TERM PAPER

CHE-101

Topic :- “fast breeder reaction”

DOA: 01/09/10
DOR: 21/09/10
DOS: 16/11/10

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

MR. SREEKANTH S. BHWARE Mr.:-PANKAJ PANDEY
Deptt. Of chemistry, Roll no :- B36
Reg. No:-11007342
Section:-F6003
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I take this opportunity to present my votes of thanks to all those guidepost who
really acted as lightening pillars to enlighten our way throughout this project that
has led to successful and satisfactory completion of this study.
We are highly thankful to BHAWARE SIR for her active support, valuable time and
advice, whole-hearted guidance, sincere cooperation and pains-taking involvement
during the study and in completing the assignment of preparing the said project
within the time stipulated.
Lastly, We are thankful to all those, particularly the various friends , who have been
instrumental in creating proper, healthy and conductive environment and including
new and fresh innovative ideas for us during the project, their help, it would have
been extremely difficult for us to prepare the project in a time bound framework.

PANKAJ KUMAR PANDEY

TABLE OF CONTENT
Contents

1 Technical
2 FBR generating plants
3.1 Future plants
4. Economics
5. Proliferation
6. Associated reactor types
7. Plant layout
8. MAIN HEAT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS

l 7 External links

Fast breeder
The fast breeder or fast breeder reactor (FBR) is a type of fast neutron reactor that
produces more fissile material than it consumes. The FBR is one possible type of
breeder reactor. As announced thus far, uranium-238 has been used as the substrate.
Alternative fast and thermal breeder reactors are possible using thorium. Because
India has large thorium reserves, it is aggressively pursuing development of the
thorium-based fuel cycle. A fast neutron reactor, commonly called simply fast reactor,
is a nuclear reactor design that uses no moderator but instead relies on fast neutrons to
sustain its chain reaction. Achieving this requires high grade fuel such as enriched
uranium or plutonium, but once this has been provided for the initial startup the reactor
produces its own fuel and a surplus that can then be used to start other FBRs, hence the
concept of a breeder.
Technical :-
Schematic diagram showing the operation of the DFR, a liquid-sodium cooled FBR.
Note the breeder blanket of U around the fissile core of Pu, the lack of a
neutronslowing
moderator and the two-stage Na coolant loops.
FBRs usually use a mixed oxide fuel core of up to 20% plutonium dioxide (PuO2) and
at least 80% uranium dioxide (UO2). The plutonium used can be from reprocessed civil
or dismantled nuclear weapons sources. Surrounding the reactor core is a blanket of
tubes containing non-fissile uranium-238 which, by capturing fast neutrons from the
reaction in the core, is partially converted to fissile plutonium 239 (as is some of the
uranium in the core), which can then be reprocessed for use as nuclear fuel. There is no
moderator as this would slow the neutrons leaving the core. Early FBRs used metallic
fuel, either highly enriched uranium or plutonium.
Fast reactors typically use liquid metal as the primary coolant, to cool the core and heat
the water used to power the electricity generating turbines. Sodium is the normal
coolant for large power stations, but lead and NaK have both been used successfully for
smaller generating rigs. Some early FBRs used mercury. One advantage of mercury and
NaK is that they are both liquids at room temperature, which is convenient for
experimental rigs but less important for pilot or full scale power stations. Liquid
sodium leaving the core will contain radioactive sodium 24. Water cannot be used as
the primary coolant since it would act as a moderator, however a heavy water
moderated thermal breeder reactor using thorium to produce uranium-233 is
theoretically possible, see
below.
FBR generating plants:-
FBRs have been built and operated in the USA, the UK, France, the former USSR,
India and Japan. One of the plants in the USSR was also previously used for
desalination in addition to power generation. As of 2004, a prototype FBR was under
construction in China, while another experimental FBR in Germany
was built but never operated. On December 20, 1951, the fast reactor EBR-I
(Experimental Breeder Reactor-1) at the Idaho National Engineering and
Environmental Laboratory in Idaho Falls, Idaho produced enough electricity to power
four light bulbs, and the next day produced enough power to run the entire EBR-I
building. This was a milestone in the development of nuclear power reactors.
The next generation experimental breeder was EBR-II (Experimental Breeder Reactor-
2), which went into service at the INEEL in 1964 and operated until 1994. It was
designed to be an "integral" nuclear plant, equipped to handle fuel recycling onsite. It
typically operated at 20 megawatts out of its 62.5 megawatt maximum design power,
and provided the bulk of heat and electricity to the surrounding facilities.
Another early FBR was the experimental Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR) which started
operating in 1959 at Dounreay, Scotland, using a sodium-potassium coolant, and
producing 14MW of electricity. This was followed by a larger 250 MW Prototype Fast
Reactor (PFR) on the same site in the 1970s until it was closed down in 1994 as the
British government withdrew major financial support for nuclear energy
development (DFR having previously been closed). The world's first commercial
liquid-metal-cooled FBR, and the only such plant in the US, was the 200
megawatt Enrico Fermi Atomic Power Plant, commonly known as "Fermi 1." Designed
in a joint effort between Dow Chemical and Detroit Edison as part of the Atomic Power
Development Association
consortium, groundbreaking in Lagoona Beach, Michigan (near Monroe, Michigan)
took place in 1956. The plant went into operation in 1963. It shut down on October 5,
1966 due to high temperatures caused by a loose piece of zirconium which was
blocking the molten sodium coolant nozzles. Partial melting damage to six
subassemblies within the core was eventually found. (This incident was the basis for a
controversial book by investigative reporter John G. Fuller titled We Almost Lost
Detroit.) The zirconium blockage was removed in April of 1968, and the plant was
ready to resume operation by May of 1970, but a sodium coolant fire delayed its restart
until July. It subsequently ran until August of 1972
when its operating license renewal was denied.
The largest fast breeder reactor to date, Superphénix, entered service in France in 1984,
producing 1,200 MW of electricity, and used a liquid sodium heat transfer medium. Its
predecessor, Phénix is currently the centre of work on destruction of nuclear waste by
transmutation. However, Superphénix was shut down in 1997 due to high costs of
operation, and various incidents; the liquid sodium cooling system
proved largely unwieldy. Superphénix was also the focus point of various groups
hostile to nuclear energy. The Soviet Union constructed a series of fast reactors, the
first being mercury cooled and fueled with plutonium metal, and the later plants sodium
cooled and fueled with plutonium oxide. BN-350 on the Caspian Sea produced 130
MWe plus 80,000 metric tons of fresh water per day. BN-600 commenced operation in
1980 and produced 600 MWe. Plans for larger plants were cancelled by the breakup of
the
Soviet Union. The BN-600 (Beloyarsk NNP in the town of Zarechny, Sverdlovsk
Oblast) is still operational. A second reactor (BN-800) is scheduled to be constructed
before 2015 [1]. On December 8, 1995 the 300 MWe Monju reactor in Japan was put
out of service after a sodium leak. The reactor has received approval to restart, which
is planned for 2008.
Future plants :-
As of 2003 one FBR was planned for India, and another for China using Soviet
technology. South Korea is developing a design for a standardised modular FBR for
export, to complement the standardised PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) and
CANDU designs they have already developed and built, but has not yet committed to
building a prototype. The FBR program of India includes the concept of using fertile
thorium-232 to breed fissile uranium- 233. India is also pursuing the thermal breeder
reactor again using thorium. A thermal breeder is not possible with purely
uranium/plutonium based technology. Thorium fuel is the strategic direction of
thepower program of India, owing to their large reserves of thorium, but worldwide
known reserves of
thorium are also some three times those of uranium.
Economics :-
The breeding of plutonium fuel in FBRs, known as the plutonium economy, was for a
time believed to be the future of nuclear power. It remains the strategic direction of the
power program of Japan.
However cheap supplies of uranium and especially of enriched uranium have made
current FBR technology uncompetitive with PWR and other thermal reactor designs.
PWR designs remain the most
common existing power reactor type and also represent most current proposals for new
nuclear power stations.

Proliferation:-
It is generally agreed that—if designed incorrectly—the FBR poses a greater risk of
proliferation of nuclear weapons than the PWR. Unlike a PWR, an FBR can in theory
produce weapons grade material.
However, to date all known weapons programs have used far more easily built thermal
reactors to produce plutonium, and there are some designs such as the SSTAR which
avoid proliferation risks by both producing low amounts of plutonium at any given time
from the U-238, and by producing three different isotopes of plutonium (Pu-239, Pu-
240, and Pu-242) making the plutonium used infeasible for atomic bomb use (dirty
bomb use still being a possibility, although ordinary high-level radiation waste
can be used for this purpose as well). Thorium reactors may pose a slightly higher
proliferation risk than Uranium based reactors, if improperly operated. The reason for
this is that Pu-239 will fairly often fail to fission up on neutron capture, producing Pu-
240, which contaminates the fuel, making it difficult to use in nuclear weapons.
Thorium 232, however, converts to U-233, which will almost always fission
successfully, meaning that there will be very little U-234, or higher actinides mixed
with the reactor's thorium/U-233 breeder blanket, and the resulting pure U-233 will be
comparatively easy to extract and use for weapons. Uranium-238 can be mixed with
this blanket to make the resulting material less useful for weapons purposes (as then the
U-233 would require isotopic separation), so properly operated, a thorium reactor
should be less suceptable to proliferation.
Associated reactor types :-
One design of fast neutron reactor, specifically designed to address the waste disposal
and plutonium issues, was the Integral Fast Reactor (a.k.a. Integral Fast Breeder
Reactor, although the original reactor was designed to not breed a net surplus of fissile
material) .
To solve the waste disposal problem, the IFR had an on-site electrowinning fuel
reprocessing unit that recycled the uranium and all the transuranics (not just plutonium)
via electroplating, leaving just short half-life fission products in the waste. Some of
these fission products could later be separated for industrial or medical uses and the rest
sent to a waste repository (where they would not have to be stored
for anywhere near as long as wastes containing long half-life transuranics). It is thought
that it would not be possible to divert fuel from this reactor to make bombs, as several
of the transuranics spontaneously fission so rapidly that any assembly would melt
before it could be completed. The project was canceled in 1994, at the behest of then-
Secretary of Energy Hazel O'Leary
plant layout:-
The plant layout is evolved on the basis of а single unit . The reactor assembly, primary
sodium purification, primary argon cover gas system including its tanks & cover gas
purification and decontamination facility are housed in а rectangular RCB. Each of the
two steam generator buildings (SGB) houses 4 SG and associated components and
piping. The RCB, SGB & FB are connected and laid on а common base raft
from safety considerations of minimizing differential movement in piping and also to
facilitate satisfactoryworking of IFTM . In addition, control building, two electrical
buildings and radwaste building are also laid on the common raft and connected to
form а nuclear island, to reduce the magnitude of structural response
under seismic loads and length of cables . The elevation of the raft is +12 m for RCB &
SGB and +14 m for the other buildings of nuclear island from functional, economic
and seismic considerations (Finished floor elevation is + 30 m). А service building is
provided to cater to the needs of plant services . The turbine building is located such
that the turbine missile trajectory is outside the safety related buildings . The
finished floor levels of all safety related structures are above the design basis flood
(DBF) level estimated for 1000 у return period. The finished floor levels of non-safety
related structures is based on DBF level of 100 у and these structures are located 1 .5
m lower than the safety related structures from cost considerations . The diesel
generators are housed in two separate safety, related buildings. А 100 m tall stack is
located close to the radwaste building.
MAIN HEAT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS:-
Liquid sodium at 670 К (397°С) is circulated by two primary sodium pumps through
the core and in turn gets heated to 820 К (547°С). The hot primary sodium is
radioactive and is not used directly to produce steam, but transfers the heat to
secondary sodium through four IHX. The non radioactive secondary sodium is
circulated through two independent secondary loops, each having а sodium pump, two
IHX and
four SG . The choice of 4 SG/loop is based on capital cost and operation with 3 SG in
the affected loop in case of а leak in SG . The primary and secondary pumps are
vertical, single stage and single suction centrifugal type, with variable speed AC drives
and flywheels provided, to meet the flow coast down requirements of 8 s and 4 s
respectively. An AC pony motor of 30 kW rating is additionally provided for
each of the primary pumps . The SG is а once through integrated type with use of
straight tubes and an expansion bend in each tube . Decay heat removal under normal
conditions is done using the operation grade decay heat removal system (OGDHRS) of
maximum 20 MWt capacity in the steam water system. In case of off-site power failure
or non-availability of steam-water system, the decay heat is removed by passive safety
grade decay heat removal (SGDHR) circuit consisting of four independent loops. Each
SGDHR loop is rated for 8 MW and consists of а dip heat exchanger (DНХ) immersed
in the hot pool, one sodium/air heat exchanger (АНХ), associated sodium piping, tanks
and air dampers. Diversity is provided for DHX, АНХ and dampers. The circulation of
sodium and air is by natural convection.
SAFETY:-
А defense-in-depth philosophy, consisting of three levels of safety, viz ., design with
adequate safety margin, early detection of abnormal events to prevent accidents and
mitigation of consequences of accidents, if any, is adopted. All safety related systems
are designed with adequate redundancy, diversity and independence . The engineered
safety features include two independent fast acting diverse shutdown systems and
decay heat removal systems with passive features of natural circulation of intermediate
sodium / air, along with diversity in design of DHX & АНХ. Core catcher and
containment are provided as defense in depth for beyond design basics events (BDBE).
Selection of design features, detailed design analysis and rigorous manufacturing
specifications, minimize the risk of sodium leaks from components, piping, & leaks
resulting in sodium-water reaction in SG. Nevertheless, provisions have been made for
early detection of sodium leaks and sodium-water reaction in SG and safety actions to
minimize the consequence of the leaks. Additionally, the design also provides for in-
service inspection of the main and safety vessels, secondary sodium piping and SG.
The plant is not designed for aircraft crash as the site meets the screening distance
criteria of AERB of 8 km. The probability of aircraft crash is 10-15/ry for the reactor
site located at 47 km distance from the nearest Chennai airport. The project site is
classified as zone III and there is no capable fault nearby. The
plant is designed for safe shutdown earthquake (SSE ) and all sodium systems
irrespective of safety classification are designed for both operating basis earthquake
(OBE) and SSE to avoid sodium fire. All sodium piping inside RCB are provided with
double envelope with nitrogen inerting to avoid sodium fire. The structural integrity of
primary containment, IHX & DHX is assured under core disruptive accident
(CDA), which results in an energy release of 100 MJ, the theoretically assessed upper
bound value for energy release . The use of leak before break approach is justified and
provisions for leak detection and mitigation in case of а sodium fire are made
systematically. А rectangular, single, non-vented, reinforced
concrete containment designed for 25 kPa, is provided. The containment is designed
such that the dose limits at site boundary for design basis accident is not exceeded
under CDA.
r and d:-
R & D is carried out both in-house in the various laboratories set up at IGCAR and in
collaboration with other R&D organizations and industries on reactor fuels, sodium
technology, reactor engineering, reactor physics and shielding, component
development, materials, non-destructive examination, structural
mechanics, thermal hydraulics, instrumentation & control, reprocessing, safety etc.
Facilities have been set up to test the prototype components in air, argon and sodium to
validate the design of components . А large part of the R & D has already been
completed.
SUMMARY :-
India's energy requirements are large and only nuclear energy through FBR can meet а
significant part of the requirements . PFBR has been designed based on FBTR
experience. The design is validated by large amount of R & D carried out in various
disciplines ..

External links:-
US Nuclear Program
Monju survey of world FBR development
IAEA Fast Reactors Database
IAEA Technical Documents on Fast Reactors
Atomic Heritage Foundation - EBR-I
The Changing Need for a Breeder Reactor by Richard Wilson at The Uranium Institute
24th
Annual Symposium, September 1999
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_breeder"
Category: Nuclear reactors