RESEARCH OF HIGH-TEMPERATURE NUCLEAR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY FOR THE PRODUCTION OF HYDROGEN AND OTHER INNOVATIVE APPLICATIONS

Abstract

The presented results of neutron-physical, thermophysical, and technological studies have shown that it is possible in principle to provide the required parameters of a high-temperature (900-950 °C) reactor installation with a 600 MW reactor (heat) with a sodium coolant for hydrogen production and other innovative applications based on one of thermochemical cycles or high temperature electrolysis with a high coefficient of thermal use of electricity. The relative small size, type of coolant, and the choice of fissile material and structural materials make it possible to create a reactor with intrinsic properties that provide enhanced nuclear and radiation safety. The possibilities of using heatresistant radiation-resistant structural materials and using the proposed technology of hightemperature sodium coolant at a high hydrogen concentration are discussed. The features of the behavior of a high-temperature complex multicomponent heterogeneous system ″sodium coolant - impurities - structural (technological) materials - protective gas″ are analyzed, which are associated with an exponential temperature dependence of constants characterizing heat and mass transfer processes (diffusion, permeability, solubility, absorption rate, equilibrium gas pressures, etc.). It has been shown that the technology system for high-temperature sodium coolant differs significantly from systems at modern nuclear power plants. With an increase in the intensity of hydrogen sources coming from the third circuit to the second, compared with BN-600 NPPs by two to three orders of magnitude, the condition for its implementation is to increase the hydrogen concentration in sodium by two to three orders of magnitude compared to modern nuclear power plants in combination with the removal of hydrogen from sodium by evacuation through membranes from vanadium or niobium.