Development of nuclear power generating facility of ABWR (advanced boiling water reactor) concept

The basic plan design and the general evaluation of the plant had been completed in the development of advanced BWRs (ABWR), and aiming at the beginning of construction in the latter half of 1980s, the rationalized and detailed design was begun, thus the development is about to enter the final phase. The development is in smooth progress by the international cooperation of GE of USA, Toshiba Corp. and Hitachi Ltd. In this report, the technical features and the plant characteristics, on which the forecast has been obtained by the development made so far, are described, and the development hereafter is explained. The ABWR is the Japanese type BWR of next generation, for which the new technology represented by internal pumps and new type CRD is adopted, and the systems and layout are largely improved. The essential of the ABWR is to have the performance exceeding that of conventional LWRs and the excellent economical efficiency and safety peculiar to it. The main specification of the ABWR is as follows: power output 1,300 MWe, core design 872 fuel assemblies of new 8 x 8 type, containment vessel made of reinforced concrete, turbine two-stage reheating cycle. The course of development, the outline of the plant and the features, the state of research and development and the general characteristics of the plant are reported. (Kako, I.)