A finnish district heating reactor: Neutronics design and fuel cycle simulations

Jaakko Leppänen; Ville Valtavirta; Riku Tuominen; Antti Rintala; Unna Lauranto

doi:10.1115/ICONE28-64347

A finnish district heating reactor: Neutronics design and fuel cycle simulations

Jaakko Leppänen^*
, Ville Valtavirta
, Riku Tuominen
, Antti Rintala
, Unna Lauranto

^*Corresponding author for this work

BA4501 Reactor analysis

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference article in proceedings › Scientific › peer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The development of a small PWR for district heating applications has been started at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, and the pre-conceptual design phase was completed by the end of year 2020. The heating plant consists of one or multiple 50 MW reactor modules, operating on natural circulation at around 120°C temperature. This paper presents the neutronics design and fuel cycle simulations carried out using VTT's Kraken computational framework. The reactor is operated without soluble boron, which together with low operating temperature and pressure brings certain challenges to the use of control rods and burnable absorber. The reactor core is loaded with 37 truncated AP1000-type fuel assemblies with 2.0-3.0% fuel enrichment and erbium burnable absorber. The resulting cycle length is around 900 days. The results show that the criteria set for stability, reactivity control and thermal margins are fulfilled. More importantly, it is concluded that the new Kraken framework is a viable tool for the core design task.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	28th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering
Subtitle of host publication	Operating Plant Challenges, Successes, and Lessons Learned; Nuclear Plant Engineering; Advanced Reactors and Fusion; Small Modular and Micro-Reactors Technologies and Applications
Publisher	American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
Number of pages	8
Volume	1
ISBN (Electronic)	978-0-7918-8524-6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1115/ICONE28-64347
Publication status	Published - 19 Oct 2021
MoE publication type	A4 Article in a conference publication
Event	28th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering: Online - Virtual Duration: 4 Aug 2021 → 6 Aug 2021

Publication series

Series	International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE)
Volume	28

Conference

Conference	28th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering
Period	4/08/21 → 6/08/21

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy

Access to Document

10.1115/ICONE28-64347

Cite this

Leppänen, J., Valtavirta, V., Tuominen, R., Rintala, A., & Lauranto, U. (2021). A finnish district heating reactor: Neutronics design and fuel cycle simulations. In 28th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering: Operating Plant Challenges, Successes, and Lessons Learned; Nuclear Plant Engineering; Advanced Reactors and Fusion; Small Modular and Micro-Reactors Technologies and Applications (Vol. 1). Article V001T04A010 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). https://doi.org/10.1115/ICONE28-64347

Leppänen, Jaakko ; Valtavirta, Ville ; Tuominen, Riku et al. / A finnish district heating reactor : Neutronics design and fuel cycle simulations. 28th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering: Operating Plant Challenges, Successes, and Lessons Learned; Nuclear Plant Engineering; Advanced Reactors and Fusion; Small Modular and Micro-Reactors Technologies and Applications. Vol. 1 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), 2021. (International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE), Vol. 28).

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title = "A finnish district heating reactor: Neutronics design and fuel cycle simulations",

abstract = "The development of a small PWR for district heating applications has been started at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, and the pre-conceptual design phase was completed by the end of year 2020. The heating plant consists of one or multiple 50 MW reactor modules, operating on natural circulation at around 120°C temperature. This paper presents the neutronics design and fuel cycle simulations carried out using VTT's Kraken computational framework. The reactor is operated without soluble boron, which together with low operating temperature and pressure brings certain challenges to the use of control rods and burnable absorber. The reactor core is loaded with 37 truncated AP1000-type fuel assemblies with 2.0-3.0\% fuel enrichment and erbium burnable absorber. The resulting cycle length is around 900 days. The results show that the criteria set for stability, reactivity control and thermal margins are fulfilled. More importantly, it is concluded that the new Kraken framework is a viable tool for the core design task.",

author = "Jaakko Lepp{\"a}nen and Ville Valtavirta and Riku Tuominen and Antti Rintala and Unna Lauranto",

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Leppänen, J, Valtavirta, V, Tuominen, R , Rintala, A & Lauranto, U 2021, A finnish district heating reactor: Neutronics design and fuel cycle simulations. in 28th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering: Operating Plant Challenges, Successes, and Lessons Learned; Nuclear Plant Engineering; Advanced Reactors and Fusion; Small Modular and Micro-Reactors Technologies and Applications. vol. 1, V001T04A010, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE), vol. 28, 28th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, 4/08/21. https://doi.org/10.1115/ICONE28-64347

A finnish district heating reactor: Neutronics design and fuel cycle simulations. / Leppänen, Jaakko; Valtavirta, Ville; Tuominen, Riku et al.
28th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering: Operating Plant Challenges, Successes, and Lessons Learned; Nuclear Plant Engineering; Advanced Reactors and Fusion; Small Modular and Micro-Reactors Technologies and Applications. Vol. 1 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), 2021. V001T04A010 (International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE), Vol. 28).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference article in proceedings › Scientific › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - A finnish district heating reactor

T2 - 28th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering

AU - Leppänen, Jaakko

AU - Valtavirta, Ville

AU - Tuominen, Riku

AU - Rintala, Antti

AU - Lauranto, Unna

PY - 2021/10/19

Y1 - 2021/10/19

N2 - The development of a small PWR for district heating applications has been started at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, and the pre-conceptual design phase was completed by the end of year 2020. The heating plant consists of one or multiple 50 MW reactor modules, operating on natural circulation at around 120°C temperature. This paper presents the neutronics design and fuel cycle simulations carried out using VTT's Kraken computational framework. The reactor is operated without soluble boron, which together with low operating temperature and pressure brings certain challenges to the use of control rods and burnable absorber. The reactor core is loaded with 37 truncated AP1000-type fuel assemblies with 2.0-3.0% fuel enrichment and erbium burnable absorber. The resulting cycle length is around 900 days. The results show that the criteria set for stability, reactivity control and thermal margins are fulfilled. More importantly, it is concluded that the new Kraken framework is a viable tool for the core design task.

AB - The development of a small PWR for district heating applications has been started at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, and the pre-conceptual design phase was completed by the end of year 2020. The heating plant consists of one or multiple 50 MW reactor modules, operating on natural circulation at around 120°C temperature. This paper presents the neutronics design and fuel cycle simulations carried out using VTT's Kraken computational framework. The reactor is operated without soluble boron, which together with low operating temperature and pressure brings certain challenges to the use of control rods and burnable absorber. The reactor core is loaded with 37 truncated AP1000-type fuel assemblies with 2.0-3.0% fuel enrichment and erbium burnable absorber. The resulting cycle length is around 900 days. The results show that the criteria set for stability, reactivity control and thermal margins are fulfilled. More importantly, it is concluded that the new Kraken framework is a viable tool for the core design task.

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M3 - Conference article in proceedings

AN - SCOPUS:85117703270

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T3 - International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE)

BT - 28th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering

PB - American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)

Y2 - 4 August 2021 through 6 August 2021

ER -

Leppänen J, Valtavirta V, Tuominen R , Rintala A , Lauranto U. A finnish district heating reactor: Neutronics design and fuel cycle simulations. In 28th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering: Operating Plant Challenges, Successes, and Lessons Learned; Nuclear Plant Engineering; Advanced Reactors and Fusion; Small Modular and Micro-Reactors Technologies and Applications. Vol. 1. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). 2021. V001T04A010. (International Conference on Nuclear Engineering (ICONE), Vol. 28). doi: 10.1115/ICONE28-64347

A finnish district heating reactor: Neutronics design and fuel cycle simulations

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