Liquid Metal Breeder Reactor

Irradiation at high temperatures can lead to brittle fracture of stainless steels used as cladding in fast liquid metal breeder reactors. The effects of irradiation on metals is discussed in more detail in a later chapter of this module. 

Backup for the liquid-metal breeder reactor program... 

Buxbaum RE. The use of zirconium-palladium windows for the separation of tritium from the liquid metal breeder-blanket of a fosion reactor. Sep Sci Technol. 1983 8(12-13) 1251. Buxbaum RE, Hsu PC. Method for plating palladium. US Patent 5149420,1992. 

The concept of a liquid metal-cooled reactor dates back to the genesis of nuclear energy. The first nuclear reactor to generate electricity was the liquid sodium-potassium-cooled fast reactor Experimental Breeder Reactor-1 (EBR-1) [5]. EBR-Fs successor, the sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) EBR-11 operated successfully for over 30 years, producing 20 MW of electricity via a sodium-steam power cycle [6]. 

In a U-fueled liquid-metal system, the cross sections of the higher isotopes or uranium arc of considerable importance in determining equilibrium concentrations of these isotopes and the time required to approach their equilibrium. These equilibrium conditions require study because of solubility limitations in a liquid-metal fuel reactor. The chain starts with either or depending on whether a converter or breeder reactor... 

The CREDO data base contains data from The Fast Flux Test Facility in Richland, Washington, The Experimental Breeder Reactor - II in Idaho Falls, Idaho, The test loops of the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC) in Canoga Park, California, The JOYO Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor at the 0-Arai Engineering Center (OEC) in Japan, and the test loops of OEC. 

LMFBR Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor... 

Many of the techniques available to purify alkali metals were initially developed to use with liquid sodium as a consequence of its large-scale application in liquid-metal-cooled fast-breeder reactors. These techniques can be summarized as filtration or cold trapping distillation or chemical (gettering). 

Sodium superheat experiments were performed in a forced-convection facility employing system parameters in the range of interest for application to loop- and pot-type liquid metal-cooled fast breeder reactors (LMFBRs). The test section was... 

For very long, helically coiled steam generator tubes, and for conditions typical of liquid-metal fast breeder reactors (LMFBRs), where steam is generated on the tube side, an overall heat transfer correlation for the whole boiling length (from X = 0 to X = 1.0) has been deduced experimentally (Campolunghi et al., 1977b) ... 

Y. S. Tang. Ph.D has more than 35 years of experience in the field of thermal and fluid flow. His research interests have covered aspects of thermal hydraulics that are related to conventional and nonconventional power generation systems, with an emphasis on nuclear reactor design and analysis that focuses on liquld-meta -cooled reactors. Dr. Tang is co-author of Radioactive Waste Management published by Taylor 8 Francis, and Thermal Analysis of Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactors, He received a B5. from National Central University In China and an MS. in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin. He earned his Ph.D. 

Fast-breeder reactors (FBR), 17 585-588 liquid-metal, 22 763 knowledge base for, 17 586 Fast color bases, 9 409—4 lOt Fast color salts,. 9 409-411 Fast-curing agents, 10 409-410 Fastening, ABS, 1 428 Fast extrusion furnace (FEF) blacks,... 

Liquid metal cooled fast breeder reactors (LMFBRs), 24 758 Liquid-metal fast-breeder reactor... 

In fast (neutron) reactors, the fission chain reaction is sustained by fast neutrons, unlike in thermal reactors. Thus, fast reactors require fuel that is relatively rich in fissile material highly enriched uranium (> 20%) or plutonium. As fast neutrons are desired, there is also the need to eliminate neutron moderators hence, certain liquid metals, such as sodium, are used for cooling instead of water. Fast reactors more deliberately use the 238U as well as the fissile 235U isotope used in most reactors. If designed to produce more plutonium than they consume, they are called fast-breeder reactors if they are net consumers of plutonium, they are called burners . 

I0.6.8.I Cladding failure in oxide fuel pins of nuclear reactors. The long-term operational performance of nuclear fuel pins is critically governed by the reactions that occur in the gap between the fuel and its cladding. Ball et al. (1989) examined this for the cases of (1) Zircaloy-clad pellets of U02+, in a pressurised water reactor (PWR) and (2) stainless-steel-clad pellets of (U, P)02+, in a liquid-metal-cooled fast-breeder reactor (LMFBR). In particular they were interested in the influence of O potential on Cs, I, Te and Mo and the effects of irradiation on the gaseous species within the fuel-clad gaps. 

The plutonium fuel in a breeder reactor behaves differently than uranium. Fast neutrons are required to split plutonium. For this reason, water cannot be used in breeder reactors because it moderates the neutrons. Liquid sodium is typically used in breeder reactors, and the term liquid metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR) is used to describe it. One of the controversies associated with the breeder reactor is that it results... 

LDH LEU LIBD LAW LET LILW LIP LLNL LLW LMA LMFBR LOI LREE L/S LTA LWR Layered double hydroxide Low enriched uranium Laser-induced breakdown detection Low-activity waste Linear energy transfer Low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste Lead-iron phosphate Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Low-level nuclear waste Law of mass action Liquid-metal-cooled fast-breeder reactor Loss on ignition Light rare earth elements (La-Sm) Liquid-to-solid ratio (leachates) Low-temperature ashing Light water reactor... 

Another application concerning the liquid-metal-cooled fast breeder reactors (LMFBR) was studied as development of advanced control rod materials for FBR (22). Fabrication tests and out-of-pile measurements were made of B4C/Cu cermet to obtain high-performance neutron absorber materials for LMFBR. A coating layer of Cu was formed on the surface of B4C/Cu powder, and then the coated B4C... 

Fig. 5. Radioactivity after shutdown per watt of thermal power for A, a liquid-metal fast breeder reactor, and for a D—T fusion reactor made of various structural materials B, HT-9 ferritic steel C, V-15Cr-5Ti vanadium—chromium—titanium alloy and D, silicon carbide, SiC, showing the million-fold advantage of SiC over steel a day after shutdown. The radioactivity level after shutdown is also given for E, a SiC fusion reactor using the neutron reduced...

Fig. 30. Liquid-metal fast breeder reactor core and blanket arrangement...

Fig 32. Loop arrangement in the liquid-metal fast breeder reactor. General Electric)... 

Properties. Most of the alloys developed to date were intended for service as fuel cladding and other structural components in liquid-metal-cooled fast-breeder reactors. Alloy selection was based primarily on the following criteria corrosion resistance in liquid metals, including lithium, sodium, and NaK, and a mixture of sodium and potassium strength ductility, including fabricabiUty and neutron considerations, including low absorption of fast neutrons as well as irradiation embrittlement and dimensional-variation effects. Alloys of greatest interest include V 80, Cr 15, Ti 5... 

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