Search

The Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy's (NE) approach to advanced reactor research and development (R&D) focuses on three reactor technologies—high-temperature gas-cooled reactors, sodium-cooled fast reactors, and fluoride-salt-cooled high-temperature reactors—but NE is also funding research into other advanced reactor technologies. NE's approach is to conduct research in support of multiple advanced reactor technologies, while collaborating with industry and academia, with the ultimate goal for industry to take the results of NE's research to the next step of development and commercialization. This book describes NE's approach to advanced nuclear reactor R&D and examines how NE plans and prioritizes its advanced reactor R&D activities, including deploying an advanced reactor. This book also discusses the DOE's International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) Agreement. It examines how and why the estimated costs and schedule of the U.S. ITER Project have changed since 2006; the reliability of DOE's current cost and schedule estimates; and actions DOE has taken to reduce U.S. ITER Project costs and plan for their impact on the overall U.S. fusion program.

Fast Breeder Reactors: An Engineering Introduction is an introductory text to fast breeder reactors and covers topics ranging from reactor physics and design to engineering and safety considerations. Reactor fuels, coolant circuits, steam plants, and control systems are also discussed. This book is comprised of five chapters and opens with a brief summary of the history of fast reactors, with emphasis on international and the prospect of making accessible enormous reserves of energy. The next chapter deals with the physics of fast reactors and considers calculation methods, flux distribution, breeding, control rods, shielding, and reactivity coefficients. The chemistry of fast reactor fuels is also considered, along with the engineering of the core of a power-producing fast reactor and of coolant circuits and steam plants. The final chapter examines aspects of reactor safety that are peculiar to sodium-cooled oxide-fueled fast reactors and describes the inherent features of such a reactor that make for safety, followed by an analysis of risks and some of the protective systems that can be used. This monograph will be of interest to nuclear scientists, physicists, and engineers.

Fast Reactor Safety deals with safety design criteria and methodology for fast reactors. Topics covered include safety evaluation methods, system disturbances, containment, and licensing. The characteristics of fast reactors, including heat ratings and coolants, are also discussed. Comprised of six chapters, this book opens with an overview of methods used to evaluate nuclear safety, along with neutron kinetics, thermal and feedback effects, and fault tree analysis. The reader is then introduced to possible system disturbances in relation to three distinct fast reactor systems: liquid-metal-cooled fast breeder reactors, gas-cooled fast breeder reactors, and steam-cooled fast breeder reactors. The next chapter looks at safety criteria that are set to define the design of a safe plant, together with the safety features that might be included. The remaining chapters focus on the particular problems of a sodium-cooled design; containment building and primary circuit and vessel containment; and licensing of the plant. This monograph is intended for graduates and undergraduates in nuclear engineering who are attending courses in reactor safety.

Fast Pulsed and Burst Reactors: A Comprehensive Account of the Physics of both Single Burst and Repetitively Pulsed Reactors discusses the physical principles involved in the operation of fast burst and periodic pulsed reactors. The text first covers the concerns in fast burst reactors, such as the kinetics and the effects of thermal shock. Next, the book deals with periodic burst reactions, which include the neutronics theory, reactivity modulation, and fluctuations. The text also talks about the principles and problems of control and safety of periodic pulsed reactors. The book will be of great use to individuals involved in the operation of nuclear power plant, such as nuclear engineers. The text will also benefit scientists involved in nuclear research.