Multicentral CAREM 480: current state of design

CNEA has a leading project for the development of nuclear power reactor technology: the design, construction and commissioning of the CAREM 25 prototype. The CAREM25 has several innovative features and at the moment is positioned in the world in the small group of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) that are in advanced state of design, and in the case of CAREM25, in the construction phase. Given the progress of the CAREM 25 project, the conceptual design of the CAREM 480 Nuclear Power Plant was started. The final objective of the CAREM Commercial project [1] is to have a design that is globally competitive in the nuclear industry, both from the point of view of design as economic. Since the last annual meeting of the Argentine Association of Nuclear Technology, the CAREM Commercial project has made significant progress in its conceptual design. The most relevant tasks during that period focused on a more detailed design for the Steam Generators (SGs), the Upper Internal Pool (PIAS) and the Superior External Pool (PEAS). The dimensioning of these components has a notable impact on the dimensions of the Pressure Vessel, the containment and obviously on the costs of the CAREM 480 Nuclear Power Plant. SGs are crucial components for the removal of power from the primary system. From the experience and construction of the CAREM 25, valuable lessons have been learned to be applied in the design of the SGs of CAREM 480. Several scenarios of thermo-hydraulic and mechanical have been simulated to see their impact on the dimensions, both in the Steam Generators as in the Pressure Vessel and by transitive nature on the costs. Two complementary codes were used: the IREP [2] and the simplified CARES. Variables were parameterized with the intention of reaching optimized values or commitment to size GVs and therefore the RPR and their corresponding impact on costs. As presented at the annual meeting of the AATN in 2016, the heat sink is composed of two water reservoirs: one, internal to the containment, upper annular internal pool (PIAS), and one external to the same, upper annular outer pool (PEAS). These pools are designed so that the heat transfer is done radially from the inside out, avoiding the accumulation of heat inside the containment, which would otherwise have to be removed later by active means. In the framework of the development that has been carried out in the formulation of the Conceptual Engineering of the CAREM reactor with commercial characteristics, progress has been made on two well-defined planes. On the one hand, to resume the modeling and cost estimation work carried out using the tool developed at CNEA, such as the IREP, in order to be able to understand the feedback of the design modifications and reactor operating parameters in terms of their economic impact. On the other hand a study of the competitiveness for different sources of energy generation has been developed to be able to find the ranges of applicability of this technology in the satisfaction of the future demands of power of our electricity grid. (author)