Summary of the hydraulic evaluation of LWBR (LWBR development program)
[report]
J.W. Stout, S. Lerner, K.D. McWilliams, J.R. Turner
1981
unpublished
This document is an interim memorandum prepared primarily for internal reference and does not represent a final expression of the opinion of Westinghouse. When this memorandum is distributed externally, it is with the express understanding that Westinghouse makes no representation as to completeness, accuracy, or usability of information contained therein. The Shippingport Atomic Power Station located in Shippingport, Pennsylvania was the first large-scale, central-station nuclear power plant
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... the United States and the first plant of such size in the world operated solely to produce electric power. This program was started in 1953 to confirm the practical application of nuclear power for large-scale electric power generation. It has provided much of the technology being used for design and operation of the commercial, central-station nuclear power plants now in use. Subsequent to development and successful operation of the Pressurized Water Reactor in the Atomic Energy Commission (now Department of Energy, DOE) owned reactor plant at the Shippingport Atomic Power Station, the Atomic Energy Commission in 1965 undertook a research and development program to design and build a Light Water Breeder Reactor core for operation in the Shippingport Station. The objective of the Light Water Breeder Reactor (LWBR) program has been to develop a technology that would significantly improve the utilization of the nation's nuclear fuel resources employing the well-established water reactor technology. To achieve this objective, work has been directed toward analysis, design, component tests, and fabrication of a water-cooled, thorium oxide-uranium oxide fuel cycle breeder reactor for installation and operation at the Shippingport Station. The LWBR core started operation in the Shippingport Station in the Fall of 1977 and is Expected to be operated for about 4 to 5 years or more. At the end of this period, the core will be removed and the spent fuel shipped to the Naval Reactors Expended Core Facility for a detailed examination to verify core performance including an evaluation of breeding characteristics. In 1976, with fabrication of the Shippingport LWBR core nearing completion, the Energy Research and Development Administration, now DOE, established the Advanced Water Breeder Applications (AWBA) program to develop and disseminate technical information which would assist U.S. industry in evaluating the LWBR concept for commercial-scale applications. The program is exploring some of the problems that would be faced by industry in adapting technology confirmed in the LWBR program. Information being developed includes concepts for commercial-scale prebreeder cores which would produce uranium-233 for light water breeder cores while producing electric power, improvements for breeder cores based on the technology developed to fabricate and operate the Shippingport LWBR core, and other information and technology to aid in evaluating commercial-scale application of the LWBR concept. All three development programs (Pressurized Water Reactor, Light Water Breeder Reactor, and Advanced Water Breeder Applications) are under the technical direction of the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Naval Reactors of DOE. They have the goal of developing practical improvements in the utilization of nuclear fuel resources for generation of electrical energy using water-cooled nuclear reactors. Technical information developed under the Shippingport, LWBR, and AWBA programs has been and will continue to be published in technical memoranda, one of which is this present report.
doi:10.2172/6373850
fatcat:mlyhtei57fgwdodhnxha42ut3m