What factors must be considered while selecting materials for various reactor components?
The major factors considered in the selection of materials include operating conditions, availability of design data in nuclear codes, ease of fabrication, international experience and cost.
What metal would you choose to cool a fast breeder reactor?
In 2006 all large-scale fast breeder reactor (FBR) power stations were liquid metal fast breeder reactors (LMFBR) cooled by liquid sodium.
Which isotope is most commonly used as the starting material in breeder reactors?
Whereas a conventional nuclear reactor can use only the readily fissionable but more scarce isotope uranium-235 for fuel, a breeder reactor employs either uranium-238 or thorium, of which sizable quantities are available. Uranium-238, for example, accounts for more than 99 percent of all naturally occurring uranium.
Why stainless steel is considered as most suitable material for the components of nuclear reactor?
AISI 316 austenitic stainless steels are widely used reactor materials in conventional nuclear power plants because of their outstanding mechanical formability, good high temperature strength and corrosion resistance [1] .
What is the suitable material used to build a nuclear reactor?
uranium
A number of different materials can be used to fuel a reactor, but most commonly uranium is used. Uranium is abundant, and can be found in many places around the world, including in the oceans. Other fuels, such as plutonium and thorium, can also be used.
Which one is a commonly used coolant for fast breeder reactor?
liquid sodium
The most promising type of breeder reactor is the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR), which operates by using liquid sodium as its coolant, and breeds plutonium from uranium-238.
Why sodium is used in fast breeder reactor?
Despite sodium’s low specific heat (as compared to water), this enables the absorption of significant heat in the liquid phase, while maintaining large safety margins. Moreover, the high thermal conductivity of sodium effectively creates a reservoir of heat capacity that provides thermal inertia against overheating.
What is Fast Breeder Reactor?
A Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) is a nuclear reactor that uses fast neutron to generate more nuclear fuels than they consume while generating power, dramatically enhancing the efficiency of the use of resources. Nuclear fission by fast neutron causes the increase in neutrons generated.
What is fast breeder reactor?
What materials are suitable as moderator material in a reactor?
Materials for Nuclear Reactors For efficient slowing down of these neutrons, the atoms of moderator material need to have a size close to neutrons and thus the clear choice is H2O since hydrogen has the smallest atomic size. Other popular moderators are graphite, heavy water, sodium, and CO2.
What is the desired material for use in reactors?
A number of different materials can be used to fuel a reactor, but most commonly uranium is used. Uranium is abundant, and can be found in many places around the world, including in the oceans. Other fuels, such as plutonium and thorium, can also be used.
How does the prototype fast breeder reactor work?
The prototype fast breeder reactor has a negative void coefficient, thus ensuring a high level of passive nuclear safety . This means that when the reactor overheats (below the boiling point of sodium) the speed of the fission chain reaction decreases, lowering the power level and the temperature.
Why is PFBR cooled by sodium in nuclear reactors?
The fact that the PFBR is cooled by liquid sodium creates additional safety requirements to isolate the coolant from the environment, especially in a loss of coolant accident scenario, since sodium explodes if it comes into contact with water and burns when in contact with air. This latter event occurred in the Monju reactor in Japan in 1995.
What is the role of PFBR in India’s nuclear power program?
The surplus plutonium (or uranium-233 for thorium reactors) from each fast reactor can be used to set up more such reactors and grow the nuclear capacity in tune with India’s needs for power. The PFBR is part of the three-stage nuclear power program . India has the capability to use thorium cycle based processes to extract nuclear fuel.
How much money has been spent in the construction of pudra reactor?
As of February 2021, around ₹5,850 crore (equivalent to ₹ 170 billion or US$2.43 billion in 2019) have been spent in the construction and commissioning of the reactor. The reactor is now expected to be operational by October 2022. Schematic diagram showing the difference between the Loop and Pool designs of a liquid metal fast breeder reactor.