Safety analysis of a compact integral small light water reactor

Small modular reactors (SMRs) hold great promise in meeting a diverse market while reducing the risk of delays during nuclear construction compared to large gigawatt-sized reactors. However, due to lack of economy of scale, their capital cost needs to be reduced. Increasing the compactness or power density of the nuclear island is one way to reduce capital cost. This work first assesses the transient analysis of a compact integral small light water reactor to examine its safety performance. Subsequently, a parametric optimization study with the goal of increasing its power density (i.e. improve its market competitiveness) while maintaining safety is performed. A model of the reactor is established using RELAP5/3.3gl, with reference to the features of Nuward SMR. Nuward is a compact 170 MWe Pressurized Water Reactor, whose key features include the use of Compact Steam Generators and a large water tank in which the containment submerges for passive heat removal.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Cheng, Zhiyuan,S.M.Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Koroush Shirvan.

• Nuclear Science and Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses may be protected by copyright. Please reuse MIT thesis content according to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy, which is available through the URL provided.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/127303

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/127303