JAEA latest reactor design (GTHTR300) and its economic analysis

Aug. 25-28, 2015

Shoji TAKADADepartment of HTTR, JAEA

Economy of GTHTR300

Economic competitiveness

High temperature, High efficiency

Simplification (based on the safety feature)

Direct cycle gas turbine

Safety• Severe accident free

(Double confinement）

Power conversion• Horizontal

• No inter-cooling

• Adoption of existing technology

• Enhancement of reliability

Layout• Separation of power

conversion vessel and

heat exchanger vessel

• Enhancement of

maintainability

GTHTR300Electricity; 275MW (46%)

Outlet temperature; 850C

Core Design•New refueling method

(Sandwich shuffling)

•High burn-up

（120GWd/t)

•Refueling Interval of 2 years

（Periodic inspection

interval of 2 years)

Coolant flow path• Cooling the reactor vessel using outlet

coolant of the compressor

• Available to use low-alloy for LWR

reactor vessel

Turbine Generator

Core

Recuperator

Precooler

Reactor

Heat Exchanger

vessel Power conversion vesselControl valves

CompressorTurbine Generator

Core

Recuperator

Precooler

Reactor

Heat Exchanger

vessel Power conversion vesselControl valves

Compressor

2K. Kunitomi, et al., Design study on Gas Turbine High Temperature Reactor (GTHTR300), Trans. Japan Atomic Energy Society of Japan, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 352-360 (2002)

ReactorRecuperator

Precooler321MW

Turbine Compressor Generator

Efficiency 46%

RPV material is low cost alloy commonly used in LWR

Recuperator is compact heat exchanger with temperature efficiency 90 % jointly developed with MHI

Efficiencies of helium gas compressor over 90 % jointly developed with MHI

Outline of GTHTR300

X. Yan, et al., Cost and performance design approach for GTHTR300 power conversion system, Nucl. Eng. Des., 226, pp. 351-373 (2003)

Fluid Helium gas

Pressure Max. 1.0MPa

Temperature 30℃

Test conditions

1/3 scale model of helium gas compressor

Magnetic bearing

Magnetic bearing was developed, which supports

turbo-machine rotor without lubricants

Helium gas compressor with high efficiency

over 90% was developed for gas-turbine

Electro

magnet

Rotor blade

Rotor

Helium gas loop

R&D of components

X. Yan, et al., Aerodynamic Design, Model Test, and CFD analysisfor a Multistage Axial helium Compressor, ASME J. Turbomachinery, Vol. 130, (2008).

X. Yan, et al., DESIGN STUDY OF AIR COOLED GTHTR300A FOR INLAND INSTALLATION, PBNC 2012, PBNC 2012-0049, (2012).

ＨＴＴＲ

Heat utilization system

Chemical reactors

IHX

Reactor

Hot gas ductGas-turbine

HTTR-GT/H2 test (Plan)

H. Sato, et al., HTTR Demonstration Program for Nuclear Cogeneration of Hydrogen and Electricity, ICONE23-1459 (2015).

【GTHTR300 (275MWe x 4)】 【BWR-5 (1100MWe)】

★Volume : 674,000 m3

• Reactor building :354,000 m3

• Turbine building ：320,000 m3

24 m

47 m

119 m

11 m

45 m

68.5 m

76 m

A

A

Reactor building Turbine building

A-A section

22 m

Ref) Figure is drawn from licensing document of Kashiwazaki-Kariya

power plant (No.3 unit)

93.7 m

★建屋容積：485,000 m3

109.2 m

84.0 m

★Volume：533,000 m3

Building volume is 79% of BWR-5

Turbine building

Smaller building volume

Ref) X. Yan, et al., Nuclear Eng. Design., 226,

p351-373 (2003)

80 m

53 m

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5

LWR(PWR)

GTHTR300

Fuel cost (cents/kWh)

U purchase, conversion

enrichment

fabrication

storagereprocessing

waste disposal

MOX

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5

LWR(PWR)

GTHTR300

Fuel cost (cents/kWh)

U purchase, conversion

enrichment

fabrication

storagereprocessing

waste disposal

MOX

Front-end process : U purchase, conversion/enrichment/fabrication

Back-end process : storage/reprocessing/waste disposal

Front-end process : Cost-up by high enrichment and coated fuel particle

Bask-end process : Cost-down by less amount of generated waste because of higher burn-

up and higher plant thermal efficiency

Fuel cost is the same as LWR because of high burnup and high thermal

efficiency despite that fabrication cost of coated fuel particles is higher.

Ref) Takei, et al., Trans. At. Energy Soc. Japan, Vol.5, No.2 (2006)

1.22 cents/kWh

1.23 cents/kWh

Competitive fuel cost

Development of high burn-up coated particle fuel in cooperation with NFIIrradiation test up to 100GWd/t （ISTC Regular Project）

Fuel compacts for irradiation test

Sandwich shuffling up to 120GWd/t

Refueling method and High Burn-up fuel

K. Kunitomi, et al., Design study on Gas Turbine High Temperature Reactor (GTHTR300), Trans. Japan Atomic Energy Society of Japan, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 352-360 (2002)

Suitable for Japanese fuel cycle policy

Available for existing reprocessing plant

Suitable for long-term temporary storage

Reprocessing plant

Power station

(LWR)

HTGR

Fuel cycle

Temporary storage

Decay heat removal

with natural

circulation of air

(without electricity)

Preprocessing

Ceramics fuel

block with high

corrosion resistance

Temporary storage

Reprocessing Spent fuel

Rotation

Extraction of

fuel particle

Fluidized

incinerator

Crushed fuel pin

Fuel particle

Fracture of

coating layer

Direct geological disposal *

* Accessible to policy of direct geological disposal

Reprocessing after temporary storage

Direct geological

disposal after

temporary storage

Maintenance technology developed using HTTR

Maintenance technology special to HTGRs Fuel handling technology ISI Helium purification, storage and supply system Reactivity control system Maintenance manual

Maintenance technology for future HTGRs Overhaul inspection of primary system Helium leak detection technology

Efficient maintenance works for general equipment Data base to establish condition based maintenance

Periodic inspection interval is 2 years. During inspection period, decay heat removal by SCS, refueling and inspection of system and components are carried out. Main critical work is the inspection of primary cooling system such as removal and exchange of turbo-machinery from PCV.

The critical path of maintenance is decay heat removal and inspection of primary cooling system. Maintenance works of systems for reactivity control, measuring and control, electric power, auxiliary system, ventilation and air conditioning are carried out using technologies developed for HTTR, which can be excluded from the critical paths.

Y. Shimazaki, et al, Development of maintenance technologies for the future high-temperature gas cooled reactor(HTGR) using operating experieces acquired in high-temperature engineering test reactor(HTTR) , J. Nuclear Sci., Technol., Vol. 51, Nos. 11-12, (2014)

HTGR can be constructed near consuming region due to higher safety features.

LWR can be constructed on the coast and

generated power is transmitted to the

consuming region.

Transmission distance 10 km

Construction cost of

transmission system* 1.9M$

Transmission distance 1,000 km

Construction cost of

transmission system* 193M$

* Source) Anpara Power Transmission System Project in India (Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Ex-post Evaluation Report on ODA Loan Projects 2006)

Total cost is 290M$. Total transmission distance is 1,508km. Estimated construction cost 0.19M$/km. Transmission line of 800kV is 409km. Transmission line of 400kV

is 1,099km, 550MW of power can be transmitted by 400kV line. Five transformer substations of 315MVA (400kV) are constructed and three substations are extended.

Low power transmission cost

A few percentage of reactor

construction cost of HTGR Almost same as reactor construction cost of LWR

By fully utilizing characteristics of HTGR; high heat efficiency, high performance to contain fission products and excellent inherent safety,

Costs of management for accident risks and additional safety measures are eliminated.Capital, operating and maintenance costs are reduced.

Unit【¥/kWh】

2.5 3.1 1.4 1.1

0.2 0.5

2.0 1.9 1.4 1.1

LWR*1

HTGR*2

Total: Over ¥8.9/kWh

Total: ¥6.4/kWh-2.4*1 Material 2 in website of Cabinet Secretariat: http://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/npu/policy09/archive02_hokoku.html

*2 JAEA estimation

■Operating and maintenance costs (¥－1.2/kWh)

Owing to fewer number of facilities in whole plant and less exposure to plant operators and workers as a result of retention of fission products inside fourfold coated fuel particles.

Compensation for damage, decommissioning of accident reactor, decontamination, etc.

■Cost of management for accident risks (¥－0.5/kWh)

■Expenses related to policy measuresLocation, disaster prevention, public relations, development of human resources, assessment and investigation, development of current/future technology for power generation, etc.

■Cost of Additional safety measures (¥－0.2/kWh)Emergency safety measures, emergency power generation facilities, reliability assurance of external power supply, measures for severe accidents, etc.

■Fuel cycle cost

■Capital cost (¥－0.5/kWh)

Owing to few number of water and steam system facilities, fewer number of facilities in whole plant and high heat efficiency of plant.

Comparison of cost with LWR

■Operation and maintenance costs （1.1）（Estimated by JAEA）

1.5

1.1

1.6

■Fuel cycle costs（1.5）（Estimated by JAEA in cooperation with NFI）

■Capital costs（1.6）（ Estimated by JAEA in cooperation with nuclear industry ）

U purchase・conversion：0.14, enrichment：0.29, fabrication：0.43*

reprocessing：0.40, Intermediate storage：0.02, waste disposal：0.18

Repair cost：0.41, expendable cost：0.45, Labor cost：0.19,

Business tax：0.05, business sharing expenses：0.01

Depreciable cost：1.02, Interest cost：0.24, Property

tax：0.11, Decommissioning cost：0.21

4.2Items Cost（Billion¥）

Reactor system[RPV, Reactor internal structure, reactivity control

system, fuel handling and storage system, VCS, etc.]

Power conversion system (Primary cooling system)

[Turbine, compressor, generator, PCV, HXV,

Heat exchanger, Hot duct, etc.]

Auxiliary system

[Systems of He purification, He storage & supply, cooling

water, ventilating and air conditioning and radiation control,

et al.〕

Electric system・Control & measuring system

Building and structure [R/B, HX/B for sharing]

17

14

7

6

11

合 計 55

*1）Takei, et al., Economical Evaluation on Gas Turbine High Temperature Reactor 300 (GTHTR300), Trans. Japan Atomic Energy Society of Japan, Vol. 5, No. 2, p.109-117, 2006.

Construction cost of GTHTR300

Based on the paper published in 2006（*1）, construction cost for 1

plant of GTHTR300 is accounted by amount of components as 55B¥.

Power generation cost of HTGR（evaluated in 2006） Estimate condition

GTHTR300：4plants/Unit（600MWt/plant、275MWe/plant、1100MWe/Unit）

Average burn-up：120 GWd/t, Plant life：40 years, availability: 80%, Discounting rate：3% Effects of learning, line production and standardization of component and construction (Nth Plant), Modular concept

Construction cost includes those for design and fabrication of facility, plant construction and commissioning（Costs of R&D, licensing, land, site preparation, fuel and spares are excluded）

It should be noted that further R&D is necessary until actual power generation is achieved.

Power generation Cost

13

Availability80%

Note; Construction cost of the 1st plant cost 30% more. Further more, that of 1plant in 1 unit costs 10% more.

unit：¥/kWh

*：fabrication cost by facility satisfying safety requirements in 2006

HTGR

By fully utilizing characteristics of HTGR; high heat efficiency, high performance to contain fission products and excellent inherent safety, cost reduction is possible.

Power generation cost of HTGR（revised in 2011）

Cost of power generation

*2）Material 2 in website of Cabinet Secretariat: http://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/npu/policy09/archive02_hokoku.html

■Operation and maintenance costs（1.9～1.6*）

1.1

1.4

1.9～1.6

2.0

～1.7

■ Expenses related to policy measures （1.1）

■Fuel cycle costs （1.4）

■Capital cost（2.0～1.7*）

14

*1）Takei, et al., Economical Evaluation on Gas Turbine High Temperature Reactor 300 (GTHTR300), Trans. Atom. Ener. Soc. of Japan, Vol. 5, No. 2, p.109-117, 2006.

6.4～5.8*

Due to no experience of construction of demonstration plant and reprocessing of spent fuel, the cost of power

generation is estimated by JAEA, which was revised as that of 2011 under the postulated condition accounting for

the rates of increase and declining as same as those of LWR based on ¥4.2/kWh in the report (*1).

In the report (*2), costs of management for accident risks and additional safety measures are added to capital costs,

operation and maintenance costs, fuel cycle costs and expenses related to policy measures. However, costs of management for accident risks and additional safety measures are eliminated owing to the inherent safety design for

HTGRs. In case postulated as same as LWRs, they are set over ¥0.5/kWh and ¥0.2/kWh, respectively. Hence, this

evaluation can not be compared with that of LWR unconditionally. It should be also noted that more R&D is necessary before actual power

generation is realized.

• Due to lower power density, construction cost of reactor system is higher

• Construction cost except for reactor system is lower due to following reasons Significant fewer number of water and steam system facilities than LWR Fewer number of electric and measuring system and their capacity No reactor containing vessel, and the volume of reactor building is

smaller than LWR

• Owing to high enriched coated particle fuel, costs for processes for enrichment, conversion and fabrication are high

• Owing to higher burn-up, amount of spent fuel is small. Owing to higher thermal efficiency, costs of reprocessing and waste disposal is low.

• Owing to fewer number of facilities and amount of components in whole plant, maintenance cost is lower

• Owing to higher thermal efficiency, the cost is totally lower

Availability70～80%

unit：¥/kWh

Postulated same increase rate as that of LWR in report(*2)

*： Left value: availability 70% (As same as that of LWR in report(*2))

Right value: availability 80%（as same as that of 2006 version）

**：Discounting rate：3%

Postulated as same as that of LWR in report(*2)No change in cost for Siting, Disaster prevention, public relations, development of human resources, assessment and investigation, development of current/future technology for power generation, etc.

HTGR

Postulated same increase rate as that of LWR in report(*2)

Postulated same declining rate as that of LWR in report(*2)

R&D Subjects

(1) Design study

(2) Safety demonstration

test under sever

conditions

(3) Irradiation tests of fuel

and graphite

(4) Life-extension of

graphite

(5) Verification of codes

(6) Next step of IS process

for hydrogen production

(7) Helium gas turbine

(8) HTTR operation and

maintenance

R&D subjects

15