Department of Chemical Engineering.

Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor

(AGR)
Subject: Fundamentals of Nuclear Engineering.

Submitted by: Fazal e Rabbi (MS-21-502637) Degree: MS Process

Engineering (Semester-1)
9-5-2022
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ADVANCED GAS COOLED REACTOR

CONTENTS
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
From MAGNOX to AGR:.....................................................................................................................2
Diabatic Two-Phase Flow:...................................................................................................................3
History and Significance of Flow Maps...................................................................................................4
Two-Phase Flow Maps for Horizontal Adiabatic Flow.............................................................................5
Baker’s Flow Map (1954):....................................................................................................................5
Taitel and Dukler Flow Map (1976):.....................................................................................................6
Two-Phase Flow Maps for Horizontal Diabatic Flow...............................................................................8
Kattan-Thome-Favrat Flow Map (1998):.............................................................................................8
Limitations and Conclusion:...................................................................................................................9
References:...........................................................................................................................................10
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ADVANCED GAS COOLED REACTOR

INTRODUCTION:
The AGR was a design improvement over the initial Magnox gas cooled reactor (GCR).
Several were built and entered commercial service in the United Kingdom (UK). Their
subsequent performance and low fuel cost made them very economical electrical power
producers in the United Kingdom. As they evolved into a more complex but more compact
design, they approached the design of the AGR and in the final version really only differed from
the AGR in the type of fuel. Currently, 14 AGRs (employed as twin reactors) are in operation at
6 different sites in the UK and these are enlisted with their power output below:

Power Plant Gross Electric Output (MW)

Dungeness B 2 x 660
Hinkley Point B 2 x 660
Hunterson B 2 x 660
Hartlepool 2 x 660
Heysham I 2 x 660
Heysham II 2 x 660
Torness 2 x 660

From MAGNOX to AGR: The Magnox reactor was a gas cooled graphite moderated reactor
with stacked graphite blocks making up the reactor core and used highly compressed carbon
dioxide gas as a coolant. The term “MAGNOX” was derived from the fuel which was natural
uranium metallic fuel clad in magnesium alloy (MAGNOX). At the time when this reactor was
developed in the United Kingdom, enriched uranium was not available but a combination of pure
natural uranium fuel and a graphite moderator would give critical conditions and allow a
continuous fission chain reaction provided the fuel cladding and coolant had low neutron
absorption characteristics.

The use of natural metallic uranium as fuel limited the heated coolant gas temperature to a
maximum of about 400 ᵒC so that the fuel would not melt. Due to this temperature constraint, the
temperature and pressure of the steam produced is lower than that produced in a typical coal-
fired boiler. The resulting thermal efficiency is only about 30%. These limitations led to the
development of the Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor (AGR). In developing the AGR, it was
desired to operate at a much higher temperature in order to increase the thermal efficiency.
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ADVANCED GAS COOLED REACTOR
Slightly enriched uranium dioxide (about 2.5% U-235) was then available, and in the oxide form,
the fuel could withstand a much higher temperature. The coolant operating temperature was thus
raised to about 650 ᵒC, and a higher pressure and power density could be employed. The
resulting thermal efficiency was increased to about 40%.

Figure 1. Torness Nuclear Power Station (UK), Operational since 1988.