Defining a Draft for a Zero Power Reactor Experiment for Molten Salt Reactors

联合国可持续发展目标7：确保所有人获得负担得起的、可靠的、可持续的现代能源。从更以英国为中心的角度来看，低碳转型计划-英国建设低碳国家的计划：减少排放，保持安全的能源供应，最大限度地增加经济机会和保护最脆弱的群体-突出了2009年的需求。最近，政府决定“英国成为第一个通过净零排放法的主要经济体”，这加强了采取行动的紧迫性。核技术可以为所需的24/7可靠生产份额提供有希望的解决方案，这对国家电力供应的稳定至关重要。然而，目前的核能系统由反应堆主导，这些反应堆对于所需的能源生产增长并不理想，因为这些反应堆的长期运行由于其对天然铀的有限使用而不可持续。它们的乏核燃料从反应堆中卸载后仍含有约95%的原始能量，进一步被视为废物。利用这些仍储存在燃料中的能量可以提供几乎无限的能源。此外，它可以为钚库存提供有希望的用途，钚库存是第一次尝试关闭燃料循环后剩余的未使用的能量资产。从经济和国家安全的角度来看，钚储存目前必须被视为一种负担，因为需要有保障的储存。这种情况可以通过在核反应堆中使用时释放其能量和经济潜力来改变。基于这种认识，我们提出了一种改变游戏规则的技术，以支持大规模和安全的低碳电力生产，同时实现乏燃料的几乎完全再利用，避免乏燃料库存的增长和相关的废物问题。我们建议在一个综合系统内关闭燃料循环，以避免裂变材料的运输和分离，以及与核材料的最终扩散和滥用有关的所有问题。这可以通过连接到集成清洁系统的创新液体燃料反应器来实现。然而，没有真实的实验可用于这些类型的高度创新的反应堆。在Merk等人最近开发的建立新的、创新的反应器系统的过程之后，零功率反应堆实验将是加速技术发展的重要第一步。因此，该提案的重点是建立一个零功率实验，以展示英国在破坏性核发展方面的技术领导地位，促进可持续能源发电的研究。这将通过应用先进的建模和模拟工具为多用途设施制定核心设计草案以及相关的实验方案，为政府投资决策提供证据和支持。然而，一个强大的建模和模拟研究的先决条件将是可靠的测量热物理材料数据的设想燃料盐的组成，提供足够可靠的输入数据的实验反应堆的研究。这些测量将需要通过建立实验室规模的生产路线来生产足够数量的铀基盐。所有步骤都旨在提高英国成功开发改变游戏规则的技术的技能基础。将特别侧重于建模和模拟，以重新建立反应堆物理和反应堆物理实验方面的技能基础，目前这还不足以启动新技术。为了为政府未来的投资决策提供最终证据，将评估现有设施升级的机会和风险，这将使即将退役的负担转变为世界领先的实验设施。

The challenge for all future energy supply is given in UN Sustainable Development Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. In a more UK centric view, the Low Carbon Transition Plan - UK's plan for building a low carbon nation: cutting emissions, maintaining secure energy supplies, maximising economic opportunities and protecting the most vulnerable - highlighted the demand in 2009. Recently, the governmental decision "UK becomes first major economy to pass net-zero emissions law" has reinforced the urgency of action. Nuclear technologies can deliver a promising solution for the share of required 24/7 reliable production which is essential for the stability of the national electricity supply. However, the current nuclear energy system is dominated by reactors which are not ideal for the required growth in energy production, since long-term operation of these reactors is not sustainable due to their limited use of the natural uranium. Their spent nuclear fuel contains still ~95% of its original energy content when it is unloaded from the reactor and considered as waste further on. Making use of this energy content still stored within the fuel can provide an almost unlimited energy resource. In addition, it can deliver a promising use for the Pu stockpile, an unused energetic asset leftover from the first attempt to close the fuel cycle. From economic and national security point of view the Pu stockpile currently has to be seen as a burden due to the requirement of safeguarded storage. This situation could be transformed by releasing its energetic and economic potential when used in a nuclear reactor.Based on this cognition, we propose a game-changer technology to support a massive and secure low carbon electricity production while achieving an almost complete reuse of spent fuel avoiding the growth of the spent fuel stockpile and the related waste problem. We propose closing the fuel cycle within an integrated system to avoid transports and the separation of fissile material with all problems related to eventual proliferation and misuse of nuclear materials. This can be achieved with innovative, liquid fuelled reactors linked to an integrated cleaning system. However, no real experiments are available for these kinds of highly innovative reactors. Following the process of establishing a new, innovative reactor system as recently developed by Merk et al., a zero-power reactor experiment would be the essential first step to accelerate the technological development. Thus, this proposal focusses on the aim to establish a zero-power experiment, to demonstrate UK's technological leadership in disruptive nuclear development to facilitate research in sustainable energy generation. This will be delivered to create evidence and support for a governmental investment decision by developing a draft core design for a multi-purpose facility as well as the correlated experimental programme by applying advanced modelling & simulation tools. However, a pre-requisite for a robust modelling & simulation study will be the reliable measurement of thermo-physical material data on the envisaged fuel salt composition to provide sufficiently reliable input data for the study of the experimental reactor. These measurements will require to produce a sufficient amount of uranium-based salt by establishing a production route on laboratory scale.All steps are designed to improve the UK skills base for a successful development of a game-changer technology. Special focus will be on modelling & simulation to re-establish the skill base in reactor physics and reactor physical experiments which is currently not sufficient for a start into new technologies. To create final evidence for a future governmental investment decision the chances and risks of the upgrading of an existing facility which would transform a burden to be decommissioned into a world leading experimental facility will be evaluated.