Thermal-Hydraulics measurement and sensing techniques for Nuclear Applications

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The emerging new generation of nuclear reactors, small and advanced modular reactors (SMR/AMR), promise a flexible and cost-efficient option for propelling a significant portion of future carbon-free energy production in the UK. These systems will require new materials, coolant compositions and operating regimes, all of which need to be well understood before these new systems may be deployed. Therefore, the Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board (NIRAB) has recommended the UK government to construct a National Thermal-Hydraulics Facility (NTHF).The Welsh Government Ser Cymru funding scheme aims to grow the research base in Wales by recruiting internationally leading researchers and group. Through this scheme BU has been awarded £6.5m to establish the Nuclear Future Institute (NFI) under Prof Bill Lee. One of the focal research themes of a new group is nuclear reactor design and thermal-hydraulics. Dr Marcus Dahlfors leads the work on understanding the operating characteristics of reactors and in spring 2020 won a £330k grant to establish a pilot Thermal-Hydraulics Open-access Research (THOR) facility as a precursor to the first national research facility in Wales - the UK National Thermal-Hydraulics Facility.Menai Science Park (M-SParc) on Anglesey, North Wales, has emerged as the primary candidate site for the NTHF, and this is also where THOR is being developed, envisioned as a supporting facility for instrumentation, techniques and methods in advance of the NTHF. SMR concepts represent near to market systems based on existing light water reactor technology. For AMRs, novel cooling and fuel approaches have been proposed to provide further improvements in safety and fuel utilisation, but with advances demanding a higher burden of proof. The THOR facility therefore takes the approach of initially developing a moderate pressure water loop to support SMR related Thermal-Hydraulics (T/H) research and development initially, with the option for expansion into a general NFI T/H laboratory that will cater for advanced high-pressure SMR as well as AMR loops when opportune. The NFI is currently competing with the £2M Thermal-Hydraulics Upgraded and Enhanced Research (THUNDER) bid for the National Nuclear User Facility (NNUF) Phase 2a grant, which is to be announced in early 2021. Our explicit aim with the existing and proposed projects is to provide necessary up-skilling within the region and to generally boost UK SMR and AMR technology development to tackle carbon emissions.