Comparison of the large pool fast reactor designs

The conceptual design studies of large pool LMFBR have been conducted in Japan and the United States. The primary sodium pumps in these design studies which consist of the 1000 MWe Demonstration Fast Breeder Reactor by Japanese utilities and three kinds of Prototype Large Breeder Reactor by the U.S. Electric Power Research Institute, are compared and evaluated in their characteristics and reliabilities. Especially the inducer pump shows a very attractive characteristics in size reduction, however it is emphasized that further evaluation is necessary from the viewpoint of cavitation damage. A consideration of the cavitation characteristics in sodium indicates that sodium is not necessarily more desirable circumstance than water for the pump cavitation damage. (author)