New Structure Design for SCWR Internal Components

Structure design of supercritical light water cooled reactor (SCWR) faced some problem such as materials selection for their special application environment. SCWR vessel internal component materials not only service with irradiation damage, but also various temperatures. The temperature of reactor coolant inlet is 280 °C while outlet is 550 °C, in addition, the thermal expansion of internal components materials and reactor pressure vessel (RPV) components are different. Thus, reducing thermal stress in SCWR internal components and keeping inlet/outlet pipe seal are contradictory. The authors designed a SCWR internal components structure with combined application of 316Ti and N10242. The mechanical properties and irradiation performances of these materials were proved to be available, and finite elements calculation suggests that this new structure can evidently reduce the thermal stress of SCWR internal components.