SYSTEMATIC APPROACH TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CANADIAN SCWR REACTOR FOR DESIGN OPTIMIZATION

摘要

The Canadian Super-Critical Water-cooled Reactor (SCWR) is a Generation IV reactor that is beingdesigned as part of the international initiative to design next generation nuclear reactors known asthe Generation-IV International Forum (GIF). It is a heavy-water moderated pressure-tube typereactor that uses supercritical water as coolant (which allows ~40% higher thermodynamicefficiency than current light-water reactors), employs passive safety systems, uses an insulated fuelchannel design, and burns thorium as fuel for sustainability and proliferation resistance.The pressure tube design feature provides more flexibility to optimize the reactor efficiency inaddition to enhancing reactor safety in comparison with other reactor designs. The operatingpressure (25 MPa) and temperatures (typically 450?C to 625?C) of SCW reactors are significantlyhigher than those in existing light-water reactors, presenting design challenges that requireinnovative solutions. This paper provides a summary of current status of the mechanical design ofthe Canadian SCWR, discusses some of the design challenges and proposes path forward for futureR&D to deal with these challenges. Also the paper discusses a variety of technologies that may beemployed to achieve optimized reactor efficiency and increased plant reliability.