Hydraulic refueling system

The VKR-MT is developed for a land-based NPP. Maximum use of the benefits provided by micro fuel elements in a pebble bed form makes it possible to develop a reactor design, in which the core operates for 10 years without reloading and shuffling of fuel, and the refuelling is performed once-at-a-time without opening the reactor vessel cover, through the use of special containers with fresh and spent micro fuel elements and a dedicated micro fuel element hydraulic transport system. From the standpoint of proliferation resistance, such technical feature is equivalent to an option of factory fabricated and fuelled reactor, but essentially simplifies the associated transport operations. The refuelling could be performed by a special team dispatched from a fuel factory and shall involve strict control and verification measures. 

The BWR is the only light water reactor system that employs bottom-entry control rods. Bottom-entry and bottom-mounted control rod drives allow refueling without removal of control rods and drives and allow drive testing with an open vessel prior to initial fuel loading or at each refueling operation. The hydraulic control rod drive system, which incorporates... 

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