical and economic characteristics, as well as physical performance [5], which are at the level of performance of NPP with sodium breeders.

The aim of the present work is the study of neutron physical processes fast reactor project BRIG 300. To achieve the objective results of the evaluation were used core model breeder reactor built in the software package TRIGEX.05 [2].

Software package TRIGEX created to simulate the core of fast reactors with sodium coolant, but its functionality allows count models and other fast reactors.

It is a program complex TRIGEX allows an assessment of important characteristics such as reproduction rate, the effective neutron multiplication factor, neutron spectrum, isotopic composition, reactivity coefficients, etc., which allows you to create a sufficiently accurate models to study the behavior of fast reactors.

BRIG 300 reactor is comparable to the fast reactor with sodium coolant, similar capacity, in terms of neutron physics [3]. Taking into account the development of sealing technology and ways to improve the safety of reactor facilities with hazardous and toxic coolant, it can be concluded about the competitiveness of fast reactors BRIG 300 and, accordingly, the feasibility of the study of this problem.

References

1. Nesterenko V.B., Mihalevich A.A., Tverkovkin B.E. Bystrye reaktory i teploobmennye apparaty AES s dissociirujuschim teplonositelem. Minsk. Nayka i Texnika Publ., 1978 (in Russian).
2. Kompleks programm TRIGEX.05. Instrukciya pol’zovatelya. Obninsk: GNC RF-FEI Publ., 2008. Inv. № 11961 (in Russian).
3. Kuznecov I.A., Poplavskij V.M. Bezopasnost’ AES s reaktorami na bystryh nejtronah. Pod obsch. red. chlena-korrespondenta AN RF V.I. Rachkova. Moscow. Izdat Publ., 2012 (in Russian)
4. Dubina Ju.V., Slesarev I.S. Nejtronno-fizicheskij analiz geterogennyh kompozicij aktivnyh zon bystryh reaktorov s dissociirujuschim teplonositelem. Preprint №4. Minsk. Institut yadernyh issledovaniy AN BSSR Publ., 1984 (in Russian).
5. Kuhaev A.I., Popov B.I. Nejtronno-fizicheskie harakteristiki BRIG-300 p.134. Minsk. Institut yadernyh issledovanij AN BSSR Publ., 1978 (in Russian).

BRIG 300 TRIGEX reactor breeder dissociating coolant nitrin cartogram

Link for citing the article: Samokhin D.S., Znak I.M., Terehova A.M. Neutronics of BRIG-300 breeder reactor. Izvestiya vuzov. Yadernaya Energetika. 2015, no. 1, pp. 144-149; DOI: https://doi.org/10.26583/npe.2015.1.16 (in Russian).