A preliminary thermal-hydraulic study of the fluidized bed nuclear reactor concept

A preliminary thermal-hydraulic analysis of a new design of the fluidized bed nuclear reactor concept is performed in order to study its passive safety characteristics. This reactor is small and modular in design, and light water reactor technology is used. Some characteristics of the proposed concept are inherent safety, controllable neutron spectrum, tight lattice, no soluble or burnable poison, on-load refueling, flexible fuel cycle choice, shop fabrication, possibility of eliminating operators, and ease of decommissioning tasks. The present study shows the reactor's passive cooling characteristic