INNOVATIVE SCO2-BASED HEAT REMOVAL TECHNOLOGY FOR AN INCREASED LEVEL OF SAFETY OF NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

ended

The main aim of the sCO2-4-NPP is to bring an innovative technology based on supercritical CO2 (sCO2) for heat removal in nuclear power plants (NPPs) closer to the market. sCO2-4-NPP builds on results of the previous H2020 sCO2-HeRo project, where the technology was first developed and brought to TRL3. The sCO2-4-NPP technology will be a backup cooling system, attached to the principal steam-based cooling system, which will considerably delay or eliminate the need for human intervention (>72 hours) in case of accidents such as StationBlackOuts, thus replying to the need for increased safety in NPPs. Thanks to the compact size and modularity of the system, it can be retrofitted into existing NPPs but also included in future NPPs under development. Through a close collaboration between major industrial actors and highly-skilled academic institutions, the sCO2-4-NPP partners will bring the full system to TRL5 and parts of it to TRL7 by carrying out experiments, simulations, design, upscaling and validation of the technology in a real NPP PWR simulator. Regulatory requirements will be considered in the conceptual design of components and the system architecture to increase the chances of acceptance by European nuclear safety authorities and speed up the road to the market. Detailed technical, regulatory, financial and marketing roadmaps will be developed for bringing the technology to industrial use (TRL 9) after the project. The sCO2-4-NPP technology will increase NPP safety, decrease the plant overall environmental footprint and potentially lower costs for energy consumption, thus increasing the competitiveness of European NPP operators.