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

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

Jun 18, 2023 11 likes •265 views

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 34, 2018 ORNL is ma na g e d by UT -Ba tte lle

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SLIDE 1

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

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

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SLIDE 2

2

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!

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SLIDE 3

3 3

ORNL Graphite Re ac to r “Data L

  • gge r”

1950s analytic al c apabilities were mo dest

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SLIDE 4

4 4

ORACL E digital c o mputer: “State o f the art”

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

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SLIDE 5

5

So ho w did it go fo r Alvin’s visio n?

  • T

e c hno lo gy: L

  • ts o f pro gre ss!
  • Nuc le ar po we r:

“L

  • ts” also , and

“Gre at Po te ntial”!

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SLIDE 6

6 6

We inbe rg’ s e arly go als fo r nuc le ar po we r:

Safe ty impro ve me nts (o ve r L WRs): No c o re me lt ac c ide nts! 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 “Ne w Pile s Co mmitte e ” Re so urc e de ple tio n and po llutio n L ate r (1976): “Climate c hang e pro ble ms in 21st c e ntury” Oak Ridg e Sc ho o l o f Re ac to r T e c hno lo g y (ORSORT ) A so lutio n: F luid fue l re ac to rs! E xplo re re ac to r c o nc e pt o ptio ns Re duc e fo ssil fue l use E duc atio n fo r nuc le ar po we r

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SLIDE 7

7 7

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”

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SLIDE 8

8 8

T

  • ugh jo b

handling po llutio n fro m a c o al-fired plant!

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SLIDE 9

9

!"#!"$

  • ~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

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SLIDE 10

10 10 10

!"#$%&'()*% +,--.(/%0.(% 12"3%0),45%0,6)% (6'7/.(% 5686).-96:/%%%%% ;-(6<6/=47+% 7.994//66+> 12"3%0),45%0,6)% 5686).-96:/%%%%%

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SLIDE 11

11 11 11

HRT c o re ve sse l

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
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SLIDE 12

12

HRT sc a le mode l in c ontr

  • l r
  • om

HRT ’ s Sanbo rn re c o rde r with Syd hiding in the c o rne r

JF K : “Whic h pipe did the $5 millio n g o do wn? ”

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SLIDE 13

13 13 13

“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 * * Oo o ps!

Po we r and o utle t te mpe rature no ise signals fro m mo de l and re ac to r we re similar

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SLIDE 14

14 14 14

  • 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

  • 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….

HRT R.I .P.

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SLIDE 15

15 15 15

Re ac to r ve sse l (with he ate rs)

Sho rtly afte r HRT : T he Mo lte n Salt Re ac to r E xpe rime nt (MSRE ) Pro je c t

Mo lte n salt

  • Gre at

c he mic al stability! MSRE majo r g o als

  • Hig h te mpe rature

(fo r e ffic ie nc y)

  • Passive safe ty
  • De mo nstrate re liable /

pre dic table o pe ratio n

  • 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) Yo ung Syd’ s MSRE ro le s

  • I

&C (instrume ntatio n and c o ntro ls) de sig n

  • Dynamic analysis

and e xpe rime nts

  • Ope rato r training

simulato r

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SLIDE 16

16

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

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SLIDE 17

17 17 17

MSRE dynamic s

Ho w we ll c an MSRE dynamic s be pre dic te d o ve r its full po we r range ?

  • I

nhe re nt safe ty, stability, c o ntro llability

  • L
  • w-po we r o sc illatio ns (pre dic te d)
  • Oppo rtunity: Case made

fo r a de taile d study – the o ry and e xpe rime nt (with funding!) Re sults

  • Dynamic s we re we ll unde rsto o d –

full range o f po we r

  • I

nhe re nt safe ty fe ature s we re c o nfirme d

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SLIDE 18

18 18 18

MSRE natural pe rio ds o f o sc illatio n: 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

MSRE wa s fun!

  • Co nc e rn fo r dyna mic

sta b ility:

– F

unding fo r Syd and T

  • 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 )

PRBS c o ntro l ro d jo g g ing : I nput sig nal

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SLIDE 19

19 19 19

  • Ne utro nic s:

Critic al, ~0-po we r

  • T

he rmal: ~Adiabatic with ~0 air c o o lant flo w in the salt-to -air c o o le d radiato r

  • (E

ac h ~ an “inte grato r” with 90° phase shift)

  • Co uple d: 180° phase

shift = “o sc illato r”

Why the o sc illatio ns at lo w po wer?

F re que nc y re spo nse te sting, MSRE at 7.5 MW: Go o d unde r- standing and c o nfirmatio n

  • f the pro c e ss

dynamic s

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SLIDE 20

20 20 20

  • 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

  • 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 ]

PRBS te st e xc ite me nt

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SLIDE 21

21 21 21

MSRE c o ntro l pane l was po we re d by two T R-10 analo g c o mpute rs

Wo rld’s c heapest reac to r training simulato r fo r pre-o peratio n o perato r training

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SLIDE 22

22 22 22

MSRE : I nsights fo r c urre nt MSR de ve lo pme nt

  • Pro je c t e ntire ly at ORNL

(no t split be twe e n siste r labs)

  • I

nspiratio nal le ade rship and manag e me nt (and limite d bure auc rac y)

  • Clo se c o llabo ratio n be twe e n disc ipline s (te amwo rk)
  • E

xc e ptio nal nuc le ar-c he mic al and inno vative mainte nanc e e ng ine e rs

  • Ope ratio n and e xpe rime nts c o nfirme d pre dic tio ns

ve ry we ll

  • Co nsiste nt (and ade quate ) funding (while it laste d)
  • E

ve ryo ne wo rking o n it ENJO YED it! Co ntributo rs to suc c e ss Pro ble ms

  • Une xpe c te d

c o rro sio n pro ble ms (late r re so lve d)

  • F

unding c ut fo r future MSR “bre e de r” de sig ns (AE C shift to liquid me tal fast bre e de r)

  • I

nsuffic ie nt funding fo r “mo thballing ” le d to majo r c le anup c o st … late r

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SLIDE 23

23 23 23

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

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SLIDE 24

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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

  • 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.

Alvin Weinberg o n tac kling c o mplex pro blems

ORNL Re vie w, Vo l. 1, No . 1, 1967

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SLIDE 25

25

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