3| Second working group is responsible for studying domestic share of ei qipment and engineering, as well as economic analysis.
Third working group is responsible for studying technical evaluation and boundary conditions of plant size and site.
fourth working group is responsible for studying cooperation mode.
The independeit feasibility study is intended to be completed by end of this year or a little bit later.
If the outcome of independent feasibility study is positive and approved by relevant authorities, we will select a foreign company as partner to carry out a more deeper joint feasibility study.
USER REQUIREMENTS FROM CHINA
It can be summarised as :
mature technologies; approved already by nuclear regulatory institutation;
minimum environment impact, favouring selection of site;
appropriate plant size of 200-300 MWe, flexible to limited power grids or to specific application;
certain portion of domestic share in equipment and engineering supply;
acceptable price of generated electricity or slightly higher than that of electricity, generated by coal fired plant of the same size;
investment and favourable financing terms from foreign organization;
reimbursement of hard currency through ways of barter trade;
joint share of risks by both utility and suppliers.
It must be pointed out that China only began to explore the possibility of building Modular HTCR demonstration plant and a number of problems will be
faced in further proceeding.
STATUS OF THE HTR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME IN CHINA
Yuanhui XU
Institute of Nuclear Energy Technology, Beijing, China
Abstract
In the seventh Five Year Plan China has i d e n t i f i e d various high priority research areas which also include development work for the High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor. i»or the coordination of technology development contributions from different i n s t i t u t e s an expert team was appointed by the State S c i e n t i f i c Technology Commission. The paper contains a description of HTGR relevant research and development work and the main data of the HTGR t e s t module planned for construction at the I n s t i t u t e of Nuclear Energy Technology.
As high technologies w i l l exert an enormous impact on the future economic growth and lay the ground for China s economic leap around the turn of the next century, they deserve China uttermost a t t e n t i o n now.
As an immediate part of the s t r a t e g i c o b j e c t i v e s within t h i s century. China s high technology research and development c o n s t i t u t e a component of the Seventh Five Year Plan (1986-1990). I t ' s projects has planned to serve economic development at the c l o s e t h i s and s t a r t of the next c e n t u r i e s . The p r o j e c t s aims to pool together the best technological resource in China over the next 15 years to keep up with i n t e r n a t i o n a l high technology development, bridge the gap between China and other c o u n t r i e s in several most important areas and wherever p o s s i b l e for breakthroughs. The programme a l s o aims to provide technological backup ror economic development and train large numbers of t a l e n t s for the future.
Seven p r i o r i t y research area are included in t h i s programme.
One of them i s energy technology area, which includes two subjects that i s , c o a l - f i r e d MHD power generation technology and advanced nculear reactor technology. In veiw of the development of nuclear energy in the 21st century a choice w i l l be made to develop a s a r e , economically viable and i'.ighly tuei e : : i c i e n n type ol reactor among t a s t breeder
reactc high temperature gas cool reactor and tasion-tission hybrid reactor that uses existing fusion technology. It is very clear that HTR h and D programme is national programme in China now.
To reform the management of HTR R and D programme a special unit, so called expert teams, was set up and appointed by State Scientific Technologies Commission (SSTC) to be in charge ot HTR P and D programme. Some institutes le.g.
BINE. SWCR. SINR INET) are involved and the head ot the special unit is INET.
In the HTR R and D programme. Some topics are covered such as, fuel element technology, graphite development, metallic and ceramic materials. HTR components, fuel element handling. instrumentation, engineering and reactor design, test facilities, HTR safety as well as fuel reprocessing technology. In parallel application study on HTR moduel will he carried out in order to investigate the technical and economic feasibility for Chinese relevent oil industry, petrochemical industry as well as power generation only in special area and to investigate the potential 01 application on a long term basis. Some users are involved for example.
Shen^li Oil field for heavy oil recovery. Van Shan pertroleum and chemical company for process heat application as well as Zhong Qirg City for power generation only and so on.
In addition, to know well the HTR technologies by practice, a joint project on building 10 MW Test Module Reactor with Seiaens -KWU Group. Interatom GmbH and KFA Julich, F.R.G, which also is the part ot HTR R and D programme, is going to be signed by each partners.
The overriding aim of a Test Module is to provide a nuclear test facility with wheih relevant and unique features of the HTP-Module can be demonstrated.
That is, test Module provides a nuclear test facility for product application; e.g. electricity generation, process heat generation, district heat generation and methane reforming; components testing of graphitic core structures, steam generator, helium blower and fuel handling;
verification of HTR Module inherent safety features, for example, negative temperature coefficient of reactivity, temperature limitation due to passive decay heat removal, rod withdrawal and limitation of power excursion due to water ingress; as well as fuel elements mass test for temperatures up to lbOO°C.
These fuel element mass-tests would significantly improve the up-to-date knowledge ot fuel element behavior and its fission product release, and could, it the tests prove to be
successful, lead to a substantial reduction or still applied safety factors and hence to a decisive increase ot the overall power output ot the HTR-Module.
The Test-Module has the following main features:
The reactor core and steam generator will be housed in two separate steel pressure vessels.
fteactor and steam generator are positioned side by side in a staggered arrangement.
Decay heat will be removable by cavity coolers outside the reactor pressure vessel.
The spherical fuel elements are charged from the top.
The fuel elements are removed from the core-bottom via a fuel element discharge tube.
Reactor shutdown is achieved by means of absorber rods dropping into relector borings.
The fuel elements migrate through the core only once I OTTO-loading schemet
To permit the realization of a two zone core tor experimental feasibility, the reactor is equipped with five charging tunes instead of one.
Main data of the Test Module is listed in table 1 and Fig.l, and Fig.* show the des.gn or the reactor core and it 3hould be understood that all given dimensions are subject to further detailed analyses. In principle, it is identical to the core structure ot the HTR-Module. The only important differences are in the design ot the absorber rods which, for cost reasons, are not completely integrated in the pressure vessels and in the number ot fuel elment charging tubes, which were increased from one to five to gain flexibility in fuel management.
TABLE 1. MAIN DATA OF THE TEST MODULE Maximum thermal power
Average thermal power Primary rteliuir. pressure Secondary steam pressure Cold helium temperature
Average hot h e n u m temperature Steam temperature
Core volume
20 MW 10 MW JO bar 35 bar 250"C 700"C 4 35'C
cj M '
W.!\ V/V.K\ \ W / / /,'
W l f H M m IW.I
NKl-OIMNI I I U M ' i t . a i i K M M I
» | - f ' » « " • " ~ « l
FIG 1 Test module China
>rwt wfMi.
ran-tunm mvi"«
Main core data 13 listed in table I
Fig.2 shows the heat :low diagram or Test Module in the first operating phase, that is reactor is to be used :or electricity generation and possible, tor the production ot district heat.
TABLE 2. MAIN CORE DATA Thermal power
Power density lavg.i H/D - ratio
Core diameter Core height tavg.j • Number ot' tuel elements Heavy-metal content Burn-up 1avg.J
Fuel eienent incore time Number of fuel elements per Jay Loading scheme
FIG 2 Tesl module China (cross-section: A-rA).
I
10 I
190 27000 c, d o . 0 0 6
1 0 / 8 Iz, OTTO
MW MW'm' cm cm g / t £ MWd't EFPD
Test Module u i l l take ; i v e years tor d e s i g n , c o n s t r u c t i o n , i n s t a l l a t i o n as w e l l as commissioning. Overall time schedule ot Test Module i s l i s t e d in t a b l e J.
As mentioned above, China HTS R and 0 programine i s long term program™*', i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o o p e r a t i o n s h a l l be promoted in
the impiementar 1 m ot tfU3 programme on the b a s i s o:
e q u a l i t y ana mutual b e n e r i - e i t h e r through b n a t e r a x or m u l t i l a t e r a l channels a t governmental or non governmental
l e v e l s and in v a r i o u s t o r m s .
TABLE V OVERALL TIME SCHEDULE FOR THE TEST MODULE CHINA
COOPERATION PHASES
TEST MODULE PROGRAM
MILESTONES
BASIC DESIGN DETAILED DESIGN LICENSING PROCEDURE COST ESTIMATION:
• GERMAN PART . CHINESE PART CONSTRUCTION.
. SITE OPENING . ORDER PLACEMENT
• MANUFACTURING OF COMPONENTS
• BUILDINGS
• INSTALLATION
• COMMISSIONING OPERATION:
• PHASE IWITH STEAM GENERATION
• PHASE IWITH STEAM REFORMER TRAINING
RAD
APPLICATION STUDIES
BASIC DESIGN PHASE
SITE APPROVAL
/ / / / / J
DETAILED DESIGN PHASE
END OF BASIC 0ESIC4J PHASE COST REVIEW
CONSTRUCTION PHASE
• COST f i t VIEW
• CONSTRUCTION ICENSING
• OFDER PLACEMENT COMPONENTS
j ,PflELlUINAhV SJ -ETY REPORT I FINAL SAFtTY REPORT
PHASE OF TEST MOOULE
OPERATION
START Of OPERATION
UPDATED FINAL SAFETY REPORT
S t
i
