Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Conceptual design of a dual drum-controlled space molten salt reactor (D2 -SMSR): Neutron physics and thermal hydraulics

  • Yongnian Song (Department of Nuclear Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics) ;
  • Nailiang Zhuang (Department of Nuclear Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics) ;
  • Hangbin Zhao (Key Laboratory of Nuclear Technology Application and Radiation Protection in Astronautics, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology) ;
  • Chen Ji (State Key Laboratory of Space Power-sources Technology, Shanghai Institute of Space Power-Sources) ;
  • Haoyue Deng (State Key Laboratory of Space Power-sources Technology, Shanghai Institute of Space Power-Sources) ;
  • Xiaobin Tang (Department of Nuclear Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics)
  • Received : 2022.09.28
  • Accepted : 2023.03.06
  • Published : 2023.06.25
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Abstract

Space nuclear reactors are becoming popular in deep space exploration owing to their advantages of high-power density and stability. Following the fourth-generation nuclear reactor technology, a conceptual design of the dual drum-controlled space molten salt reactor (D2-SMSR) is proposed. The reactor concept uses molten salt as fuel and heat pipes for cooling. A new reactivity control strategy that combines control drums and safety drums was adopted. Critical physical characteristics such as neutron energy spectrum, neutron flux distribution, power distribution and burnup depth were calculated. Flow and heat transfer characteristics such as natural convection, velocity and temperature distribution of the D2-SMSR under low gravity conditions were analyzed. The reactivity control effect of the dual-drums strategy was evaluated. Results showed that the D2-SMSR with a fast spectrum could operate for 10 years at the full power of 40 kWth. The D2-SMSR has a high heat transfer coefficient between molten salt and heat pipe, which means that the core has a good heat-exchange performance. The new reactivity control strategy can achieve shutdown with one safety drum or three control drums, ensuring high-security standards. The present study can provide a theoretical reference for the design of space nuclear reactors.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 12105142 and 12205152), the Jiangsu Planned Projects for Postdoctoral Research Funds (Grant No. 2021K387C) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BK20220904).

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