Review of existing gas-cooled reactor circulators with application of the lessons learned to the new production reactor circulators

摘要

This report presents the results of a study of the lessons learned during the design, testing, and operation of gas-cooled reactor coolant circulators. The intent of this study is to identify failure modes and problem areas of the existing circulators so this information can be incorporated into the design of the circulators for the New Production Reactor (NPR)-Modular High-Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor (MHTGR). The information for this study was obtained primarily from open literature and includes data on high-pressure, high-temperature helium test loop circulators as well as the existing gas cooled reactors worldwide. This investigation indicates that trouble free circulator performance can only be expected when the design program includes a comprehensive prototypical test program, with the results of this test program factored into the final circulator design. 43 refs., 7 tabs.