OPTIMIZATION OF SHAPE OF DISHED END OF THE MAIN VESSEL AND STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY ANALYSIS OF GRID PLATE AND CORE SUPPORT STRUCTURE OF FUTURE FAST BREEDER REACTOR

摘要

500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) is under construction in India. Beyond PFBR, it is planned to construct 3 twin units, each one is 2 x 500 MWe capacity reactors. The future FBRs have enhanced safety with improved economy. The reactor assembly consists of main vessel, safety vessel, thermal baffles, grid plate, core support structure, inner vessel, roof slab, rotatable plugs, control plug and absorber rod drive mechanisms. The core support structure supports the grid plate, which in turn supports all the core sub-assemblies. It is supported on the main vessel dished end through a shell. Following the conceptual design phase, the structural design & analysis of major components of reactor assembly have been taken up and the same are discussed in this paper. This includes optimization of shape of dished end of main vessel, structural integrity analysis of core support structure along with grid plate and flexibility analysis of primary pipes.