Small reactors without on-site refuelling

About a half of the innovative SMR concepts represent small reactors without on-site refuelling [2], also known as battery-type or long-life core reactors. Small reactors without on-site refuelling are the reactors designed for infrequent replacement of well-contained fuel cassette(s) in a manner that impedes clandestine diversion of nuclear fuel material [1]. 

Small reactors without on-site refuelling incorporate increased refuelling interval (from 5 to 30 years and more), consistent with plant economy and considerations of energy security. Both front-end and back-end fuel cycle services are assumed to be completely outsourced for such reactors, i.e., they are either factory fabricated and fuelled or undergo a once-at-a-time core reloading performed at the site by a dedicated service team provided by the vendor of the fuel or the reactor itself such team is assumed to bring in and take away the fresh and spent fuel load and the refuelling equipment. 

About thirty concepts of small reactors without on-site refuelling are being analyzed or developed in the Russian Federation, Japan, India, the U.S.A., Brazil, and Indonesia. They cover different reactor lines water cooled, sodium cooled, lead or lead bismuth cooled and molten salt cooled reactors. 

The potential benefits of small reactors without on-site refuelling include ... 

The proponents of small reactors without on-site refuelling reasonably expect that such reactors could add a certain degree of independence on fuel supplier and, in this way, support decisions of the user-countries to forego the development of indigenous fuel cycles. 

Small reactors without on-site refuelling could also offer a cost-effective decommissioning strategy in which the disassembling and all subsequent operations with a complete reactor module or even a complete NPP (e.g., barge-mounted) are outsourced to a centralized factory, and which would benefit from the absence of fresh and spent fuel storages at the site. 

To support the preparation of this and the previous report [2], an IAEA technical meeting Innovative small and medium sized reactors design features, safety approaches and R D trends was held on 7-11 June 2004 in Vienna, and its final report was published as IAEA-TECDOC-1451 in May 2005 [1]. That TECDOC presented a variety of innovative water cooled, gas cooled, liquid metal cooled and non-conventional SMR designs developed worldwide and examined the technology and infrastructure development needs that are common to several concepts or lines of such reactors. It also introduced the definition of small reactors without on-site refuelling, which is referred to in this report. Both, the technical meeting and the report [1] provided recommendations on the objectives, structure, scope and content of this report and the report [2]. 

It was with these, previous developments in mind that IAEA recommended to prepare a new report on design status of the small reactors without on-site refuelling. 

To introduce a rationale for small reactors without on-site refuelling and to identify certain categories of customers that might benefit from special features offered by such reactors ... 

To collect information on small reactors without on-site refuelling, a new common outline for design descriptions already applied in [2] was used, which provides for a structured description of the features and anticipated performance of innovative SMRs in all considered subject areas, see Table 1 and Chapter 2.2. Reflecting on the fact that some small reactors without on-site refuelling may be at a design stage too early to provide all data requested, a shorter version of the outline was used also, see Chapter 2.2. 

The designers in Member States were then contacted with an offer of participation in this report and informed about its objectives and the approach to be used in its preparation. Specifically, they were informed about the adopted definition of small reactors without on-site refuelling (see Chapter 2.1.2) and the design description outlines to be applied. 

In response to the above mentioned activity, twenty six full and four short design descriptions of small reactors without on-site refuelling were collected from Member States, roughly by the end of 2005. 

Prepared in the above mentioned way, the report covers all or nearly all efforts for development of dedicated small reactors without on-site refuelling that were ongoing in 2005 and early in 2006. 

For the addressed concepts of small reactors without on-site refuelling. Chapter 5 reviews the fuel cycle options and associated institutional issues, provides an assessment of material balance characteristics in once-through and closed fuel cycles, and outlines the possible role of small reactors without on-site refuelling in making a transition from open to closed nuclear fuel cycle. This chapter also summarizes the features of small reactors that could facilitate their deployment with outsourced fuel cycle services. 

Annexes I-XXX present the contributions from Member States — structured design descriptions of water cooled, gas cooled, liquid metal cooled, and non-conventional (molten salt cooled, etc.) small reactors without on-site refuelling. 

SURVEY OF EMERGING ENERGY MARKET CHARACTERISTICS — A RATIONALE FOR SMALL REACTORS WITHOUT ON-SITE REFUELLING... 

Small reactors without on-site refuelling are an approach to provide a new architecture for nuclear energy, specifically designed to meet the needs of these emerging markets. 

Like other nuclear reactors, small reactors without on-site refuelling exploit the incredible energy density of nuclear fuel. Whereas a kilogram of a chemical fuel can carry ... 

In the Following sections, difFerent categories oF potential customers are surveyed and their needs are identified. Then, in the Following sections, the common needs are shown to drive a number oF the common design strategies shared by all small reactors without on-site refuelling. 

A market niche for nuclear power plants with small reactors without on-site refuelling could also be that of off-grid industrial applications, supporting the energy intensive processes which harvest and add value to natural resources. Two needs would arise in respect of this, which are supporting the work camp population and supplying power for the industrial operation. 

Many of the small reactors without on-site refuelling described in this report take the cogeneration route to supply non-electric energy products. A few are dedicated reactors for either district heating, or hydrogen production. 

Although it is explicitly mentioned in conjunction with only two designs of small reactors described in this report — the SVBR-75/100 (ANNEX XIX) and the BN GT-300/100 (ANNEX XVIII), both coming from the Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE) of the Russian Federation — an option to use such reactors for the so-called renovation of decommissioned older power plants, i.e., after necessary checks, to use the remaining premises and infrastructure and balance of plant of these older plants to accommodate and plug-in certain number of small reactor modules for another decades of operation, should be mentioned as another market opportunity for small reactors without on-site refuelling. 

A country s economic development can be fuelled by energy input supplied from small reactors without on-site refuelling. But this economic development must first be enabled by creating an institutional infrastructure favourable to investment and enterprise. The rule of law, enforceable property rights and an independent judiciary, a favourable tax structure, a stable currency, etc. are examples of institutional prerequisites for economic development. 

Thirty specific concepts and designs of small reactors without on-site refuelling are presented in Annexes I through XXX of this report. While each one is unique in its technical approach, there are certain common business strategies that are either explicitly described by the designers or just implicitly match the proposed concepts. 

For small reactors without on-site refuelling, the observed common business strategy is to tailor the offering specifically to meet the needs of certain customers by providing a standardized turnkey plant that is ... 

The mentioned above special features of small reactors without on-site refuelling make them compatible with proposed future institutional means to centralize fuel cycle facilities at only a few locations worldwide. Moreover, item accountancy could be performed on entire cores during shipment and operation deployment of such reactors. 

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