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Draft:Kemmerer Power Station

  • Comment: The entire design section is unsourced. Please cite where you got this info. Tavantius (talk) 19:38, 19 October 2024 (UTC)
Kemmerer Power Station
Diagram Depicting Natrium Reactor Building Layout
Diagram Depicting Natrium Reactor Building Layout
Map
CountryUnited States
LocationKemmerer, WY
Coordinates41°42′21″N 110°33′38″W / 41.70583°N 110.56056°W / 41.70583; -110.56056
StatusUnder Construction
Construction began10 June 2024
OwnersUS SFR Owner, LLC (wholly owned subsidiary of TerraPower)
OperatorsUS SFR Owner, LLC
[edit on Wikidata]

Kemmerer Power Station is the first Natrium fission reactor designed and being built by TerraPower. TerraPower submitted its construction application on 28 March 2024.[1] Construction on Kemmer Power Station was commenced on 10 June 2024.[2] The station will have a nominal electrical power output of 345 MW with a maximum power output of 500 MW. This additional power will be provided by energy stored in the plant's molten nitrate salt thermal energy storage system similar to that of a concentrated solar power plant. The reactor will produce 840 MW of thermal power.[3]

Natrium derives its name from the Latin word for "sodium" which is used as the reactor's primary and intermediate coolant.

Design

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Kemmerer Power Station is divided into two distinct portions: the Nuclear Island and the Energy Island.[4] The Nuclear Island contains the Reactor Building, Reactor Aux Building, Fuel Handling Building, Fuel Aux Building, Nuclear Island Electric Modules, and Control Building. The Energy Island contains the Energy (Molten Salt) Storage Tanks, Steam Generation Building, Turbine Building, Cooling Towers, and Standby Diesel Generators.[5]

The power station utilizes a molten sodium, fast neutron spectrum reactor to generate heat. The initial fuel for the core is sodium-bonded uranium metal within a zirconium matrix clad in HT-9 steel.[6] The core is loaded in a hexagonal matrix consisting of fuel assemblies, reflector assemblies, shield assemblies, 13 control rod assemblies, and various other test and neutron source assemblies as needed for operation and testing.[7] Core outlet temperature at 100% power is 950 degrees Fahrenheit (510 degrees Celsius).[8]

Fission heat is transferred to the molten sodium coolant, which is circulated by two variable speed[9] primary sodium pumps (PSP) to two intermediate sodium heat exchangers (IHX). The reactor, sodium coolant, PSPs, and IHXs are contained inside the reactor vessel.[10] To prevent the sodium reaction with air, an argon cover gas is maintained above the free surface of the sodium below the reactor vessel head.[11] All penetrations into the reactor vessel are above the free surface of the primary sodium coolant.[10] The reactor vessel is located inside a guard vessel with argon filling the annulus between the vessels and level instrumentation to detect sodium leakage from the reactor vessel.[11]

Two independent secondary sodium loops circulate a secondary liquid sodium through an IHX, a sodium-air heat exchanger (AHX) in the Intermediate Air Cooling System (IAC), a sodium-salt heat exchanger (SHX), and a variable speed intermediate sodium pump (ISP). Each loop is functionally identical and remains separate from the other for redundancy.

The IAC consists of an AHX, a chimney structure, air blowers, dampers, and an air heater. It has three modes of operation: Active Mode, Blower Mode, and Passive Mode. In Active Mode, the loop's ISP provides forced circulation of sodium coolant, and the blower provides forced airflow across the AHXs. In Blower Mode, the intermediate sodium circulates by natural convection with blowers operating. In Passive Mode, both the intermediate sodium and air circulate by natural convection.

The intermediate sodium loop acquires heat from the primary coolant in the IHX. During normal shutdown and low power operations, heat is rejected to the environment by the IAC in Active Mode. As power rises, heat is transferred to the molten salt by the sodium-salt heat exchanger and heat rejection to the environment is reduced. Once heat is being removed from the intermediate sodium loop by only the sodium-salt heat exchanger, the plant is considered to be in High Power Operation.

Heat transferred from the sodium-salt heat exchanger in the intermediate sodium loop is received by the Nuclear Island Salt System. This salt is circulated to the Hot Salt Tank at the Energy Island. From there, the salt is circulated through Steam Generation to the Cold Salt Tank and then returned to the Nuclear Island Salt System to again be heated in the sodium-salt heat exchanger. The rate of transfer from the Hot Salt Tank through Steam Generation to the Cold Salt Tank does not need to match the rate of transfer from the Cold Salt Tank through the Nuclear Island to the Hot Salt Tank. This difference in flow rates enables the design to adjust electrical power while maintaining a constant reactor power.

Steam generated from the molten salt is provided to the main turbine generator, condensed from the turbine exhaust, and returned as feedwater to Steam Generation. Heat received by the circulating water in the condenser is rejected to the environment via cooling towers.

Decay heat generated while the reactor is shutdown is circulated by the PSPs at minimum speed or via natural circulation if the PSPs are unavailable. Heat is removed from the reactor vessel by the IAC. During normal conditions, the IAC operates in Active Mode. During off-normal conditions, IAC Blower Mode will remove decay heat. IAC Passive Mode is used for Emergency operation. Both trains of IAC are required to remove decay heat in Passive Mode. When IAC is not available for decay heat removal, the Reactor Air Cooling (RAC) system provides decay heat removal through natural convection with air. RAC is the system designated as the safety-related decay heat removal method. RAC remains in service continuously, and no operator action or system configuration changes are required to initiate cooling. Natural circulation of the sodium coolant will heat the walls of the reactor vessel which will transfer heat to the RAC via radiative cooling.

In the event of loss of power to the site, two Standby Diesel Generators automatically start to provide power to select plant loads for investment protection. There is no safety-related electrical distribution system for the plant. All safety-related functions are passive. While not required, IAC Active Mode is available with power from the Standby Diesel Generators.

Vendors

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On 3 October 2024, TerraPower announced the selection of Premier Technology, Inc. to design, test, fabricate, and deliver the IAC's AHX and Air Stack Structures & Equipment.[12]

Notes

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  1. ^ NRC Dockets KPS 2024.
  2. ^ Walton 2024.
  3. ^ KPS Application 2024.
  4. ^ KPS PSAR 2024, pp. 31–32.
  5. ^ KPS PSAR 2024, pp. 53.
  6. ^ KPS PSAR 2024, pp. 32.
  7. ^ KPS PSAR 2024, pp. 33, 1199–1202, 1206.
  8. ^ KPS PSAR 2024, pp. 1208.
  9. ^ KPS PSAR 2024, pp. 1255.
  10. ^ a b KPS PSAR 2024, pp. 33.
  11. ^ a b KPS PSAR 2024, pp. 34.
  12. ^ Premier Awarded Contract 2024.

References

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  • "NRC Dockets Construction Permit Application for TerraPower's Natrium Reactor". Washington, D.C. 2024-05-23. Retrieved 2024-09-22.
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