IPWR-900
| IPWR-900 | |
|---|---|
| Generation | Generation III+ reactor |
| Reactor concept | pressurized water reactor |
| Reactor line | IPWR(Indian Pressurized Water Reactor) |
| Designed by | Bhabha Atomic Research Centre |
| Manufactured by | NPCIL |
| Status | Under development |
| Main parameters of the reactor core | |
| Fuel (fissile material) | 235U(LEU) |
| Fuel state | Solid |
| Neutron energy spectrum | Thermal |
| Primary control method | control rods |
| Primary moderator | Light Water |
| Primary coolant | Light Water |
| Reactor usage | |
| Primary use | Generation of electricity |
| Power (thermal) | 2700 MWth |
| Power (electric) | 900 MWe |
TheIndian Pressurized Water Reactor-900(IPWR-900) is a class ofpressurized water reactorsbeing designed by theBhabha Atomic Research Centre(BARC) in partnership with theNuclear Power Corporation of India Limitedto supplement theIndian three-stage nuclear power programme.
History
[edit]BARC has developed a 83 MW compactlight water reactorknown as CLWR-B1 for theIndian Navy'sArihant-class submarineprogram which includes a prototype reactor operating atKalpakkamsince 2002 and was made operational in theINS Arihantin 2013. The experience gained in the naval reactor program is being used to develop a commercial electricity generation reactor of 900 MWe capacity.[1]
To support the industrial capacity to fabricate the large forgings for areactor pressure vessel,a heavy forge unit has been set up as a joint venture by theNuclear Power Corporation of India Limited(NPCIL) and Indian engineering conglomerateLarsen & Toubro's subsidiary L&T Special Steels and Heavy Forgings Limited inHazira,Gujarat. The joint venture has set up a 9000-ton forging press and plans to increase it to 17,000 tons.[2][3]BARC reported the completion of manufacture of test forgings in August 2021 and confirmed the technological know-how and capability to manufacture forgings of thicknesses 350 mm to 750 mm essential to manufacturing of reactor pressure vessels for pressurized water reactor program.[4]
Indian nuclear activities regulatorAtomic Energy Regulatory Boardcarried out the Pre-Consenting design review for the design in the fiscal year 2015–16.[3]
Design
[edit]The IPWR design is planned to retain commonality of majority of non-nuclear islandcomponents of the design with theIPHWR-700pressurized heavy-water reactorscurrently in use to limit design timelines and construction costs. Thesteam generatordesign and configuration will also be adopted from the IPHWR-700 design.[5]
The IPWR core consists 151fuel assembliesarranged in a hexagonal pitch with 331 lattice locations wherein 311 locations are occupied by fuel pins, 18 by control guide tubes and 1 by instrumentation tube and the remaining location at centre is occupied by central water rod. The fuel pins have an outer diameter 9.4 mm with a wall thickness of 0.7 mm. The core contains 103 rod cluster assemblies with each cluster containingf 18 rods which haveB4CandDy2O3·TiO2as thecontrolmaterial. The control rods have been designed to provide negativereactivity coefficientswith a shutdown margin of 10 mk at hotzero power statefor a prolonged time.[6]
IPWR utilisesGadolinium(Gd) compoundGd2O3(Gadolinia)as aneutron absorberfor suppression of initial reactivity which is a prominent feature of modern PWR designs includingEPRandAP1000.The use of Gd reduces concentration of dissolved boron required at the beginning of the fuel cycle and helps keep the coolant temperature coefcient of reactivity sufficiently negative in all operating conditions.[6]
The reactor will utilise areactor pressure vesselmade of 20MnMoNi55 steel[7]also known as “APURVA” (Advanced Purified Reactor Vessel Alloy).[4]BARC disclosed in January 2020 that aCore catcherdesign has been validated that can manage a 100%core meltaccident.[8][9]
The design will includeGeneration III+safety features likePassive Decay Heat Removal System,Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS),CoriumRetention and Core Catcher System.[5]
Reactor fleet
[edit]TheGovernment of IndiaorNPCILhave not disclosed any locations or timeline for the construction of the first IPWR-900 reactor.
Technical specifications
[edit]| Specifications | IPWR-900[6] |
|---|---|
| Thermal output, MW | 2700 |
| Electrical output, MW | 900 |
| Efficiency,net % | |
| Vapor pressure, in 100 kPa | |
| in front of the turbine | - |
| in the first circuit | - |
| Water temperature, °C: | |
| core coolant inlet | 307.5 |
| core coolant outlet | 320 |
| Equivalent core diameter, m | — |
| Active core height, mm | 3600 |
| Outer diameter of fuel rods, mm | 13.16 |
| Number of fuel rods in assembly | 311 |
| Number of fuel assemblies | 151 |
| Uranium loading, tons | - |
| Averageuranium enrichment,% | 4.22 |
| Average fuelburnup,MW · day / kg | 30 |
| Maximum fuelburnup,MW · day / kg | 50 |
| Average linear heat generation rate in a pin (W/cm) | 159.6 |
| Power density (MW/m3or KW/litre)) | 87.4 |
| System pressure (MPa) | 15.7 |
| Cycle length (FPDs) | 410 |
| Burnableneutron absorbermaterial in fuel (IFBA) | Gd2O3(Gadolinia) |
| Reactivity control | Solubleboron(H3BO3in water) |
| Control rodmaterial | B4CandDy2O3·TiO2 |
See also
[edit]- IPHWR,a class of Indian PHWRs.
- AHWR-300,thorium fuelled PHWR design for the Indian Three stage nuclear power programme
- India's three-stage nuclear power programme
- Nuclear power in India
- VVER,,similar reactor of Russian origin
- AP1000,similar reactor of US origin
- EPR,similar reactor of European origin
References
[edit]- ^"BARC begins work on 900 MW pressurised water reactor".Business Standard India.Indo-Asian News Service.12 August 2013.Retrieved11 April2021.
- ^Grover, R.B. (2017). "Opening up of international civil nuclear cooperation with India and related developments".Progress in Nuclear Energy.101:160–167.doi:10.1016/j.pnucene.2016.09.016.
- ^abNational report to The Convention on Nuclear safety, Seventh Review Meeting of Contracting Parties, March 2017(PDF).Atomic Energy Regulatory Board,Government of India. August 2016. p. 2.Retrieved11 April2021.
- ^abMishra, P.K; Shrivastav, Vivek."Heavy steel forgings for Pressurised Water Reactor program"(PDF).BARC Newsletter.377(July–August 2021): 38.Retrieved30 August2021.
- ^abAB, Mukherjee."IPWR Indian Pressurized Water Reactor".India Energy Forum(10th Nuclear Conclave).
- ^abcRaj, Devesh; Kannan, Umasankari (10 March 2020)."Estimation of safety parameters of equilibrium cycle of Indian Pressurized Water Reactor (IPWR)".Life Cycle Reliability and Safety Engineering.9(2): 129–134.doi:10.1007/s41872-020-00115-2.S2CID216161923.Retrieved11 April2021.
- ^Annual Report 2018-19, Department of Atomic Energy(PDF).Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India. p. Chapter 1, Page 49. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 7 April 2022.Retrieved11 April2021.
- ^Mohanty, Ajit Kumar (26 January 2020)."Republic Day address of Director, BARC"(PDF).Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.Retrieved11 April2021.
- ^"DAE Annual Report 2016-17"(PDF).Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India:52. 2017. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2021-04-12.Retrieved2021-04-12.
