Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Conceptual design of a MW heat pipe reactor

  • Yunqin Wu (School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University) ;
  • Youqi Zheng (School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University) ;
  • Qichang Chen (Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research & Design Institute Co., Ltd) ;
  • Jinming Li (Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research & Design Institute Co., Ltd) ;
  • Xianan Du (School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University) ;
  • Yongping Wang (School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University) ;
  • Yushan Tao (Reactor Science and Engineering Research Sub-institute, Nuclear Power Institute of China)
  • Received : 2023.06.29
  • Accepted : 2024.02.05
  • Published : 2024.03.25
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Abstract

-In recent years, unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) have been vigorously developed, and with the continuous deepening of marine exploration, traditional energy can no longer meet the energy supply. Nuclear energy can achieve a huge and sustainable energy supply. The heat pipe reactor has no flow system and related auxiliary systems, and the supporting mechanical moving parts are greatly reduced, the noise is relatively small, and the system is simpler and more reliable. It is more favorable for the control of unmanned systems. The use of heat pipe reactors in unmanned underwater vehicles can meet the needs for highly compact, long-life, unmanned, highly reliable, ultra-quiet power supplies. In this paper, a heat pipe reactor scheme named UPR-S that can be applied to unmanned underwater vehicles is designed. The reactor core can provide 1 MW of thermal power, and it can operate at full power for 5 years. UPR-S has negative reactive feedback, it has inherent safety. The temperature and stress of the reactor are within the limits of the material, and the core safety can still be guaranteed when the two heat pipes are failed.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was partially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2019YFB1901102) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. U2167205)

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