HTGR Knowledge Base

Conference Article: Gas-cooled breeder reactor safety

Chermanne, J.; Burgsmueller, P. (Societe Belge pour l'Industrie Nucleaire, Brussels)

Abstract

The European Association for the Gas-cooled Breeder Reactor [G B R A], set-up in 1969 prepared between 1972 and 1974 a 1200 MWe Gas-cooled Breeder Reactor [G B R] commercial reference design G B R 4. It was then found necessary that a sound and neutral appraisal of the G B R licenseability be carried out. The Commission of the European Communities [C E C] accepted to sponsor this exercise. At the beginning of 1974, the C E C convened a group of experts to examine on a Community level, the safety documents prepared by the G B R A. A working party was set-up for that purpose. The experts examined a ''Preliminary Safety Working Document'' on which written questions and comments were presented. A ''Supplement'' containing the answers to all the questions plus a detailed fault tree and reliability analysis was then prepared. After a final study of this document and a last series of discussions with G B R A representatives, the experts concluded that on the basis of the evidence presented to the Working Party, no fundamental reasons were identified which would prevent a Gas-cooled Breeder Reactor of the kind proposed by the G B R A achieving a satisfactory safety status. Further work carried out on ultimate accident have confirmed this conclusion. One can therefore claim that the overall safety risk associated with G B R s compares favourably with that of any other reactor system.

view the full text of this article (13 pages, format: PDF, size= 1080kB)

key words: design basis accidents; gcfr type reactors; reactor cooling systems; reactor licensing; reactor safety; reactor shutdown; steam generators; accidents; boilers; breeder reactors; cooling systems; epithermal reactors; fast reactors; fbr type reactors; gas cooled reactors; licensing; reactor accidents; reactor components; reactors; safety; vapor generators
Reference:
International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (Austria). International Working Group on Gas-Cooled Reactors. Specialists meeting on gas-cooled reactor safety and licensing aspects, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1-3 September 1980. Summary report. Jan 1981
International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (Austria). International Working Group on High-Temperature Reactors.
IWGGCR--1, pp:39-51