Preliminary study on HTTR tests for development of commercial HTGRs

Preliminary studies on the HTTR (High Temperature engineering Test Reactor) tests were conducted to obtain characteristics and demonstration data which were required to develop commercial HTGRs (high temperature gas-cooled reactors). The tests proposed in this study are as follows: nuclear heat supply characteristics tests, burned core tests, reactivity insertion tests, safety demonstration tests, fuel characteristics tests, annular core tests, fuel failure tests, tritium measurement tests, and health confirmation tests of high temperature equipments. Requirements for a development of commercial HTGRs and confirmation methods of the requirements by the HTTR tests were summarized. Preliminary analyses were performed for the burned core test and the safety demonstration test to obtain prediction data, which is compared with experimental data. Additionally, a feasibility analysis was performed on four types annular cores, which is composed of the HTTR's fresh fuels, from the point of view of shutdown margin and excess reactivity. (author)