Analytic tools for licensing of small lead cooled reactors

Purpose and goal

The project aimed at the development and qualification of an analytical tool for performing safety-informed design and licensing of innovative, Generation-IV Lead-cooled Fast Reactors (LFRs), especially intended for energy production in remote locations. The BELLA code has been extended to include the capability to model both different liquid metal coolants (e.g., sodium) and advanced fuel materials (e.g., nitrides) for transmutation. In addition, it has been further developed into a system code allowing to perform whole-plant safety analyses.

Expected results and effects

The BELLA reactor dynamics code has been developed into a comprehensive tool for safety-informed design and safety assessment of small LFRs. As such, BELLA is essential in the process of licensing the SEALER reactor, currently under development in Sweden and pre-licensing in Canada, for power production in off-grid applications, such as arctic communities, the mining industry and the shipping industry. The tool will have a substantial impact on the unique ability of Swedish public/private partnerships to establish a major innovative industrial product on the global energy market.

Planned approach and implementation

The project has been carried out in 3 years within a joint international R&D collaboration of universities, RTOs and private industry, in strong connection with EU Framework Programmes and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. The extension and development of BELLA into a comprehensive system code, software quality assurance and code verification have been completed successfully and timely. Code validation, uncertainty quantification, and calibration remain to be accomplished, due to the shortage of major funding, and consequent lack of suitable experimental data.