Current nuclear reactors have 40-60 year operating lives but new nickel alloy could make 120 year reactor vessel

http://nextbigfuture.com/

July 22, 2015

A new 'ultra pure' nickel alloy has been used to create a reactor vessel, which Rosatom says could potentially last 120 years.

Reactors that could last 120 years would have better economics than reactors with shorter lives.
Also, a reactor vessel that lasted 120 years could enable the economics for retrofitting existing powerplants for long life retrofit.

In a nuclear power plant the reactor pressure vessel contains the reactor core itself, demanding the highest resilience to temperature, pressure and radiation, while the component sits low in the reinforced centre of the concrete reactor building and is one of the only major components that cannot be replaced.

Russian state nuclear company Rosatom says it has developed a new 'extra strong' reactor pressure vessel for its forthcoming VVER-TOI pressurized water reactors. It could give that design a lifespan of 120 years, compared to the 100 years offered by Rosatom's current VVER-1200 as built at Novovoronezh and Leningrad Phase II.

Around the world a range of advanced reactor designs offer 60 year lives as standard, with this commonly expected to be extendable to 80 or 100 years. This represents a substantial improvement on the benchmark of 50-60 years for current reactors, which were usually licensed for an arbitrary 30 or 40 years when they were constructed in the second wave of nuclear build.

The first of the new parts was recently cast from a 450-tonne ingot and shaped into a weld-less shell 6 metres long and 4.5 metres in diameter, which "proves that OMZ SpetStal, supported by the Central Research Institute for Machine Building Technology, is now able to produce reactor shells of required dimensions and properties," according to Alexander Romashkin, acting deputy director of metallurgy associated with the Institute.

What Miniature Nuclear Reactors Could Mean For The World

By Michael McDonald 19 hours ago

Even as the future of grid-scale nuclear reactors seems to be in flux with the mainstay producers like the Japanese and French seemingly unsure about the future of atomic power, new applications for nuclear technology are being developed all the time.

Traditional nuclear power plants cost billions to build and, as Japan discovered, can be very dangerous. Of course nuclear power, despite its dangers, is also one of the most efficient energy generation technologies on the planet. It is little surprise then that nuclear power advocates are excited about a new area of technology in the industry: miniature nuclear reactors.
The basic idea behind miniature nuclear reactors is that by building a small scale reactor in a modular cube, the system allows for cost savings, better flexibility to move power where it is needed, better protection from terrorists and natural disasters, and a simpler operating design.
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There are a variety of parties working on designing new nuclear reactor types from corporations to government-funded research groups and even periodically, teenagers. Of course, relatively small reactors already exist and are used to power naval vessels like submarines and aircraft carriers. As a result, it’s not a huge leap to imagine a similar approach being successful elsewhere. And there is definitely global interest in the technology.

What remains unclear though is exactly what the new applications for modular nuclear reactors might be. Flexibility in power applications and a decentralized power grid are obvious options. Similarly, expanded use of reactors on naval vessels to power directed energy weapons and railguns clearly makes sense as well. But those applications could be just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

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Two unorthodox applications for modular reactors are in the transportation arena. Russia has announced the development of a nuclear powered train. The basic idea is that a nuclear powered train would not need to be refueled for years at a time. As a result, it would be much better able to operate effectively in remote areas without refueling stations or even electricity. For Russia in particular this makes sense, but other large countries with sparsely populated areas might find the idea useful as well.

In addition, Boeing has recently patented a nuclear-powered plane engine. The engine uses laser combustion and, if it could be effectively implemented, the system would allow a plane to literally travel for years without stopping. Of course pilots would need a break periodically and so it’s more likely that the technology would be combined with a drone-style pilot. From a military perspective, this would be an enormous advance, and with Boeing serving as a major defense contractor, investors can bet that the company will be looking closely at this option.

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In addition to defense applications though, there is also another possible use of a nuclear engine – in a space craft. To the extent that a nuclear power source could be effectively used in a space-craft it might pave the way for cost effective space operations that people have been talking about for years. For instance, asteroid mining and deep space flights could both be a lot more effective if powered by an efficient small nuclear reactor. Again though, as in the defense realm, Boeing is a big player in the commercial space field.

With Boeing being pressed hard by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Orbital ATK, the company will surely be looking for any advantage they can get. It’s still early days in the modular nuclear reactor arena, but it is possible that in a few years, the technology could be a major boon to Boeing and others that can come up with unconventional ways to effectively capitalize on new developments.

By Michael McDonald for Oilprice.com