Thermal-hydraulic features of the MARS [multipurpose advanced reactor, inherently safe] plant

The multipurpose advanced reactor, inherently safe (MARS), is the result of a design effort aimed at satisfying simultaneously the requirement of nuclear technology continuity and of real inherent safety. The safety features of the MARS plant are defined as inherent because the two cornerstones of nuclear safety, namely, safe core shutdown and safe residual heat removal, rely only on physical laws that in abnormal (emergency) conditions are also responsible for the actuation of the corrective action. Some of the main innovative features of this plant, whose primary cooling system is fundamentally a traditional single-loop, Westinghouse-type cooling system, are described in this paper