The Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory recently announced further cooperation with the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute to develop a new Generation IV sodium-cooled fast reactor. With an eye toward Korean design approval by the end of 2020, KAERI and Argonne are developing the reactor system, while KEPCO E&C is designing the balance of the 150 megawatt plant.
Nuclear Street recently had the opportunity to ask Argonne Distinguished Fellow Yoon Il Chang a few questions about the project:
Nuclear Street: Tell me how Argonne fits into the development team. What types of research and engineering will the lab contribute to the project?
Chang: Argonne has a long history in fast reactor technology development and still maintains a cadre of engineers with fast reactor design capability. During the conceptual design phase, KAERI and Argonne engineers worked together as a team to come up with an optimized design through various tradeoff studies. During the preliminary design phase, the Argonne tasks are associated with specific design developments, such as plant control system, electromagnetic pump design and other subsystems to augment KAERI’s capabilities. Argonne will also support KAERI in the safety analysis and support the licensing process by the Korean regulatory authority. Argonne may also conduct the component validation tests in its sodium-loop test facilities if required during the licensing process.
How much of the design will the Prototype Generation-IV Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (PGSFR) share with earlier sodium-cooled reactors developed by DOE, such as EBR-2 and IFR?
Chang: There are several fast reactors in operation or under construction around the world, all based on traditional technologies associated with oxide fuel and aqueous reprocessing. PGSFR is the first reactor planned to be constructed that will fully use the technologies developed in EBR-II and IFR. In particular, PGSFR will use metal fuel in order to capitalize on its potential for inherent safety. The inherent safety potential of metal fuel was demonstrated in the landmark tests conducted on EBR-II in April 1986.
Are there any particular technological advancements that you feel make sodium-cooled reactors more attractive today than they were during earlier development of fast reactors?
Chang: Metal fuel and pyroprocessing are particularly important technological advances. In addition, incorporating lessons learned from the past makes the new designs more attractive. Nevertheless, fast reactors are for longer-term deployment; in the near term, advanced LWRs will have to be constructed to meet electricity demand growth. However, a near-term demonstration of the technology, such as PGSFR, is imperative in order to establish a technological path forward to transmute long-lived-transuranic elements (or actinides) accumulating in the LWR spent fuels.
Tell me about KAERI's broader goals for this prototype. For example, is this technology envisioned as a step toward a closed fuel cycle in Korea?
Chang: Korea has 23 commercial reactors in operation and five reactors under construction today. In addition, they are constructing four reactors in United Arab Emirates. They are approaching a pinch point on spent fuel storage. They are proceeding with a plan for central interim storage, but at the same time they are considering PGSFR to demonstrate actinide burning as a longer-term option.