MYRRHA: Preliminary front-end engineering design (original) (raw)
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MYRRHA: A multipurpose nuclear research facility
EPJ Web of Conferences, 2014
MYRRHA (Multi-purpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech Applications) is a multipurpose research facility currently being developed at SCK•CEN. MYRRHA is based on the ADS (Accelerator Driven System) concept where a proton accelerator, a spallation target and a subcritical reactor are coupled. MYRRHA will demonstrate the ADS full concept by coupling these three components at a reasonable power level to allow operation feedback. As a flexible irradiation facility, the MYRRHA research facility will be able to work in both critical as subcritical modes. In this way, MYRRHA will allow fuel developments for innovative reactor systems, material developments for GEN IV and fusion reactors, and radioisotope production for medical and industrial applications. MYRRHA will be cooled by lead-bismuth eutectic and will play an important role in the development of the Pb-alloys technology needed for the LFR (Lead Fast Reactor) GEN IV concept. MYRRHA will also contribute to the study of partitioning and transmutation of highlevel waste. Transmutation of minor actinides (MA) can be completed in an efficient way in fast neutron spectrum facilities, so both critical reactors and subcritical ADS are potential candidates as dedicated transmutation systems. However critical reactors heavily loaded with fuel containing large amounts of MA pose reactivity control problems, and thus safety problems. A subcritical ADS operates in a flexible and safe manner, even with a core loading containing a high amount of MA leading to a high transmutation rate. In this paper, the most recent developments in the design of the MYRRHA facility are presented.
The MYRRHA ADS Project in Belgium Enters the Front End Engineering Phase
Physics Procedia, 2015
The MYRRHA project started in 1998 by SCK•CEN. MYRRHA is a MTR, based on the ADS concept, for material and fuel research, for studying the feasibility of transmutation of Minor Actinides and Long-Lived Fission Products arising from radioactive waste reprocessing and finally for demonstrating at a reasonable power scale the principle of the ADS. The MYRRHA design has progressed through various framework programmes of the European Commission in the context of Partitioning and Transmutation. The design has now entered into the Front End Engineering Phase (FEED) covering the period 2012-2015. The engineering company, which will handle this phase, has been selected and the works have begun in the late 2013. In the mean time we have made some refinements in both primary systems and plant layout, including reactor building design. In this paper, we present the most recent developments of the MYRRHA design in terms of reactor building and plant layout as existing today as well as a preliminary study concerning the spent fuel building of the facility. During the oral presentation we add some preliminary results of the interaction with the FEED contractor and the most recent version of the primary systems.
Fuel design for the experimental ADS MYRRHA
Since 1997, the Belgian nuclear research Centre SCK • CEN, in partnership with IBA S.A and many European research laboratories, has being designed a multipurpose experimental Accelerator Driven System (ADS) called MYRRHA. This ADS is aiming to serve as a basis for the European experimental facility to study feasibility of MA transmutation in fast spectrum. In a first stage, the project mainly focuses on demonstration of the ADS concept, safety research on sub-critical systems and nuclear waste transmutation studies. In a later stage, it will also be applied for research of structural materials, nuclear fuel, liquid metal technology. Subsequently, it will be used as fast spectrum irradiation facility and as radioisotope production facility. One of the most important parts of the MYRRHA project is the design of sub-critical core, fuel assembly and fuel rod. The main results obtained in this part of the project are presented in this article. The first estimates concerning the replaceme...
Pre-design of MYRRHA, A Multipurpose Accelerator Driven System for Research and Development
AIP Conference Proceedings, 2003
One of the main SCK•CEN research facility, namely BR2, is nowadays arriving at an age of 40 years just like the major materials testing reactors (MTR) in the world and in Europe (i.e. BR2 (B-Mol), HFR (EU-Petten), OSIRIS (F-Saclay), R2 (S-Studsvik)). The MYRRHA facility in planning has been conceived as potentially replacing BR2 and to be a fast spectrum facility complementary to the thermal spectrum RJH (Réacteur Jules Horowitz) facility, in planning in France. This situation would give Europe a full research capability in terms of nuclear R&D. Furthermore, the disposal of radioactive wastes resulting from industrial nuclear energy production has still to find a fully satisfactory solution, especially in terms of environmental and social acceptability. Scientists are looking for ways to drastically reduce (by a factor of 100 or more) the radio-toxicity of the High Level Waste (HLW) to be stored in a deep geological repository. This can be achieved via burning of minor actinides (MA) and to a less extent of long-lived fission products (LLFP) in Accelerator Driven Systems. The MYRRHA project contribution will be in helping to demonstrate the ADS concept at reasonable power level and the demonstration of the technological feasibility of MA and LLFP transmutation under real conditions.
From MYRRHA to XT-ADSDevelopment of Pb-Bi cooled ADS and Perspective of Implementation in Europe
nss.si
The MYRRHA project started in 1998 by SCK•CEN in collaboration with Ion Beam Applications (IBA, Louvain-la-Neuve), as an upgrade of the ADONIS project. MYRRHA is designed as a multipurpose irradiation facility in order to support research programmes on fission and fusion reactor structural materials and nuclear fuel development. Applications of these are found in Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS) systems and in present generation as well as in next generation critical reactors. The first objective of MYRRHA however, will be to demonstrate on one hand the ADS concept at a reasonable power level and on the other hand the technological feasibility of transmutation of Minor Actinides (MA) and Long-Lived Fission Products (LLFP) arising from the reprocessing of high-level, heat-emitting radioactive waste (HLW). MYRRHA will also help the development of the Pb-alloys technology needed for the LFR (Lead Fast Reactor) Gen.IV concept. Transmutation of MA can be completed in an efficient way in fast neutron spectrum facilities. Both critical reactors and sub-critical ADS are potential candidates as dedicated transmutation systems. However, critical reactors, heavily loaded with fuel containing large amounts of MA, pose safety problems caused by unfavourable reactivity coefficients and small delayed neutron fraction. Recent MCNP burn-up calculations show that critical fast reactors with a homogeneous burning of up to 0.5% MA can also be operated safely by using thermalising rods (such as Be) to soften the spectrum. A sub-critical ADS operates in a flexible and safe manner even with a core loading containing a high amount of MA leading to a high transmutation rate. Besides the reduction of the HLW burden, the MYRRHA project will serve the purpose of developing the lead alloys technology as a reactor coolant that can be used in one of the Generation IV reactor concepts namely the LFR. This project will trigger the development of various innovative technologies and techniques that are of interest for various nuclear fission and fusion applications. Some of them are described in the paper.
Wastes Management Through Transmutation in an ADS Reactor
Science and Technology of Nuclear Installations, 2008
The main challenge in nuclear fuel cycle closure is the reduction of the potential radiotoxicity, or of the time in which that possible hazard really exists. Probably, the transmutation of minor actinides with fast fission processes is the most effective answer. This work, performed in (Belgium) and DIMNP Pisa University, is focused on preliminary evaluation of industrial scale ADS (400 MWth, 2.5 mA) burning capability. An inert matrix fuel of minor actinides, 50% vol. MgO and 50% vol. (Pu,Np,Am,Cm), core content, with 150 GWd/ton discharge burn up, is used. The calculations were performed using ALEPH-1.1.2, MCNPX-2.5.0, and ORIGEN2.2. codes.
Nuclear Engineering and Design, 2022
Neutronics calculations have been performed of the MYRRHA ADS Reactor with a thorium-based fuel mixture, using the simulation programs MCNPX [1] and Geant4 [2]. Thorium is often considered for ADS systems, and this is the first evaluation of the possibilities for thorium based fuels using a reactor design which has been developed in detail. It also extends the application of the widely-used Geant4 program to the geometry of MYRRHA and to thorium. An asymptotic 232 Th/ 233 U mixture is considered, together with the standard MOX fuel and a possible 232 Th/MOX starter. Neutron fluxes and spectra are calculated at several regions in the core: fuel cells, IPS cells and the two (Mo and Ac) isotope production cells. These are then used for simple calculations of the fuel evolution and of the potential for the incineration of minor actinide waste. Results from the two programs agree and support each other and show that the thorium fuel is viable, and has good evolution/breeding properties, and that minor actinide incineration, though it will not take place on a significant scale, will be demonstrable.