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Design of "MASTER-IATE" reactor
Fig.1 demonstrates the concepts of MASTER-IATE reactor design.
| The following devices are placed in the metal jacket of the reactor facility (1): heat exchanger (2) and reactor’s case (4). Separating shell (3) is intended to organize the natural circulation of coolant (water) and to create the lifting part. In the heat exchanger the second circuit water (consumer’s circuit) is heated to 80îÑ. Circulation in the consumer’s circuit is forced.
The core is located inside the reactor. The core’s content has been chosen with purpose to ensure the contact heat conductivity and to save in the reactor a good part of the heat neutrons. The following composition was found to be suitable: uranium-beryllium alloy with addition of magnesium as fuel. The size of the core is defined by the admissible temperature inside the core.
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The reactor core is arranged by beryllium disks covered with stainless steel over all surface. The disks are perforated on triangle lattice pattern. The reflectors of the core are made from beryllium. The fuel rod elements are put into the holes. To reduce thermal resistance all inside gaps (between the fuel pellets and external cladding of the fuel rod elements, between the fuel rod elements and beryllium disks, between the disk and its case, between the reflectors and jacket) are filled with contact sub-layer from magnesium. Thus, the reactor is a monolithic block with high heat conductivity.
The channel with neutron absorber is placed in the reactor center. Power from the core is transferred to the circuit by natural circulation via contact heat conductivity. System of reactor cooling, as it is shown in Fig. 1, is designed as the closed circuit with heat exchanger. Surface of the heat exchanger and height of the lifting part are chosen under condition that the coolant temperature cannot exceed the temperature of boiling. Forced flow rate of the coolant along the consumer’s circuit is chosen so that temperature at the circuit inlet cannot exceed 80îÑ.
More detail information is presented in Kazansky Y.A. and others, “Self-controlled Reactor of super-small power for heat power supply “MASTER-IATE”, (Nuclear Power, pp 63-71, #3, 2003).
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