Plans and Status toward SMR Development and Deployment

in Japan

Taiju SHIBATAshibata.taiju@jaea.go.jpGL, International Cooperation Gr.Sector of Fast Reactor and Advanced Reactor R&DJapan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA)

Second Meeting of the Technical Working Group for Small and Medium-sized or Modular Reactor (TWG-SMR, IAEA), 8-11 July 2019

Strategic Energy Plan in Japan

2030 2050

Reducing emission of Greenhouse Gases by 26％

by 80％（From “Low Carbon”

to “Non-Carbon”)Ratio of electricity gen.

（FY2010→FY2016）:Renewables（10％→16％）Nuclear （26％→2％）Fossil （64％→82％）

→22-24％→22-20％→ 56％

Ratio of Non-fossil fuel energy should be increased to achieve the above-mentioned target

Energy Saving 35％ morePromotion of Hydrogen, Battery and Distributed Energy System

Approved by the Cabinet in July, 2018

Increase of renewable energy and utilization of H2 toward 2050 are stated in cabinet decision; Long-term Strategy as a Growth Strategy Based on the Paris Agreement (tentative name) (June 2019 Cabinet Decision) JAEA Translation

2

Greenhouse gas emissions & reduction goals in Japan

Ref. ： Website of Ministry of Environment, Japan

GHG emission in Japan (Prompt report of FY2017)

• The emission reduction in FY2017 : -8.4% compared to FY2013

• Reduction of GHG emission from power generation, transportation, and steelmakingis important.

• From 13 steelmaking plants: 12%

Breakdown of GHG emission in Japan

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Application of nuclear energy besides power generation is necessary in addition to increased use of renewable energy in order to achieve the long-term goal of GHG emission reduction.

SMR will play a key role for this issue.

• Ada pta bility to nucle a r fue l cycle

• Com bina t ion with FR

１１ < HTGR> Co o p e ra t io n w it h fo r e ig n p a r t n e r s

１１ < HTGR> De m o n s t r a t io n in Ja p a n

• H2 product ion• High e fficie ncy GT

ge ne ra t ion

• Sa fe ty• Ste a m supply a nd

ST ge ne ra t ion

• Sa fe ty• High e fficie ncy GT

ge ne ra t ion• Ha rm ony with RE• H2/ he a t supply

Sa fe ty a nd e conom y He a t u t iliza t ion

Sa fe ty, e conom y a nd ha rm ony with RE

Ada pta bility to nucle a r fue l cycle

Fu t u r e p la n s

• pla n t conce pt• e nha nce m e n t of e conom y • a da pta bility to nucle a r fue l cycle

Gr id

Ha r m o n iza t io n s ys t e m

１１ < FR> S t u d y o n p r o m is in g SMR co n ce p tPu m a na ge m e n tRe duct ion of HLW • core conce pt

• e conom y e nha nce m e nt• m e rit of hybrid sys te m with HTGR,

e tc.• Hybrid nucle a r

sys te m with HTGR, e tc.

• Colloca t ion with fue l cycle fa cility

• Sa fe ty• Econom y• Pu burn ing / bre e ding• Wa ste re duct ion a nd a nn ih ila t ion

a s m a jor powe r supply source

• Ex p lo r e d e ve lo p m e n t p a r t n e r a n d p r o je c t t o u s e JAEA’s fa c ilit y In troduce Ja pa ne se e xce lle n t

HTGR sys te m a nd te chnologie s P r o p o s e in t e r n a t io n a l jo in t

p r o je c t u s in g HTTR, e t c . St a n d a r d iz a t io n o f SDC

La u n ch n e w in t e r n a t io n a l jo in t d e ve lo p m e n t p r o je c tUt iliz a t io n o f HTTR ( co s t s h a r e p r o je c t )

Ex p lo r e d e ve lo p m e n t p r o je c t

Ex p lo r e d e ve lo p m e n t p r o je c t 4

SMR development plan in JAEA

Fu t u r e p la n s

Fu t u r e p la n s

Major specification of Japan’s first HTGR

Major specificationThermal power 30 MWFuel Coated fuel particle /

Prismatic block typeCore material GraphiteCoolant HeliumInlet temperature 395°COutlet temperature 950°C Pressure 4 MPa

Containment vessel

Reactor pressure vessel

Intermediate heat

exchanger(IHX)

Hot- gas duct

HTTR(High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor)

Graphite-moderated and helium-cooled VHTR

Fuel Rods Graphite Block

First criticality : 1998Full power operation : 200150 days continuous 950oC operation : 2010Loss of forced cooling test at 9MW : 2010

5

Reactor physics

Very High Temperature Reactor Critical Assembly (VHTRC)

Thermo-hydraulics

Conceptual design

System integrity design

Basic design

Detail design

Application and permission of construction

Construction

F i rs t c r i t i ca l i t y

Reactor thermal power(30MW)Reactor outlet coolant temperature 850oC

Reactor outlet coolant temperature 950oC

850oC/30 days operation

950oC/50 days operation

Safety demonstration test

1973

1969～

1980

1974～

1984

1981～

1985～

1988198919901991～19971998

2001

20022004

2007

2010

Research development and design

～

Construction of Reactor

Start of loss of forced cooling test

Research and development

Fuel / material

In-pile Gas Loop(OGL-1)

Outside and inside of the HTTR

H T T R

2014New regulation standard issuedConfirmation of conformity of the standard toward restart

First in the world

History of HTTR

HENDEL (Helium Engineering Demonstration Loop)

Time (h)

Flow

rate

(%)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Tripping gas circulators → Core cooling flow rate reached zero.Core cooling flow rate Results of test

Reactor powerResults of test

Analysis

Maximum fuel temperatureAnalysis

100500

Pow

er(%

)

30150

1600

800

0Tem

p.(o C

)

Safety demonstration testsUSA France Germany Korea Czech Hungary

OECD/NEA project

Japan

No CR reactivity control. No core cooling. Reactor is kept stable naturally with only physical phenomena.

6

Strategic Energy Plan (July 2018 Cabinet Decision)Under international cooperation, GOJ also facilitates R&D of technologies that serves the safetyimprovement of nuclear use such as high-temperature gas-cooled reactors, which are expected tobe utilized in various industries including hydrogen production and which have an inherent safety.

Policies of HTGR Development in Japan

Provisional Translation

Growth Strategy 2018 (June 2018 Cabinet Decision)The government also will advance research and development for the future by utilizing test reactorsthat include an experimental fast reactor and a high temperature gas-cooled reactor.

JAEA Translation

Strategic Roadmap for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells(March 12, 2019 Agency for Natural Resources and Energy)We will consider all possibilities: not only energy resources such as fossil energy and sunlight thatare already used for hydrogen production, but also utilization of innovative technologies that can beused for hydrogen production such as high temperature geothermal energy, ocean energy, spacesunlight, high temperature gas-cooled reactor, etc.

JAEA Translation

Long-term Strategy as a Growth Strategy Based on the Paris Agreement (tentative name)

(June 2019 Cabinet Decision)Target: Reducing hydrogen production cost to less than 1/10Examples of hydrogen production technology: high efficiency water electrolysis, …., thermochemical

hydrogen production using solar heat, industrial waste heat, etc. (IS Process)

JAEA Translation

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HTGR offers wide range of applications (heat, electricity, H2)

HTGR

Intermediateheat exchanger Steam

generator

Efficient heat utilizationWaste heat utilization

Process steam supply

High-temperature steamsupply system

Electricity supply

Electric generation system(Using gas & steam turbine)

950℃～

750℃

Hydrogen supply

950℃

・District heating・Desalination・Hot water aquaculture・Heating cultivation

Hydrogen production

・Fuel-cell car・Hydrogen reduction

iron-making・Chemical production

・People’s livelihood・Private electric generation

・Chemical industry・Petroleum refining

750℃～

550℃

500℃～

600℃

Cooler

200℃

150℃

Fuel:U, Pu, Th, MOX

900℃～

850℃

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Hybrid system with renewable energy

１Constant power to grid

Hydrogen production

Renewable power variation may be absorbed by simple and efficient load following of HTGR power and additional hydrogen cogeneration

GTHTR300C

Hydrogen production system

hydrogen

Thermo-chemical water splitting process (IS process) or steam methane reforming process for hydrogen production

Fuel cell vehicles

Iron making

GTHTR300C

High temperature steam for industry

Process heat can be supplied to chemical plant, petroleum refining plant, etc. and power can be produced by steam turbine

ElectricityProcess heat

Chemical plantHTR50S

Multipurpose cogeneration

Hydrogen, desalination, electricity, etc

Cogeneration (power generation, hydrogen production, desalination, etc. ) can achieve 80% of heat utilization rate

GTHTR300C hydrogen town

Various HTGR Systems

HTGR, owing to high temperature capability, can yield high efficiency (up to 50% in powergeneration, and 80% for heat utilization rate), resulting in competitive economics. It may besited near demand areas due to its excellent safety.

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Elapsed time [hour]

46

0

1

0

Power output

Simulation for daily load variation

IHX heat to H2 plant

Reactor thermal power

Nor

mal

ized

va

lue

Effic

ienc

y [%

]

Coo

lant

pre

ssur

e [M

Pa]

8

0

4

IHX

bypa

ss fl

ow [k

g/s]

200

0

100

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

Nuclear power generating efficiency

Inventory valve (IV) control

Bypass valve(BV) control

H2 plant

Precooler

Recuperator

Power generation rate control

Heat supply rate control

Control flowCoolant flow

IHX

Renewable energy power plant

Reactor

Core

Power synthesis

Constant power

Electric grid

Coolant inventory Bypass flow rate

Power output

Power output

Generator

Gas turbine

Power-to-heat ratio control

Power control

BV

IV

Corethermal inertia

Reactor

Core heat capacitance 370 MJ/oC

1. H. Sato & X. Yan, Study of an HTGR and renewable energy hybrid system for grid stability, Nucl. Eng. Des., 343, 178-186 (2019).2. X. Yan, et al., GTHTR300 as SMR for nuclear-renewable hybrid system, SMR 2019 Conference, February 14, 2019, Prague, Czech Republic.

Reactor responds to renewable (solar/wind) power generation variation at long time scale (on the order of hour ~ day) Adjusting power/H2 production ratio Reactor thermal power not changed

Power generation efficiency is constant.

Operational Flexibility - Renewable Hybrid (1) -

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H2 plant

Precooler

Recuperator

Power generation rate control

Heat supply rate control

Control flowCoolant flow

IHX

Renewable energy power plant

Reactor

Core

Power synthesis

Constant power

Electric grid

Coolant inventory Bypass flow rate

Power output

Power output

Generator

Gas turbine

Core heat capacitance 370 MJ/oC

Elapsed time [min]Simulation for load fluctuation

Reactor responds to renewable (wind/solar) power generation fluctuation at short time scale (on the order of sec ~ min). Utilize core thermal inertia Control coolant pressure Not adjust reactor thermal (fission) power

Power generation efficiency is constant.

Power-to-heatratio control

Power control

BV

IV

Corethermal inertia

Reactor

1. H. Sato & X. Yan, Study of an HTGR and renewable energy hybrid system for grid stability, Nucl. Eng. Des., 343, 178-186 (2019).2. X. Yan, et al., GTHTR300 as SMR for nuclear-renewable hybrid system, SMR 2019 Conference, February 14, 2019, Prague, Czech Republic.

Pres

sure

[M

Pa] 8

0

4Coolant pressure control

100

Turbine power change ± 20%

Reactorthermal power

Nor

mal

ized

val

ue

0

46

0

Effic

ienc

y [%

]

0 2 4 6 8

Nuclear power generating efficiency

5

Operational Flexibility - Renewable Hybrid (2) -

11

12

HTTR

(1) Reactor technology

Technology of fuel, graphite, superalloy and experience of operation and maintenance.Safety evaluation by NRA has almost been

completed.

(3) Innovative HTGR design

GTHTR300

GTHTR300 for electricity generation, cogeneration and nuclear/renewable energy hybrid system

HTGR with thorium fuelClean Burn HTGR for plutonium burning Establishment of safety design philosophy

R&D of gas turbine technologies such as high-efficiency helium compressor, shaft seal, and maintenance technology

In January 2019, 150 hours of hydrogen production with the rate of 0.03m3/h was achieved.

30 MWt and 950oC prismatic core advanced test reactor (Operation started in 1998) He compressor

Hydrogen facility

(4) HTTR-GT/H2 test

Connection of a helium gas turbine and hydrogen production system with the HTTR.

Basic design for the HTTR-GT/H2 test has been completed.

HTTR

HeliumGas turbine

H2 facility

(2) Gas turbine and H2 technology

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HTGR and Heat Application Technologies in JAEA

H2 production technology development

High-temp.heat of HTGR400oC 900oCH2

H2O

I2

I2

H2+ 2HI H2SO4 SO2 + H2O

1/2O2 +

2HI + H2SO4

I2 + SO2 + 2H2O

Decomposition of hydrogen iodide (HI)

Decomposition of sulfuric acid

SO2+

H2O

O2Bunsen reaction

Production of hydrogen iodide and sulfuric acid

Water

I S

Bunsen

Control pa ne ls

HI decom

position

H2 SO

4 decompositon

H2 Production Test Facility(non-nuclear) Process• Electric heating

Component materialsLiquid phase • Fluoroplastic lining• Glass lining• Silicon carbide (SiC)• Graphite(impervious)

Gaseous phase • Hastelloy C-276• JIS SUS316

Verification of integrity of components and stability of hydrogen production

Thermo-chemical water splitting Iodine-Sulfur (IS) Process

The 150-hour and 30 L/h continuous H2 production was performed with integration of 3 sections in January 2019.

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The Cabinet formulated the fundamental concepts in the Roadmap. Decisions at the Inter-Ministerial Council for Nuclear Power on Dec. 21, 2018

The significance of Fast Reactor (FR) development in Japan. Effective use of U resources, reduction of high-level

radioactive waste, and potential toxicity. An appropriate FR will start its operation at the appropriate

time in the mid-21st century. The major roles of the policy on the nuclear technology: To primarily ensure the highest level of safety To develop approaches by which uncertainties in the future

can be flexibly dealt with

Strategic Roadmap of Fast Reactor Development (1)

BackgroundIn 2016, the Cabinet established the policy on the fast reactor development, stating that Japan will build the Strategic Roadmap that specifies development activities to be conducted over the next 10 years.

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Action plans for nuclear energy development Build the technology base and innovate the technology toward

the practical use of fast reactors with international cooperation. The development process can be divided into three phases: Phase 1: Promotion of competition (First ~five years )

The government promote the competition of various innovative technology among private sectors.

Phase 2: Narrowing down and focusing on the technology(from ~2024)The government, JAEA, and electric utilities, in cooperation with the manufacturers, will narrow down the technology that will be possibly adopted.

Phase 3: Examination of critical issues and process of the developmentThe development process will be examined when all the relevant parties have arrived at a consensus about the selection.

Strategic Roadmap of Fast Reactor Development (2)

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Roadmap to be implemented 5 years later (Evaluation)

≈

10 years later

Bilateral collaboration on R&D of Major Technologies of FR; Evaluation methods, Safety measures, System and component designs

GIF, IAEA: international standardization of codes and standards, safety design criteria

Study of selected design concepts (Phase II)

Innovative technologies to be collected from the public to advance fast reactor concepts (Phase I)

R&Ds for selected design conceptsGlobal standardization to

be promotedDesign basis to the

concepts to be providedRegulatory bodies

Experiments and studies using irradiation test facilities (e.g. Joyo), PIE facilities, hot labo, AtheNa, and liquid metal test facilities

2. Codes & standards to be met by design by making practical use of the evaluation system.

1. Integrated evaluation method (a risk-informed system for plant life-cycle design) including design support tools.

3. Safety technologies that rapidly improves the safety of fast reactor design concepts.

Global standardization Development by joint works

De ve lopm e nt of Te chnology Ba se

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Strategic Roadmap of Fast Reactor Development (3)

10：00-11：30, Sept. 18th, 2019Room M7, M Building, Ground Floor, VIC

Title: The path to the global deployment of SMR based on Japanese HTGR technology and the expectation from the global nuclear community

-Toward forging international partnership-

Agenda (Draft)10:00- Opening and Welcome Remarks

SMR development and deployment plan in Japan 10:15- Panel discussion; Deployment of HTGR as SMR

HTGR development in Japan and excellent HTGR technology basis obtained from design, construction and operation of a test reactor HTTR

Deployment activity in each country and expectation to Japanese HTGR technologyRequirement on HTGR for power generation and heat utilization, Expectation to

Japanese HTGR technology, Attractive points and hurdles for HTGR deployment, etc.11:15- Future international cooperation for HTGR deployment

IAEA’s potential to launch a new framework towards HTGR deployment by using Japanese technologies

Possible cooperative R&D theme by using JAEA’s facilities11:25- Closing Remarks

IAEA side event on SMR deployment

Welcome!!

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Summary

Reduction of CO2 emission is a crucial subject. Increase of renewable energy and utilization of H2 toward 2050 are stated in cabinet decision.

JAEA’s SMR development plan focuses on HTGR and FR. JAEA explores foreign partners to deploy SMR based on Japanese HTGR technologies.

Strategic roadmap of FR development was launched on December 2018.

Welcome to the JAEA’s side event on SMR deployment.10：00-11：30, Sept. 18th, 2019Room M7, M Building, Ground Floor, VIC

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Development and deployment plans of HTGR

2020 2050

Construction of commercial reactor （GT, SR)Construction of demonstration reactor （GT, IS）

2030 2040

Construction of demonstration reactor （GT, SR）Design of demonstration reactor（GT, IS）Demonstration tests for component （IS）

Design of demonstration reactor （GT, SR）Demonstration tests for component （GT, SR ）

Private Com

pany

HTTR-IS testConfirmation of fuel/material performance under commercial reactor condition

HTTR-GT testConfirmation of fuel/material performance under commercial reactor conditionSupport of establishing design/ material standardDevelopment of basic technologies for IS process

JAEA

Technology of Steam generator, Steam system connecting technology

High burnup fuel, High performance core

System with inherent safety Establishment of safety

standard for steam connecting technology

HTTR-GT/H2 test

HTTR

GT facility

Hydrogen production facility

※GT：Gas Turbine, SR：Steam reformer, IS：IS process

Research reactor

Demonstration reactor

International collaboration

Design of GT, fuel, and IS facility, core, heat flow and seismic design, support of safety evaluationProvision of HTTR-GT/H2 test data and technical knowledgeTraining of operator

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