Thermal hydraulic conceptual design of KALIMER breeder core with its configuration development

Coolant flow distributions to the assemblies by flow grouping and coolant/fuel temperature calculations, especially the peak pin temperatures in each assembly, is the major work in an LMR core thermal hydraulic conceptual design and analysis. In the KALIMER core thermal hydraulic design, sodium coolant flow is distributed to each assembly with the overall goal of equalizing the peak cladding midwall temperatures, thus pin cladding damage accumulation and pin reliability. KALIMER breeder core configuration development work is summarized in this paper. The conceptual design procedure and methodology used for the KALIMER core thermal hydraulic design are also explained. The major thermal hydraulic calculation results of the KALIMER breeder equilibrium core, a heterogeneous core fueled with U-Pu-Zr ternary alloy fuel, are shown and compared to those of the KALIMER core fueled with U-Zr binary alloy metallic fuels. (author)