Development of Tools for Analysis of Power Excursion Events of TRISO-Fuelled SMRs

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This proposal is a response to the NSERC-Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) Small Modular Reactors Research Grant Initiative. It addresses the research challenges and knowledge gaps listed under Environmental and Radiological Protection: Emergency Planning, in particular: "Through accident modelling, investigate whether there are credible accidents from any postulated initiating events or conditions that could result in core damage with significant offsite releases..."The proposal requests funds for the development of a framework to analyse accident scenarios in SMRs that are fuelled by TRISO particles and moderated by a solid moderator such as graphite. The framework will be used to analyse several events in which unintended reactivity insertion will lead to a power pulse. The framework and the analyses performed with it will support the licencing efforts of this type of SMRs. The novel aspect of the proposal is the time-dependent nature of the simulation code. It must couple the flow of neutrons in the core to the flow of thermal energy in the fuel and the moderator. The type of reactor targeted in this proposal is slated to be among the first to be built in Canada, possibly on a university campus, at CNL, or in the Canadian Arctic. The proposed study benefits the stakeholders of such SMRs, i.e., students, researchers, indigenous communities, and the Canadian National Defence. The activities described in this proposal are an essential step in the development of Canada's first SMRs, in particular with regards to licencing. Deployment of these reactors will replace carbon intensive by clean production of power and heat; furthermore, it will generate employment for construction, operation and maintenance of the reactors.