Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Core design study of the Wielenga Innovation Static Salt Reactor (WISSR)

  • T. Wielenga (Wielenga Innovation Foundation, Inc) ;
  • W.S. Yang (University of Michigan) ;
  • I. Khaleb (University of Michigan)
  • Received : 2023.06.01
  • Accepted : 2023.11.06
  • Published : 2024.03.25
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Abstract

This paper presents the design features and preliminary design analysis results of the Wielenga Innovation Static Salt Reactor (WISSR). The WISSR incorporates features that make it both flexible and inherently safe. It is based on innovative technology that controls a nuclear reactor by moving molten salt fuel into or out of the core. The reactor is a low-pressure, fast spectrum transuranic (TRU) burner reactor. Inherent shutdown is achieved by a large negative reactivity feedback of the liquid fuel and by the expansion of fuel out of the core. The core is made of concentric, thin annular fuel chambers containing molten fuel salt. A molten salt coolant passes between the concentric fuel chambers to cool the core. The core has both fixed and variable volume fuel chambers. Pressure, applied by helium gas to fuel reservoirs below the core, pushes fuel out of a reservoir and up into a set of variable volume chambers. A control system monitors the density and temperature of the fuel throughout the core. Using NaCl-(TRU,U)Cl3 fuel and NaCl-KCl-MgCl2 coolant, a road-transportable compact WISSR core design was developed at a power level of 1250 MWt. Preliminary neutronics and thermal-hydraulics analyses demonstrate the technical feasibility of WISSR.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to Dr. Albert Hsieh at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for his help with initial neutronics calculations and Mr. Aaron Huxford and Ohwang Kwon at the University of Michigan for their help with initial CFD and OpenMC calculations, respectively. This project was partially funded by the Wielenga Innovation Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation. Further results including calculations and studies may be found at their website: WiFound.org.

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