Re fle c tio ns o n the MSRE E xpe rie nc e Mo lte n Salt Re ac - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Re fle c tio ns o n the MSRE E xpe rie nc e Mo lte n Salt Re ac to r Wo rksho p 2018 Syd Ball Re ac to r and Nuc le ar Syste ms Divisio n (re tire d) Oak Ridg e , T e nne sse e Oc to be r 3–4, 2018 ORNL is ma na g e d by UT -Ba tte lle , L L C fo r the US De pa rtme nt o f E ne rg y

I nspiratio n in 1957 • Why sho uld I mo ve to E ast T ennessee? • Alvin Weinberg’s visio n fo r peac eful uses o f nuc lear energy! 2

1950s analytic al c apabilities were mo dest ORNL Graphite Re ac to r “Data L o gge r” 3 3

ORACL E digital c o mputer: “State o f the art” 2k wo rd c o re memo ry (vac uum tubes) Speed o f ORNL ’s new Summit system: with speed ~14 kilo flo ps (40-to n a/ c ) ~200 petaflo ps (>10 trillio n times faster) 4 4

So ho w did it go fo r Alvin’s visio n? • T e c hno lo gy: L o ts o f pro gre ss! • Nuc le ar po we r: “L o ts” also , and “Gre at Po te ntial”! 5

We inbe rg’ s e arly go als fo r nuc le ar po we r: A so lutio n: E xplo re re ac to r Re duc e E duc atio n F luid fue l re ac to rs! c o nc e pt o ptio ns fo ssil fue l use fo r nuc le ar po we r Oak Ridg e Re so urc e de ple tio n “Ne w Pile s Safe ty Sc ho o l o f and po llutio n Co mmitte e ” impro ve me nts Re ac to r (o ve r L WRs): L ate r (1976): “Climate T e c hno lo g y (ORSORT ) No c o re me lt c hang e pro ble ms ac c ide nts! in 21st c e ntury” Hig he r te mpe rature s fo r g re ate r e ffic ie nc y: Gas turbine E xpand nuc le ar fue l re so urc e s: T ho rium fue l c yc le 6 6

Go o d reaso ns to reduc e fo ssil fuel use • Air po llutio n: “6 millio n e arly de aths pe r ye ar” (I nte rnatio nal E ne rgy Age nc y – I E A) • Re so urc e de ple tio n: F ue ls “go ne fo re ve r” 7 7

T o ugh jo b handling po llutio n fro m a c o al-fired plant! 8 8

!"#!"$ • ~Maste r’ s de g re e (Do c to r Of Pile E ng ine e ring ) • Admiral Ric ko ve r • “L abs” @ ORNL re ac to rs • “Butte rmilk re ac to r” • Missing : Unc o ve ring pro ble m with L NT (L ine ar No T hre sho ld) the o ry fo r he alth e ffe c ts due to radiatio n 9

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Ho mo ge ne o us Re ac to r T e st (HRT ) • Uranyl sulfate in he avy wate r: De mo nstrate stability, re liability, and safe ty • Pre c urso r to planne d ve rsio n with tho rium in the blanke t re gio n fo r U -233 pro duc tio n HRT c o re ve sse l 11 11 11

HRT sc a le mode l in c ontr ol r oom HRT ’ s Sanbo rn re c o rde r with Syd hiding in JF K : “Whic h pipe did the $5 millio n g o do wn? ” the c o rne r 12

“E arly” no ise analysis: Why HRT po we r fluc tuatio ns? • F ull-sc ale hydraulic mo c kup ve sse l, salt so lutio n, c o nduc tivity pro be • Signal to analo g c o mpute r (“ho me made ”) simulating ne utro nic s po we r and the rmal hydraulic s at vario us re ac to r po we r le ve ls • Go o d matc he s with re ac to r: Varying frac tio ns o f inle t fluid sho rt-c irc uiting c o re c hange s ave rage fue l re side nc e time * Po we r and o utle t te mpe rature * Oo o ps! no ise signals fro m mo de l and re ac to r we re similar 13 13 13

HRT R.I .P. • Middle o f the nig ht • Bo b Mo o re (Syd’ s I &C bo ss) g e ts pho ne c all fro m HRT o pe rato r: – “He y, Bo b, yo ur instrume nts are sc re wing up ag ain.” (…usual) • Bo b c he c ks it o ut: “I &C OK ” • Diag no sis: – So me uranium staye d in the c o re “to o lo ng ,” o ve rhe ate d, plate d o ut o n the c o re ve sse l, and burne d a ho le in it…. 14 14 14

Sho rtly afte r HRT : T he Mo lte n Salt Re ac to r E xpe rime nt (MSRE ) Pro je c t Yo ung Syd’ s Mo lte n salt MSRE majo r g o als MSRE ro le s • Gre at • Hig h te mpe rature • I &C (instrume ntatio n c he mic al (fo r e ffic ie nc y) and c o ntro ls) de sig n stability! • Passive safe ty • Dynamic analysis and e xpe rime nts • De mo nstrate re liable / pre dic table o pe ratio n • Ope rato r training simulato r • F e asibility as pre c urso r fo r tho rium fue l c yc le (o pe rate d with U-235 and U-233, but no t with tho rium) Re ac to r ve sse l (with he ate rs) 15 15 15

MSRE ’ s famo us air-c o o le d radiato r • 8 MW inste ad o f 10 MW – Oo ps h-c alc ulatio n • I ts te mpe rature s we re all F ahre nhe it MSRE air-c o o le d radiato r with its do o r o pe n 16

MSRE dynamic s Ho w we ll c an MSRE dynamic s be Re sults pre dic te d o ve r its full po we r range ? • I nhe re nt safe ty, stability, • Dynamic s we re we ll unde rsto o d – c o ntro llability full range o f po we r • L o w-po we r o sc illatio ns (pre dic te d) • I nhe re nt safe ty fe ature s we re c o nfirme d • Oppo rtunity: Case made fo r a de taile d study – the o ry and e xpe rime nt (with funding!) 17 17 17

PRBS c o ntro l ro d jo g g ing : I nput sig nal MSRE wa s fun! • Co nc e rn fo r dyna mic MSRE natural pe rio ds o f o sc illatio n: sta b ility: As po we r inc re ase s, o sc illatio ns are mo re dampe d, and at hig he r fre que nc ie s – F unding fo r Syd and T o m K e rlin – E xte nsive simulatio n pre dic tio ns fo r all po we r le ve ls – Co nfirmato ry te sts using pse udo -rando m binary se que nc e s (PRBS) ro d jo g inputs • Re sults: Bing o ! (a nd sta b le ) 18 18 18

Why the o sc illatio ns at lo w po wer? • Ne utro nic s: Critic al, ~0-po we r F re que nc y • T he rmal: ~Adiabatic re spo nse te sting, with ~0 air c o o lant flo w MSRE at 7.5 MW: Go o d unde r- in the salt-to -air c o o le d standing and radiato r c o nfirmatio n o f the pro c e ss • (E ac h ~ an “inte grato r” dynamic s with 90° phase shift) • Co uple d: 180° phase shift = “o sc illato r” 19 19 19

PRBS te st e xc ite me nt • Da rk a nd sto rmy nig ht • PRBS a t-po we r te sting running smo o thly • Ro d “jo g g e r” stic ks in “withdra wn” po sitio n • Po we r le ve l rise s, e xc e e ds “ma ximum” (hig he st e ve r!) • Po we r de c re a se s (to no rma l) o n its o wn • E xpe rime nte rs (T o m K e rlin a nd Syd) re c o rd e ve nt, g o ho me • Ne xt da y: “No ne e d to file a n inc ide nt re po rt” – [ T ha nks, Dic k E ng e l ] 20 20 20

Wo rld’s c heapest reac to r training simulato r fo r pre-o peratio n o perato r training MSRE c o ntro l pane l was po we re d by two T R-10 analo g c o mpute rs 21 21 21

MSRE : I nsights fo r c urre nt MSR de ve lo pme nt Co ntributo rs to suc c e ss Pro ble ms • Pro je c t e ntire ly at ORNL (no t split be twe e n siste r labs) • Une xpe c te d c o rro sio n pro ble ms • I nspiratio nal le ade rship and manag e me nt (late r re so lve d) (and limite d bure auc rac y) • F unding c ut fo r future • Clo se c o llabo ratio n be twe e n disc ipline s (te amwo rk) MSR “bre e de r” de sig ns (AE C shift to • E xc e ptio nal nuc le ar-c he mic al and inno vative liquid me tal fast mainte nanc e e ng ine e rs bre e de r) • Ope ratio n and e xpe rime nts c o nfirme d pre dic tio ns • I nsuffic ie nt funding ve ry we ll fo r “mo thballing ” • Co nsiste nt (and ade quate ) funding (while it laste d) le d to majo r c le anup c o st … late r • E ve ryo ne wo rking o n it ENJO YED it! 22 22 22

Alvin We inbe rg With Gle nn Se abo rg MSRE strip c hart His table Dic k E ng e l with Gle nn Re naissanc e man as we ll as sc ie ntist and L ab dire c to r: Pianist, te nnis playe r, and a te rro r at Divisio n I nfo rmatio n Me e tings 23 23 23

Alvin Weinberg o n tac kling c o mplex pro blems I n basic researc h the strength o f labo rato ries like ORNL lies in the inter disciplinar y c o mpo sitio n o f their staffs. Over and o ver again it has been demo nstrated that the who le c an be greater than the sum o f its parts, that go o d peo ple fro m diverse fields wo rking to gether c an make majo r sc ientific disc o veries that are denied geniuses wo rking in iso latio n. Co herenc e is perhaps even mo re impo rtant in c arrying o ut applied researc h. Many o f the large jo bs we are no w undertaking at ORNL —the breeder reac to r, c ivil defense, desalinatio n, and the agro -industrial c o mplex as an instrument fo r develo pment o f the wo rld's hungry natio ns—these invo lve numero us tec hno lo gies and viewpo ints, so me fro m the natural sc ienc es, so me fro m the so c ial sc ienc es, so me even fro m the arena o f public affairs. T he key to suc c essful attac ks o n these c o mplex questio ns is the existenc e o f c o herent teams wo rking aggressively and with enthusiasm. Re vie w, Vo l. 1, No . 1, 1967 ORNL 24 24 24

T ha nks fo r yo ur a tte ntio n! 25