MYRRHA Draft-2 Design File
State-of-the-art of the project at Mid2005 and prospects for realisation
Hamid Aït Abderrahim
SCK•CEN
haitabde@sckcen.be
myrrha@sckcen.beNîmes (F), 25-29 September 2006
9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)1Summary• Introduction• MYRRHA Components• Perspectives for implementation
1. SCK-CEN Committment
2. Opening to Europe
3. Fast Spectrum Irradiation Facility
4. Link ADS/Gen.IV LFR
5. Comprehensive Support R&D• Roadmap for deployment• Conclusion
9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)2Introduction (2)MYRRHA in a European scene• the RJH (F) project, a thermal spectrum MTR,
is the only planned testing reactor for the
moment• MYRRHA would be the natural fast spectrum
complementary facility.
• This will put Europe in a strong position
towards the support of Gen. III anddevelopment of Gen. IV reactors.

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)3

MYRRHA Accelerator:
the LINAC solution

Strong R&D & construction programs for SC linacs are underway
worldwide for many applications (Spallation Sources for
Neutron Science, Radioactive Ions & Neutrino Beam Facilities,
Irradiation Facilities)
9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)4Spallation Target:
Radial Geometrical Constraints
MOX-20% fuel ass.

• Due to the highperformances
desired in the core,
we limited drasticallythe central hole inthe core for housing
the spallation source

MOX-30% fuel ass.

Spallation target

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)5

MYRRHA Spallation Target

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)6Core configuration

Reflector zone
Active zone
Spallation target

Experimental
channels• 99 + 3 hexagonal cells (“macro-cells”)• Target-block hole is made by 3 removed FA in the central region• Surrounding active zone composed of 45 (or more) FA• Outer reflector zone composed of 54 (or less) reflector assemblies
9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)7Design of MYRRHA
Overall configuration

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)8Design of MYRRHA:
Remote handling
All MYRRHA maintenance operations on the machine primarysystems and associated equipment
are performed by remote handling,which is based on the Man-In-TheLoop principle:• force reflecting servomanipulators• Master-Slave mode: the slave
servo-manipulators arecommanded by remote operators
using kinematically identicalmaster manipulators• supported with closed-cycle TV(CCTV) feedback
OTL concludes positive on the feasibility of the proposed RH approach.

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)9Design of MYRRHA:
In-service inspection and repair

Two permanently
installed inspection
manipulators with US
camera to provide ageneral overview.
(periscope type device
with three degrees of
freedom)

The second inspection
manipulator positions thecamera close to criticalcomponents for detailed
inspection.
(anthropomorphic typedevice with five degrees
of freedom)

The repair manipulator
recovers debris or deploys
specialised tooling forrepair. (anthropomorphic
type device with eight
degrees of freedom)

OTL concludes positive on the feasibility of the proposed RH approach.
9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)10Perspectives for Implementation

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)111-SCK•CEN Committment• SCK•CEN Mgt has declared its readinessto welcome a fast spectrum irradiation
facility at its technical site in Mol• SCK•CEN is working out a business plan
and a funding plan that will be madeavailable to the potential partners• Bilateral discussions with somepotential partners are already going on

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)122-Opening MYRRHA toEurope => XT-ADS• MYRRHA Draft-2 has been made available to
the EUROTRANS Community• SCK•CEN is studying in collaboration withEUROTRANS partners the modifications
needed to achieve the XT-ADS objectives• Considering Joint Undertaking for setting up
the frame for the realisation at Europeanlevel

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)13Design Parameters of
XT-ADS and MYRRHA (1/2)

Design level
Coolant
Primary System
PowerCore Inlet Temp
Core Outlet Temp
Target Unit interface
Target Unit geometry
Fuel
Fuel Power density
Fuel pin spacer
Fuel Assembly type
Fuel Assembly crosssection

XT-ADS

MYRRHA Draft-2

Advanced design
Pb-Bi
Integrated
50 to 100 MWth
300°C
400°C
Windowless
Off-center
MOX (accept for a few MA
Fuel Assemblies)
700 W/cm³
Grid
Wrapper
Hexagonal

Conceptual design
Pb-Bi
Integrated~50 MWth
220°C
340°C
Windowless
Off-center
MOX (accept for a few MA
Fuel samples)~1000 W/cm³
Wire
Wrapper
Hexagonal

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)14Design Parameters of
XT-ADS and MYRRHA (2/2)
XT-ADS

MYRRHA Draft-2

Fuel loading
Fuel monitoring
External fuel handlingPrimary coolant
circulation in normal
operation
Primary coolant
circulation for DHR
Secondary coolant

Top To Be Assessed / Bot.
T and FF (per FA)
RH oriented
Forced with mechanicalpumps

BottomT and FF (per FA)
RH oriented
Forced with mechanicalpumps

Natural + Pony motor

Natural circulation

Low pressure boiling water

Reactor building
Seismic design
Structural Material
Accelerator

Below grade
TBD (site specific)
T91 and A316L
LINAC (350 MeV*5 mA or
600 MeV*2.5 mA)
Top

High pressure water / Low
pressure boiling water
Below grade
TBD (site specific)
T91 and A316L
LINAC (350 MeV*5 mA)

Beam IngressTop

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)15

Ongoing MYRRHA Revision
1/3

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)16Further investigations on FH
feasibility from the top 2/3
 The small diameter

Stroke 1700 mm

and size of the ACS andthe limited stroke makes
it compatible with an
integrated mechanicallifting system (such as
F.H machines with aworm screw) No problem of leaktightness at roof levelwith a sealed component Nearly all S/A position

can be covered byinstrumentation (except
target patch, same as
before)9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)17Further investigations on FH
feasibility from the top 3/3
 For FH operations, the

ACS is lifted of about
1.7m with the worm
screw device sliding along
the guide tubes,
Stroke 1700mm

 The space above thecore is made free for therotation of the transferarm.

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)18Variant C – Vertical separation
•
•
•
•
•
•

Rectangular shape Inner Vessel with alower cylinder containing the core
FH from top (design option)
At sides two pools for fuel storage
FH by pantograph machines
Pumps at hot leg temperature (design
option)Suppression of many penetrations on
Inner Vessel but radial pipes to connect
Primary components casings

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)19

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)20

3-Holding the objective ofFast irradiation facility• Multi-irradiation channels available• High performance levels• Multiple irradiation conditions secured
to the user

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)21Material Irradiation in
MYRRHA• IPS Location in the
core
IPS
Spallation
TargetFuelAssemblies

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)22

IPS Material Testing
typical Layout

dosimeters

Mini Charpy
samplesTensilesamples
IPS outside diameter 80 mm
Relevant length for irradiation test 600 mm
Instrumentation : dosimeter, thermocouple,…
CTsamples
9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)23

Fuel Irradiation in MYRRHA
Instrumented and Conditioned
Capsule (ICC)pressure andchemistry control

Tested fuel segment

conditioning coolant

thermocouples
conditioning
coolant circulation

no/γ detectors

capsule9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)24

Fuel Irradiation in MYRRHA
Calorimetric Calibration Device
(CCD)
Inlet
thermocouples

Thermalinsulation

Calorimetricflow

Instrumented
conditioning
capsule (ICC)

Flow meter

QICC = Cp cool·G cool ·ΔT
Outletthermocouples
9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)25

Typical MYRRHA coreconfiguration with experimental
rigs• 61 MOX-fuel assemblies• 2 U-free MA (MgO matrix)
assemblies• 6 rigs with Steel samples¾ 2x2 He-cooled¾ 2 lead-cooled• 2 rigs with SiC samples• 3 H2O-moderated IPS• Keff= 0.95181 ± 0.00025• Ks = 0.95960• Power : 52.3 MW

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)26

4-Link ADS – Gen.IV LFR

Viability
R&D

SSTAR

ELSY

(20MWe;Preliminary design
2006 -2009)(600MWe;
Preliminary design
2006 -2009)

Advanced
R&D

Demo 100 -200MWe
R&D engine(2008 -2018)
Prototype of asmall scale LFR(2013 -2023)

Prototype of alarge scale LFR(2013 -2023)

Industrial deployment of asmall scale LFRFrom 2025

Industrial deployment of alarge scale LFRFrom 2025

Industrial deployment of anadvanced small scale LFR2035 (H2, CO2 cycle)

Industrial deployment of anadvanced large scale LFRfrom 2035 (H2, CO2 cycle)

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)27

5-Well established and design
driven support R&D Programme• Pluri-annual R&D support programmeestablished around the MYRRHA project
inside SCK•CEN• A bilateral collaboration network ofquality• The support R&D programme enhanced
thanks to EUROTRANS

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)28The MYRRHA R&D
Programme• Since the beginning of the MYRRHA project, we decided toaccompany the project by a comprehensive support R&D
programme including:¾ Windowless spallation target thermal-hydraulic design.
¾ Vacuum Interface compatibility,¾ LBE technology: Po migration, visibility under LBE throughultrasonic cameras,¾ Material Corrosion & erosion and their mitigation,¾ LBE conditioning and monitoring,¾ Material embrittlement due to irradiation and LME,
¾ MOX fuel qualification under LBE and irradiation up to hightargeted burn up (100 GWd/t) and high dpa (100) and also under
representative transient conditions,¾ Instrumentation development: O2-meters (< 200°C), HLM freesurface monitoring, sub-criticality monitoring, ultrasonicvisualisation¾ Robotics : development of a robot arm to be deployed under LBE
for testing and qualification
9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)29

MYRRHA Collaboration
Network (1/3)• IBA, Belgium: cyclotron design and/or Intermediate
energy section of the LINAC (normal conducting);• ENEA, Italy: spallation source thermal-hydraulics
design, core dynamics;• UCL, Belgium: spallation source design water
experiment, CFD modelling, Advanced CFD
development;• FZR, Germany: instrumentation for the spallation
target;• FZK, Germany: windowless spallation source testingwith Pb-Bi in KALLA, Material Corrosion studies,
Neutronics of sub-critical systems;• NRG, The Netherlands: Spallation Source CFD modellingand system safety assessment;

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)30

MYRRHA Collaboration
Network (2/3)• CEA, France: subcritical core design, MUSE experiments;• CNRS/IN2P3, France: LINAC development andcomponents design, Windowless Spallation Target design,
T91 structural material research, sub-critical core physics,• PSI, Switzerland: basic spallation data, MEGAPIE;• IPUL, Latvia: windowless spallation source testing withHg,
• Belgonucléaire, Belgium: MOX Fuel manufacturer fuelpin and assembly design, fuel loading policy and fuelprocurement;• CIEMAT, Spain: Neutronic core design;• KTH, Sweden: development and validation on basis ofexperimental results of adapted burn up codes for ADS,
• IPPE, Russia: design of the MYRRHA sub-critical reactor;

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)31

MYRRHA Collaboration
Network (3/3)• Suez-Tractebel, Belgium: confinement building andauxiliary systems, Safety analysis studies.
• OTL, UK: Remote Handling & Robotics design anddevelopment;• USI_KU, Lithuania: development of US sensors
operational under LBE and aggressive radiation
environment, development of associated visualisation
camera and signal treatment;• AFCN and AVN, Belgium: Licensing authorities• Contacts that may lead to additional collaborations exist
with:¾ ISTC: JINR-Dubna, Russia, YALINA-Minsk, Belarus¾ DoE and LANL; USA¾ JAEA, Japan¾ CIAE, China

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)32

MYRRHA/XT-ADS
Challenges – Status - Actions(1/3)
Challenge

StatusOn-going Actions

Spallation target¾ Thermal Hydraulics ¾ Basic design finished¾ Feasibility shown
design¾ Fine tune design :optimise flow stability¾ Vacuum Interface¾ Feasibility shown¾ Vacuum system design/
volatile spallation productconfinement (FP6)¾ Corrosion¾ 316L : OK w.o coating¾ T91 ok to 550°C¾ High T long term
corrosion tests¾ FeAl coating (FP6)¾ Irradiation¾ 316L : ok in low dose
regions¾ T91 promising forhigh dose regions &cladding)¾ Demonstration T91
ongoing(BR2/HFR/Megapie)

Materials (316 L/T91)

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)33

MYRRHA/XT-ADS
Challenges – Status - Actions(2/3)
Challenge

StatusOn-going Actions¾Oxygen Control¾Control (H2/Ar or PbO)
demonstrated¾In-vessel oxygen
control system¾Oxygen sensors¾YSZ ceramic + Metal/metaloxide
probes developed¾Improvereliability/stability¾Filtering¾Sintered metal/fiber mesh filters¾in-vessel filtering¾Ultrasoundsensors¾High T US sensors OK¾γ-radiation resistant¾neutron irradiation¾Optimise bonding
technology¾Visualisation
Technology¾Reconstruction of basic shapes¾Development ofscene reconstruction¾Camera development(embarked technology)

Pb-Bi Chemistry

Visualisation LBE

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)34

MYRRHA/XT-ADS
Challenges – Status - Actions(3/3)
Challenge

StatusOn-going Actions¾Existing fuel (30%
MOX) with new clad
(T91)

¾Qualify clad material (FP6)¾Qualify fuel pin thermohydraulics (FP6)¾Fuel pin irradiation(BOR60, to be initiated)

Fuel Qualification

Remote handling¾Existing technology ¾Qualify in LBE
in air (JET)¾Design & components test

Accelerator¾High power proton
accelerators exist(LANCE, PSI)

¾Drastic reliability improvement¾Design, build & test each key
component (FP6)

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)35Roadmap for ADS deployment
Table 2 : Updated Schedule for ADS Deployement (Phase 2) including an Experimental XT-ADS (Phase 1)
Year 2000+

01

02
FP5

ADS (Phase 1)
Basic & Supp. R&D
PDS-XADS
Pre-selec. Opt for XADS
Choice of Accel. TypeEUROTRANS (FP6)
DM1_Design
Pre-Design EFIT
Adv. Desgn XT-ADS
Demo. Accel. Compo.
Proof of XT-ADS Sp. Targ
Prep. For Licens. XT-ADS
DM2_ECATS
Sub-crit. On-line Mon.
Demo of Coupl. At Power
Thermal Feedb. Demo.
Demo. Operation. Proc.
DM3_AFTRA
Input Fuel Data EFIT
Advanced Fuel Dev.
DM4_DEMETRA
Strct. Mat. Pre-selec
Irrad+Corr. Studies
HLM Tech.
HLM Inst.
DM5_NUDATRA
Prod. Design W ork. Lib
Sensitivity Studies
Integral Validation
Beyond FP6Eng. & Tech. Bureau
Detail. Eng. Des. XT-ADS
Reactor Comp. Testing
XT-ADS Spal. Targ under Beam
Licensing XT-ADS Dossier
Construction Work
XT-ADS Site preparation
Civil Engineering on site
Reactor Comp. Fabric.
Accel. Comp. Fabric.
Comp. Assembly on site
Start operation
Commissiong at low power
Commissiong at Full power
Operation Full Power W ith MOX
Operation Full Power W ith Part_MA
ADS (Phase 2)
Prototype EFIT
Det. Des. incl. Feedb. XT-ADS
Construction
Operation
Industrial Deployment

03

04

05
FP6

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

25

30

FP7

Project Structure Established for Building XT-ADS

Experimental Fast Spectr

9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)I

36Contribution to the European
Research Area
• SCK•CEN in collaboration with other European
actors is encouraging to establish a European
Research Area in the field of Experimental
Reactors in order to secure the needed large
research infrastructures for a sustainable
nuclear fission energy• SCK•CEN will be helping to reach theseobjectives through its participation to thevarious FP6 projects such as EUROTRANS,
RED-IMPACT, VELLA, ELSY, PATEROS and
SNF-TP and through its bilateral collaboration
with the main actors aiming at the nuclear
energy renaissance
9th IEM on Actinide and Fision Product Partitioning & Transmutation, Sept. 25-29, 2006, Nîmes (F)37