DOI 10.

1007/s10512-019-00549-7
Atomic Energy, Vol. 126, No. 5, September, 2019 (Russian Original Vol. 126, No. 5, May, 2019)

APPROACHES TO DEVELOPING A SMALL NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

BASED ON A GAS-COOLED REACTOR

Yu. G. Dragunov, V. V. Kudinov, and D. G. Kulikov UDC 621.039.576

The concept of a small gas-cooled reactor for the Brayton cycle using reactor technologies, design solutions,
and existing experience of NIKIET is proposed. The concept is based on the optimal use of existing materials
in the design and implements the principles of universality, modularity, and compactness. Variants of the
reactor design, design of the transport lock system, cooling channel of the critical components of the reactor
vessel, and radiation protection are presented.

Several power-generating facilities qualifying as small nuclear power plants (SNPP) are now operating in the world,
and R&D work is being conducted on the new reactors [1, 2]. Many of the projects are aimed at electricity production at a
level of tens to hundreds of megawatts, implying their technical implementation is on the scale of large buildings and struc-
tures. The small modular reactor designs considered in the USA stipulate predominantly the use of reactors with water as the
coolant, passive safety systems, and maximum possible unification of certain components and systems with large reactors.
In Russia, SNPP are being considered for use in zones of isolated energy systems, for example, in the development
of new deposits of raw hydrocarbons in the Arctic. The SNPP designs are based on the conversion of special nuclear power
facilities (NPF) for icebreakers and naval vessels and assume the use of pressurized-water reactors. In spite of the extensive
experience in operating water reactors under the extreme conditions of the North (Kola and Bilibino NPP), for water-cooled
SNPP at low negative outdoor temperatures there is a risk of the loop freezing. One way to solve the problem could be stand-
by thermal power, which will make the project more expensive. Another way is SNPP based on a gas-cooled reactor, which
has the following advantages over SNPP with comparable power and other coolants: a long operating period without refuel-
ing, absence of salt-water treatment systems, wide range of outdoor operating temperatures ( 223–323 K), high primary
coolant temperature and, in consequence, higher efficiency, mass/size characteristics allowing all forms of transportation,
high level of safety, and possibility of disassembly after service-life exhaustion [3, 4].
Several designs of small gas-cooled reactors have been executed as part of NASA programs (USA). Among them the
Prometheus reactor with thermal power reaching 1 MW and rod-shaped fuel elements based on oxide fuel merits special
consideration. Mainly prismatic or spherical fuel elements with microfuel based on uranium dioxide are used in the developed
foreign reactors. The Prometheus design concept is based on an energy conversion system operating in a Brayton cycle and a
gas-cooled reactor. An inert gas (He/Xe mixture) in the primary loop serves to cool the core and transfer energy around the
shadow shielding to the energy conversion system. The 1150 K limit on the average gas temperature at pressure 2 MPa at the
egress from the core makes it possible to use well-understood materials in the reactor and the energy conversion system and
will secure the serviceability of the fuel-element cladding. For a 1 MW(t) facility, the mass of the reactor and the radiation
protection reaches 5000 kg (specific power 200 W/kg).
The Prometheus developers note that the requirements of a ground-based gas-cooled reactor can differ so much from
the space-based implementation that the approaches to their design themselves will have to be changed.

Dollezhal Research and Development Institute of Power Engineering (NIKIET), Moscow, Russia; e-mail: v.kudinov@nikiet.ru. Translated
from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 126, No. 5, pp. 243–248, May, 2019. Original article submitted April 25, 2019.

1063-4258/19/12605-0273 ©2019 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 273

 Fig. 1. Factors influencing the reactor design.

The analysis performed in the present article shows that this situation is not indisputable – it is possible to develop a
universal gas-cooled reactor.
The concept of a gas-cooled reactor for use in SNPP is based on existing reactor technologies, design solutions, and
experience existing at NIKIET [3, 5–7]. The basic tenets of a vessel nuclear reactor with rod-shaped fuel elements are:
– use of Russian materials and technologies;
– design layout characterized by compactness and modularity, optimal utilization of materials;
– design solutions permitting the use of heated coolant for maximum possible reduction of the temperature of the
materials (cooling of the vessel components) and high maximum core temperature.
The concept of SNPP with a gas-cooled reactor presumes an energy conversion system with a Brayton cycle with
helium-xenon coolant with working temperature 1100–1500 K and pressure reaching 3.5 MPa. The R&D work showed that
for a 3.5 MW(t) facility the mass of the reactor and radiation protection will not exceed 4000 kg (specific power 850 W/kg).
The concept can be realized by analyzing variants of the layout with different solutions for the neutron intensity reg-
ulating organs (rods, drums), fuel components (dioxide and carbonitride fuel), methods of smoothing the energy release in the
core, variants of the layout and material composition of the radiation protection (lithium hydride, boron carbide, composite
boron-containing materials, tungsten, depleted uranium). Different variants of the organization of the gas-coolant flow and
the creation of a definite temperature regime for radiation protection and the elements of the reactor vessel were examined.
In addition, the choice of structural decisions was limited by the existing assortment of intermediate products made from
high-temperature refractory alloys.
In validating and making a preliminary choice of the main structural materials of the reactor, three temperature in-
tervals were singled out taking the fluence into account and a separate class of materials was recommended for each interval:
– up to 873 K (F ≤ 1021 cm–2) dispersion-hardened alloys and austenitic steel KhN56MBYuD, KhN55MBYu,
Inconel 718, 08Kh18N10T;
– up to 1073 K (F ≤ 1021 cm–2) alloys with solid-solution hardening KhN55MVTs (ChS 57-VI);
– 873–1523 K (F ≤ 5·1022 cm–2) molybdenum-based alloys TSM-7, -7S, TsM-6, ML-MP, MMP [8, 9].
The considered variants of the main structural and characteristic factors influencing the design of the reactor facility
are shown in Fig. 1.
The computational validation included neutronic calculations performed with the aid of the Russian MCU software,
modeling coupled processes of hydrodynamics and heat transfer using a two-level system of codes – the Russian PUChOK

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 Fig. 2. Gas-cooled reactor in SNPP [4]: 1) working organ drive; 2, 7) ingress and egress connection piece for
the high-temperature channel, respectively; 3) header of the cooling loop; 4, 6) internal and external radiation
protection, respectively; 5) lid; 8) vessel; 9) reflector; 10) separating shell; 11) working organ; 12) core; 13) lid.

Fig. 3. General view of stationary and transportable SNPP with a gas-cooled reactor.

cellular code occupies the first level; the second level contains ANSYS CFX (USA), which implements the methods of com-
putational hydrodynamics, calculations of the radiation fields with the aid of the MCNP code (USA), as well as strength cal-
culations for choosing the basic dimensions of the elements of the reactor using the Russian ZENIT-95 software system.
Reactors with different structural factors were studied in the course of the work performed on the different variants.
Common to all variants were the designs of the SCS elements and the reflector as well as the organization of the high-tem-
perature channel allowing for heat-removal. The autonomous cooling loop, which is intended for securing the required tem-
perature regime of the drives of the working organs, radiation protection, reflectors, and structural elements of the vessel, was
subsequently transformed into a low-temperature circuit.
As a result, a reactor variant whose distinguishing feature is the elimination of the high-temperature channel, having
a complex spatial shape, from the design of the extended pipelines in favor of short connection pieces compactly arranged in
the bottom of the vessel (Fig. 2). In the proposed variant, container-type cylindrical fuel elements are used in the core. A fuel
element contains the fuel composition, a gas gap to compensate for the swelling, a gas collector to reduce the pressure of the
gaseous fission products, and the cladding, which retains the gaseous fission products. Also located in the core are molybde-
num-alloy sleeves of the SCS, along which the hollow cylindrical rods with high-enrichment boron carbide inside move.
The concept developed for a compact gas-cooled reactor makes it possible to build stationary or transportable SNPP
using factory-built modules. They can be transported by all forms of transportation, including aircraft – the dimensions of the
modules are 3.2 × 3.2 × 18 m, mass ≤42 tons (Fig. 3).
The main design problems were associated with providing the following:

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 Fig. 4. Diagram of coolant flow in the first loop and an autonomous cooling loop.

Fig. 5. Diagram of coolant flow with merging of the channels.

– nuclear and radiation safety during accidents associated with shipment of the reactor;
– temperature regime of the elements of the reactor vessel and optimization of the composition of the cooling-loop
equipment;
– manufacturability of the radiation protection together with adherence to the temperature regime of the materials
used in it.
Transport lock system. In transporting a reactor, the working organs in the core must be locked in order to prevent
spontaneous uncontrollable change in the reactivity without controlling commands from the SCS. Their drives contain latches

276
that prevent uncontrollable displacement. However, a working organ can move spontaneously when a definite force is applied
to the pull rod connecting the drive and the organ. For this reason, an additional safety system was added – a transport lock
system, whose function is to keep the working organs within the core until the reactor is taken out of the subcritical state prior
to startup. The result of the development work was the construction of a transport lock system based on an electric drive that
also made it possible to perform a preliminary check of its actuation at the manufacturing plant. The proposed design was
validated by means of thermohydraulic and strength calculations. Vibrational tests were performed on a mockup of the design
as part of a full-scale mockup assembly transport lock system + working organ + tie rod + drive; these tests confirmed its
serviceability. The original design solutions are protected by a patent [10].
Cooling channel for critical units of the reactor vessel. The requisite temperature regimes of the constituent parts
of the reactor required that two independent separate loops with circulating coolants be organized: the first loop with the main
flow of the gaseous coolant with pressure reaching 3.4 MPa at the ingress into the reactor and temperature reaching 1085 K
and for cooling the critical units of the reactor vessel a second autonomous loop with gaseous coolant with pressure reaching
3.4 MPa and temperature 455 K at the ingress (Fig. 4).
The computational analysis of the temperature regimes of the constituent parts showed that the autonomous cooling
loop has large pressure losses as a consequence of the long length and small hydraulic diameter of the channel sections. In
order for it to function, an independent system for organizing circulation and heat removal is needed: compressor, heat ex-
changer, fixtures, cooler-radiator, primary sensors, control block. For this reason, the scheme for removing heat from the
critical elements was altered: a scheme was chosen with the required coolant flow from the egress of the main compressor into
the low-temperature channel, which included a collector, cavities of the delivery connections of the high-temperature channel
and the vessel bottom, and annular gap in the vessel (Fig. 5). The coolant flows from the low- and high-temperature channels
merge at the ingress into the core. The separation of the cooling loop of the critical elements from the egress from the com-
pressor to the collector chamber at the ingress into the core made it possible to eliminate the autonomous cooling loop.
The adopted solution required changing the design of the reactor – the vessel and the units inside the vessel. A new
shell was introduced into the design of the vessel – between the cylindrical part of the vessel and the core shell. The annular
channel formed by the space between the additional installed shell and the reactor vessel serves as a channel for the coolant
to circulate along the inner surface of the reactor vessel.
The flow scheme adopted for the coolant was validated by neutronic, thermohydraulic, and strength calculations. To
study the influence of the heat-cycling loads, in the armored chamber of TsKTI an experiment with a full-scale mockup of the
reactor vessel, fabricated from annular and spherical blanks by means of the standard technology, was performed. Adjustable
electric heaters were used to create in the mockup vessel temperature gradients corresponding to the thermohydraulic calcu-
lation of the low-temperature channel.
The tests established that no dimensional changes, fracture of metal, or mechanical damage were recorded after
more than 140 cycles. The temperature distribution along the height of the vessel was found to be close to the prescribed
distribution.
The adopted organization of the flow with merging low- and high-temperature channels and the structural solutions
developed on its basis for the constituent parts of the reactor as a result of intellectual work are protected by a patent [11].
The radiation protection ensures that the levels of the γ- and neutron radiation striking the radiation sensitive units
and elements, such as the drives of the control rods of the nuclear reactor, electronic devices, electrotechnical and insulation
materials of the cables, sensors, and so on are admissible. The arrangement of the radiation protection is affected by the re-
quirements of optimal passage of the pipelines of the high-temperature in channel, which determined the wide scope of the
work performed on the variants of the design.
In optimizing the arrangement of the reactor with radiation protection, it was proposed that the protection be divided
into high-temperature internal and low-temperature external blocks. The first block is located in the reactor vessel between
the core and the bottom and the second block is placed around the vessel. This required increasing the length of the reactor
vessel, but it eliminated the high-temperature coolant pipelines passing through the radiation protection. The fabrication of
the internal radiation protection block from boron-containing materials eliminated the need for cooling the radiation protec-
tion and reduced the coolant flow for cooling the reactor units.

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 The calculations of the radiation fields and the thermohydraulic and strength calculations showed that the admissible
limit for γ- and neutron exposure is not exceeded in the proposed design.
The vibro-dynamic tests of the mockups, secured on the mockup of the reactor vessel, confirmed the serviceability
of the proposed radiation protection and validated the possibility of using it. The effectiveness of the attenuation of the reactor
radiation by the protection blocks was determined at NIKIET using 252Cf neutrons and 137Cs γ-rays. The experiments showed
that the computed and measured coefficients of attenuation of the neutron and γ-radiation by the materials of the internal ra-
diation protection block are in satisfactory agreement.
Conclusion. In the reported results of R&D work on the concept of a 3.5 MW small nuclear power plant with a gas-
cooled reactor, the solutions to key design issues for some systems of the reactor were proposed and validated: transport and
cooling system, cooling channels, and radiation protection. The project is based on the optimal use of Russian-sourced materi-
als and implements the principles of universality, modularity, and compactness. Mockups of the constituent parts of the reactor
were built for purposes of all-round confirmation of the computational validation. The test performed with the mockups of the
transport and cooling system, vessel, and radiation protection blocks are in satisfactory agreement with the calculations.

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