Physics and safety studies of a low conversion ratio sodium cooled fast reactor

This paper explores the feasibility of a compact fast burner reactor that can achieve a low transuranic conversion ratio. The major design option considered is the reduction of fissile breeding by the removal of fertile material from the fast reactor system. Reductions in the fuel pin diameter and thus fuel loading were employed to remove fertile material. Reactor performance parameters and reactivity coefficients were evaluated for a compact core design with a targeted conversion ratio of 0.25. To assess the safety implications, a detailed transient analysis model was employed using the SAS4A/SASSYS-1 computer code. A series of calculations was performed to assess the behavior of the reactor and plant in an unprotected loss-of-flow accident (ULOF). A parametric study was also carried out using increasingly conservative modeling assumptions. The computational results show that for nominal, best-estimate analysis assumptions and input data, the low conversion ratio reactor design responds to the ULOF with a very high level of self-protection. Both short-term and long-term quasi-equilibrium reactor conditions predicted in the analysis indicate very large margins of safety. (authors)