Nuclear Safety Standards Committee
Projects
and
Activities
st Meeting,
41IAEA
21 – 23 June,
2016
on SCWRs
– The Past Decade and Future Plan –
Agenda item
Title
The 8th International Symposium on
Super-Critical Water-cooled Reactors (ISSCWR-8)
Chengdu, China
13-15 March 2017
Name, Section - Division
Katsumi Yamada
Division of Nuclear Power
Department of Nuclear Energy
International Atomic Energy Agency
Contents
• Background and Objective
• Technical Features and R&D Needs of
SCWRs
• IAEA Projects and Activities on SCWRs:
– Coordinated Research Projects (CRPs);
– Technical Meetings (TMs);
– Training Courses; and
– Cooperation in International Meetings.
• Summary
ISSCWR-8, Chengdu, China 13-15 March 2017
IAEA Projects and Activities on SCWRs
2
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
3
Background
• It is one of the IAEA’s key functions “to foster the
exchange of scientific and technical information
on peaceful uses of atomic energy”.
• There has been a great interest in R&D and
conceptual design of SCWRs in a number of
IAEA Member States.
• The IAEA started its activities on SCWRs in
2006, and launched the 1st project in 2008.
• The IAEA has held several projects to facilitate
collaboration and information exchange among
Member States.
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IAEA Projects and Activities on SCWRs
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Objective
The objective of this presentation is to give an
overview of the IAEA projects and activities on
SCWRs, aiming at;
 introducing what the IAEA has done and is doing
to support SCWR technology development;
 receiving requests from Member States for the
IAEA future plan on SCWRs; and
 encouraging experts to join one or more of the
IAEA projects in future.
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TECHNICAL FEATURES AND
R&D NEEDS OF SCWRS
6
Technical Features of SCWRs
• The SCWR is a water-cooled reactor (WCR)
concept that uses water pressurized above its
critical pressure (i.e. 22.1 MPa) as reactor coolant.
• The core outlet coolant temperature is expected to
exceed 500°C.
• The thermal efficiency is around 1.3 times higher
than conventional WCRs.
• The primary system can be simplified compared
with conventional WCRs.
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IAEA Projects and Activities on SCWRs
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Pressure/Temperature Ranges of
Reactor Coolant
SCWR
PWR
Critical Point
(374℃/22.1MPa)
HWR
BWR
Vaporization Curve
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Primary System of SCWR
• Nuclear System
 Once-through reactor
like PWRs
• Turbine System
 Direct cycle like
BWRs
Main Steam Line
Turbine
Turbine-Generator
Reactor
Combination of
Simplest Systems
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IAEA Projects and Activities on SCWRs
Feedwater
Line
Cooling
Water
Line
9
Examples of SCWR Concepts
Existing technologies / Benefits / Challenges
Concept
Reactor Type
Neutron Spectrum
Moderator
Operation Press.
Core Outlet Temp.
Thermal Efficiency
Core Coolant
Core Flow Path
Canadian SCWR
SCWR-M
CSR 1000
HPLWR
Super FR
VVER-SCP
Pressure Tube Pressure Vessel Pressure Vessel Pressure Vessel Pressure Vessel Pressure Vessel
Thermal
Mixed
Thermal
Thermal
Fast
Fast
Heavy Water
Light Water
Light Water
Light Water
None
None
25 MPa
25 MPa
25 MPa
25 MPa
25 MPa
24.5 MPa
625 °C
510 °C
500 °C
500 °C
508 °C
540 °C
48%
44%
43.5%
43.5%
44%
43-45 %
Light Water
Light Water
Light Water
Light Water
Light Water
Light Water
Single
Double
Double
Triple
Double Single/Double
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Examples of SCWR Concepts
Existing technologies / Benefits / Challenges
Concept
Canadian SCWR
Reactor Type
Neutron Spectrum
Moderator
Operation Press.
Core Outlet Temp.
Thermal Efficiency
Core Coolant
Core Flow Path
SCWR-M
CSR 1000
HPLWR
Super FR
VVER-SCP
Pressure Tube Pressure Vessel Pressure Vessel Pressure Vessel Pressure Vessel Pressure Vessel
Thermal
Mixed
Thermal
Thermal
Fast
Fast
Heavy Water
Light Water
Light Water
Light Water
None
None
25 MPa
25 MPa
25 MPa
25 MPa
25 MPa
24.5 MPa
625 °C
510 °C
500 °C
500 °C
508 °C
540 °C
48%
44%
43.5%
43.5%
44%
43-45 %
Light Water
Light Water
Light Water
Light Water
Light Water
Light Water
Single
Double
Double
Triple
Double Single/Double
Flexible design options:
Pressure-vessel / Pressure-tube type
reactor
Thermal-spectrum / Fast-spectrum /
Mixed-spectrum core
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R&D Needs for SCWRs
SCWR development:
•
•
•
Conceptual design;
Performance & safety assessment;
etc.
Thermal-hydraulics
(T/H) of SCP fluids:
Materials and water
chemistry:
• Heat transfer;
• Flow instability;
• etc.
• etc.
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IAEA Projects and Activities on SCWRs
• In-core materials;
• Water chemistry;
12
IAEA PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES
ON SCWRS
13
Goal of IAEA Projects on SCWRs
The goal of the IAEA projects on SCWRs is to
facilitate technology development in Member
States mainly by:
 providing forums for researchers and engineers
to collaborate in R&D on SCWRs;
 promoting information exchange of advanced
technology for SCWR development; and
 educating newcomers who are interested in
science and technology of SCWRs.
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IAEA Frameworks to Support
Technology Development
• Coordinated Research Projects (CRPs)
– International projects to coordinate R&D on selected
topics of common interest in nuclear fields.
• Technical Meetings (TMs)
– Specialist meetings to collect and exchange technical
information on a specific topic and to explore or build
consensus.
• Training Courses
– Providing a comprehensive and up-to-date review of
the science and technology of a specific area.
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IAEA Projects and Activities on SCWRs
1) Coordinated Research Projects (CRPs):


“Heat Transfer Behaviour and Thermo-Hydraulics Code Testing for
SCWRs”, 2008-2012.
“Understanding and Prediction of Thermal-Hydraulics Phenomena
Relevant to SCWRs”, 2014-2018.
2) Technical Meetings (TMs):


“Heat Transfer, Thermal-Hydraulics and System Design for
SCWRs”, 2010 and 2016.
“Materials and Chemistry for SCWRs”, 2011, 2013 and 2016.
3) Training Courses:

“Science and Technology of SCWRs”, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016.
4) Cooperation in international symposia/meetings.
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Completed CRP on
Thermal-Hydraulics of SCWR
• Title: “Heat Transfer Behaviour and Thermo-hydraulics Code
Testing for SCWRs.
• Overall Objective:
– To support R&D efforts and information
exchange in the area of thermal-hydraulics
of SCWRs.
• Collaboration among 16 institutes from
10 Member States and 2 international
organizations; and
• An IAEA TECDOC published in
August 2014:
– A comprehensive and reliable database
for thermal-hydraulics of supercritical fluids.
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IAEA Projects and Activities on SCWRs
IAEA-TECDOC-1746
17
On-Going CRP on
Thermal-hydraulics of SCWRs
• Title: “Understanding and Prediction of Thermal-Hydraulics
Phenomena Relevant to SCWRs”.
• Overall objective:
– To improve the understanding of T/H phenomena and prediction
accuracy of T/H parameters related to SCWRs; and
– To benchmark numerical toolsets for SCWR T/H analyses.
• 12 Participating Institutes from 10 Member States and
OECD/NEA hosting the database for the CRP; and
• More applicationoriented than the
previous CRP.
2nd Research Coordination Meeting, Mumbai, India, 23-27 November 2015
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Expected Outcomes and Outputs
 Expected outcomes from the CRP are:
1) Improved understanding of SCWR thermal-hydraulic
phenomena;
2) Improved accuracy of SCWR thermal-hydraulic predictions;
3) Coordinated strategy for SCWR thermal-hydraulic R&D;
4) Enhanced interactions and cooperation among
participating institutes; and
5) Enhanced education and knowledge management.

Expected outputs are:
1) An IAEA TECDOC synthesizing the main results of the
CRP;
2) Joint papers in national/international scientific journals and
conferences; and
3) A thermal-hydraulics database.
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TM on Heat Transfer, Thermal-Hydraulics
and System Design for SCWRs
• The 1st TM was held at the University of Pisa, Pisa,
Italy, July 2010.
• The 2nd TM was hosted by the Government of the
UK through the University of Sheffield, August 2016:
– Attended by 24 nominated participants from 9 Member
States and 9 observers from the host organization;
– Followed by a specialists
meeting on heat transfer
and fluid dynamics at
supercritical pressure.
https://www.iaea.org/NuclearPower/Meetings/2016/2016-08-22-08-24-NPTDS.html
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Major Outcomes from the 2nd TM on
Thermal-Hydraulics for SCWRs
• Main efforts so far have been focusing on fundamental
research to understand thermal-hydraulics phenomena
of supercritical fluids, which is very important and
should be continued.
• To advance the concepts into the next phase of design
optimization, more information specific to the operating
conditions are necessary, and it’s now required to plan
and start more ‘realistic’ tests.
• Sub-channel and system analysis codes are being
developed as design and analysis tools, and
conventional CFD and DNS are being used to capture
the phenomena.
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TM on Materials and Chemistry
for SCWRs
• The 1st and 2nd TMs were held at and hosted by:
– JRC-EC, Petten, the Netherlands, July 2011; and
– NPIC/CNNC, Chengdu, China, July 2013.
• The 3rd TM was hosted by the Government of the
Czech Republic through
the Research Centre Řež,
October 2016:
– Attended by 19 participants
from 9 Member States and
2 international organizations.
https://www.iaea.org/NuclearPower/Meetings/2016/2016-10-10-10-14-NPTDS.html
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Major Outcomes from the 3rd TM on
Materials and Chemistry for SCWRs
• A lot of fundamental research has been done so far on
materials selection especially for fuel claddings, and
several candidate materials have been selected, but no
single alloy has been received enough study to ensure
its performance at or higher than 650°C.
• Some efforts have been done on materials modification
such as surface coating or shot peening in order to
enhance oxidation (corrosion) resistance.
• Few efforts have been done on materials improvement:
only one presentation was given on chemical
composition modification.
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Training Courses on
Science and Technology of SCWRs
• The 1st Training Course was organized by the IAEA jointly
with International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP),
Trieste, Italy, June 2011.
• The 2nd and 3rd Courses were organized
by the host organizations (universities)
in cooperation with IAEA:
– McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada,
July 2012; and
– Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU),
Shanghai, China, August 2013.
• The 4th Course was held at University
of Ontario Institute of Technology,
Oshawa, Canada, July 2016.
https://international.uoit.ca/international-office/partnerships-and-programs/scienceand-technology-of-supercritical-water-cooled-reactors-scwrs-conference.php
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Major Outcomes from the 4th Course on
Science and Technology of SCWRs
• Attended by 21 participants from 10 Member States,
who were very active and enthusiastic during the
lectures.
• A comprehensive and up-to-date review of SCWRs
provided, together with conventional WCR
technologies through comparison with the SCWR
technology.
• Favourable feedback
from participants.
Overall Assessment of the Course
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Cooperation in International
Symposia and Meetings on SCWRs
• The International Symposium on SCWRs:
–
–
–
–
ISSCWR-5, Vancouver, Canada, 13-16 March 2011.
ISSCWR-6, Shenzhen, China, 3-7 March 2013.
ISSCWR-7, Helsinki, Finland, 15-18 March 2015.
ISSCWR-8, Chengdu, China, 13-15 March 2017.
• GIF SCWR Information Exchange Meeting (IEM):
– SCWR IEM10, Budapest, Hungary, 28-29 February 2012.
– SCWR IEM11, Chengdu, China, 14-16 March 2016.
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TECDOC on Current R&D Status
• An IAEA TECDOC is under preparation to provide a
comprehensive and objective overview of SCWR R&D
based on the outcomes from the two TMs in 2016 and
other open literatures.
• Expected users are not only researchers and engineers
but also non-expert stakeholders.
• A Consultancy Meeting is going to be held in April 2017
to review and finalize the draft.
Volunteers for reviewers are welcomed!
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SUMMARY
28
IAEA Projects/Activities on SCWRs
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Thermal-Hydraulics (T/H)
Consultancy Meetings (CSs)
CS-1
RCMs
CRPs
TMs
CS-2
CS-3
CS-4
RCM-1 RCM-2 RCM-3 RCM-4 RCM-5
RCM-1 RCM-2
CRP-1
RCM-3 RCM-4
CRP-2
TM-1
TM-2
TM-3
CS
TECDOCs
TECDOC
TECDOC
TECDOC
Materials & Chemistry (M&C)
CSs
CS-1
TM-1
TMs
Training Courses (TCs)
CSs
TCs
Cooperation in int'l meetings
ISSCWRs
GIF/SCWR IEMs
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IAEA Projects and Activities on SCWRs
TM-2
TM-3
TC-3
TC-4
TM-4
CS-1
TC-1
TC-2
ISSCWR-5
ISSCWR-6
IEM-2012
ISSCWR-7
ISSCWR-8
IEM-2016
29
Summary
• The 1st decade has passed since the IAEA started
its activities on SCWRs in 2006.
• The IAEA has held so far:
 Two Coordinated Research Projects (CRPs) on ThermalHydraulics;
 Two Technical Meetings (TMs) on Thermal-Hydraulics;
 Three TMs on Materials and Chemistry; and
 Four Training Courses jointly with the host organizations.
• The IAEA will continue to facilitate fundamental
research and technology development for SCWRs
in Member States.
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Thank you for your attention!
e-mail: K.Yamada@iaea.org