Vol 122, No 3 (2017)

A view on Russia’s nuclear power strategy at the present stage – including the formation of a two-component system including fast reactors and the possibility of fuel cycle closure on the basis of thermal reactors – as well as on the prospects for using thorium and including thermonuclear neutron sources in nuclear power in the distant future is discussed. The key problems of the impending state of implementation of the country’s nuclear power strategy are examined.

Computational hydrodynamics was used to perform, within the scope of the ERCOSAM–SAMARA international projects, calculations of the S1, S2 experiments on the SPOT ZO setup with a condenser-heat exchanger. The basic effects observed in the experiments are reproduced: helium pressure growth and stratification upon injection, pressure reduction and partial elimination of stratification during the operation of the condenser-heat exchanger. On the whole, the experiment agreed well with the calculations of the pressure, temperature, and composition of the gas. The small quantitative discrepancies with experiment indicate a possible impact of neglected factors, mainly, associated with inadequate knowledge of the details of the condensation/evaporation processes at and near the walls as well as with general sensitivity to variations of the initial conditions. Specifically, the deviation of the initial wall temperature or the total heat capacity of the wall appreciably influences the behavior of the pressure.

The results of testing the models implemented in the OXID module of the thermohydraulic code HYDRA-IBRAE/LM, used to calculate an oxide film on a steel surface, transport of dissolved and disperse products, and coagulation of polydisperse solid particles in lead coolant flow, are presented. The module was developed for modeling the formation of an oxide film on the surface of the channels in a reactor facility with heavy liquid-metal coolant and transport of dissolved and disperse products of corrosion and oxidation in the loop.

Mixed uranium-plutonium nitride fuel is seen as a promising fuel for fast reactors with a closed fuel cycle. A complex program of computational and experimental validation of this fuel up to 2020 has been developed within the scope of Project Breakthrough. Pre-reactor and post-reactor studies of mixed uranium-plutonium nitride fuel are part of this program. The basic research results obtained by the end of 2016 are examined.

This investigation was performed on a vessel heat-engineering bench. The working medium was water under pressure up to it 20.5 MPa and temperature from 20 (cold) to 350°C (hot). The controllers were a β-emission sensor of level and a Sapfir-22DD differential manometer as the standard. The objective was to determine the characteristics of a β-emission sensor under the conditions of the working medium. Analysis of the experimental data showed that the indications of the β-emission sensor and differential manometer were identical and linear as a function of the level of both the cold and hot water. The characteristics of the β-emission sensor are: minimal response time and measurement error, very small dimensions, serviceability at pressures to 20.5 MPa and temperature to 350°C, at least 10 years life, and energy independence of the primary converter.