Conceptual study of a Complementary Scram System For Liquid Metal Cooled Nuclear Reactors

Vanmaercke, Simon [SCK-CEN] Van den Eynde, Gert [SCK-CEN] Tijskens, Englebert Bartosiewicz, Yann [UCL]

GEN-IV reactors promise higher safety and reliability as one of the major improvements over previous generations of reactors. To achieve that, all GEN-IV reactor concepts require two completely independent shutdown systems that rely on different operating principles. For liquid metal cooled reactors the first system is an absorber-rod based solution. The second system that by requirement should rely on another principle, is however quite a challenge to design. In this presentation an overview of the existing literature on scram systems is given, each with their advantages and limitations . A promising new concept is also presented. The ongoing work conducted at SCK-CEN and UCL/TERM aims at assessing the reliability of this new concept both experimentally and numerically. Some preliminary experimental and DEM simulation results will be presented.