Engineering Studies to Support a Liquid Sodium Cooled Pebble Bed Target/Blanket for an Accelerator Breeder

摘要

Preliminary calculations on using a liquid sodium cooled pebble bed of thorium metal for the target and blanket of a particle accelerator to convert fertile material to fissile have indicated the concept has considerable merit. Fuel management is simple and continuous on-line feed is effected. Additional features include excellent heat transfer, low pressure drop, minimization of structures and enhanced safety. Promising features strongly suggest that the work be continued to further refine the studies. Although specific to the target and blanket of the accelerator breeder concept, the work is readily extended to a high efficiency liquid metal cooled nuclear reactor employing a pebble bed as the fuel. 10 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab. (ERA citation 10:048679)