Side Event of 63rd IAEA GC organized by JAEA, 18 th September 2019, Vienna Austria

Role of HTGR in Japan andJapanʼs HTGR Technology
18 th September 2019
Kazuhiko Kunitomi
Sector of Fast Reactor and Advanced Reactor Research and Development
Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA)

Role of HTGR in Japan-Greenhouse gas emissions & reduction goalsPlan for global warming countermeasures (Cabinet decision on May 13, 2016)• Mid-term target: 26.0% reduction by FY2030 compared to FY2013• Long-term goal: 80% reduction by 2050

GHG emission in Japan (Final report of FY2017)

Ref. ： Website of Ministry of Environment, Japan• The emission reduction in FY2017 : 8.4% compared to FY2013• To achieve the goal,Reduction by additional 18% by 2030
Reduction by additional 72% by 2050

Breakdown of GHG emission (2016)

Role of HTGR• HTGR producing hydrogen for nuclear steel
making and fuel cell vehicle• HTGR producing steam for conventionalindustries• HTGR for absorbing renewable power variation

Use of HTGR for not only power generation but also for the other fields

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History and status of HTTR
Proposal for prototype commercial systemSpecificationPurpose
 Establishment of HTGR technologies
 Establishment of heat application technologies
Reactor Building

2014

Establishment offundamentaltechnologies

2010

Conformity review on the new
regulatory requirements start
toward resumption of operation

Long term high temperature operation

Start of loss offorced cooling test

<Integrity of fuel coating>

950oC,50days

950ºC/50 days operation

First in theworld

2007

850ºC/30 days operation
Reactor outlet coolant
temperature 950ºC

2004

Safety demonstration test

2002 (control rod drawing test)
2001 Reactor outlet coolant

temperature 850ºC (30MWt)

1998

Intermediate HeatExchanger (IHX)〜

1997
Constructionof reactor

〜

1985

Specification of HTTRof construction

 R/B of 88Kr : 4 orders of magnitudeless than the operational limit

Detail design
H T T R● Reactor thermal power ･･30MW･････････････ Helium gas

1980
1974
1973
〜

Research anddevelopment
and design

1981〜● Reactor inlet/outlet coolant temperature･･････････ 395ºC / 850ºC, 950ºC● Reactor material ･･････ Graphite● Fuel･･････････････ UO2 coated particle fuel● Uranium enrichment ･･･ 3% ~10% (average 6%)

1984〜● Reactor coolant

1990 Application and permission

1989
1988

Concentric Hot Gas
DuctConstruction〜Reactor Pressure
VesselPressurized Water
Cooler

1991

First criticality

1969

Research and development

Basic design

Fuels・Materials

Reactor physics

Thermal hydraulics

In-pile helium loop (OGL-1)

Very High Temperature
Reactor Critical assembly(VHTRC)

Helium Engineering
Demonstration Loop(HENDEL)

System integrity
designConceptual design

Experimental multi-purpose VeryHigh Temperature Reactor (VHTR)

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HTGR technologies developed in HTTR ProjectJapan`s HTGR technologies are front runner in the world.
Experiences of HTTR design,construction, operation(MHI, Toshiba/IHI, Hitachi, Fuji
Electric, KHI, etc.)
A lot of technical data of HTTR has been
accumulated.
Optimum design of commercial HTGR may be
conducted using Japan`s technologies alone.

High temperature resistant metal,
Hastelloy XR (Mitsubishi Material)
Intermediate
heat exchanger(IHX)

Hastelloy XR is applicable
at 950C as nuclear
structural material.
IHX（Toshiba/IHI) candeliver hot helium gas at950C to outside of thereactor pressure vessel.

Fuel (Nuclear Fuel Industry)

Coated fuel particle

Ceramics coating layerretains fission products
inside the coated fuelparticle at extreme low
leak level.

Fuel compact

Ceramics coating is stable for long-term.
(3 times higher burnup than LWR)

Graphite, IG-110 (Toyo Tanso)
World highest quality graphite(isotropic, high density) →Adoption by HTR-PM
Graphite core component in HTTRHigh strength, high thermal
conductivity, irradiation resistancep.44

Status of regulatory review on HTTR
Major discussion item

Earthquake

Regulatory review condition

Regulatory review results

Additionalcountermeasures

Design seismic
ground motion

Raised from 350gal to 973gal

Re-evaluation ofseismic designclassification

Some of safety systems, components andstructures (SSCs) were classified from S to B
based on results of safety demonstration tests.
 Core heat removal: S class to B class Reactor internal structure: S class to B class.

No large-scale reinforcement due to thedegradation of the SSCs.

Not required

Assumption of tsunami height for evaluation︓
17.8m from sea level

Tsunami does not reach the site because siting
location is 36.5 meters high from the sea level.

Not required

Tsunami evaluation
Evaluation of integrity of SSCs
against natural phenomena suchas tornado, volcano, etc.

Design basis tornado wind speed: 100 m/s

Thickness of descent pyroclastic material byvolcano: 50 cm



All SSCs needed to be protected are
installed inside the reactor building
Fire proof belt necessary around reactor
building.

Fire proof belt wasrequired.
Cable protection
against fire wasrequired.

Fire

Burnable materials in and around the reactor
building was additionally evaluated.

 Amount of burnable materials in the reactor
building is limited.
 Cables necessary to be protected against fire

Reliability of power supply

Emergency power supply failure was evaluated.

Decay heat is removable from the core withoutelectricity.

Beyond design basis accident(BDBA)

Postulated BDBAs DBA + failure of reactor scram
 DBA + failure of heat removal from the core
 DBA + failure of containment vessel Intentional aircraft crash

No core melt occurs in all BDBAs.
Intentional aircraft crash does not damage
SSCs in the reactor building.

New regulation standard was issued on 18 December, 2013, according to which application was submitted to NRA on 26
November, 2014

Only portable
power generator
for monitoring
during accident isrequired.

HTTR is expected to restart without significant additional reinforcement due to its own high-level inherent safety features5

Target schedule towards HTTR restart
FY2014FY2015FY2016FY2017FY2018FY2019~Evaluation ofnatural phenomena
Re-evaluation ofseismic designclassification
Seismic evaluation
Documentation ofverification results,
including evaluationof BDBA

Evaluation by NRARestart
Application
Nov. 26

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HTGR-H2 system technology development


Thermal decomposition of water requires heat above
4000oC .
IS process decomposes water with heat of ca. 900oC
using chemical reactions of iodine (I) and sulfur (S).
・I and S circulate in the process. ⇒ No harmful waste
・HTGR heat is used. ⇒ No CO2 emission

H2400oC

H2+I22HIHigh-temp.
heat900oC

O2

H2SO41/2O2+SO2 + H2O

2HI + H2SO4I

I2 + SO2 + 2H2O

I2WaterSSO2H2O+H2O

・Integrity of components / operationstability・Plant operation control system

PlannedHelium gas
turbine power
generation To successfully licenseand operate the worldʼsfirst HTGR gas turbine
power generation andhydrogen productionplant To establish safety
design criteria forcoupling chemical plantsuch as hydrogenproduction plant tonuclear reactor
 To complete thesystem technology
required forconstruction of the first
demonstration plant

HTTR-GT/H2 test・Establishment of safety design
standard for integrating heatapplication systems with reactor

H2 production test facility(0.1 m3/h)

Glass
linedsteelpipe
HI decomposer
Ni-base alloy(<500oC)

2045〜

Commercialuse
Technology transfer
to private sectors〜2035Ceramic(SiC)

Present
Industrial material
component test

HTTR

H2 production facility

H2SO4
Bunsen reactor
Fluoro-plastic lined steel decomposer
Ceramic (SiC)(<100oC)(<900oC)

Development of key components in the IS
process environment(corrosion resistance, heat resistance)• Verificationof integrity of totalcomponents and stability ofhydrogen production

Corrosionresistantliningvessel(fluoroplastic,glass)• Developmentof strength
evaluation methodology for

Production of H2 and O2 [m3]

IS process

H2 production rate wasintentionally adjusted toreduce risk of clogging
pipe caused by I2solidification.

Filter maintenanceceramic components

Time [h]• Plant operation control system
HO
Plant maintenance techniques
Operations for 3 sections integration was• Membranetechnologies tosuccessfully carried out
improve thermal efficiency
2 (integrated val.)(30 L/h for 150 h).

2 (integrated val.)

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R&D towards commercialization of GT and hydrogen HTGR
2020

2040

2030

Targetschedule**(Private sector)

 Design of demonstration
reactor （GT, SR）

Internationalcollaboration

Research reactor

Demonstration reactor

2050

 Construction of demonstration reactor（GT, SR）

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

Construction of demonstration reactor（GT, IS）

 Technology of Steam generator, Steamsystem connecting technology
 High burnup fuel, High performancecore, System with inherent safety
 Establishment of safety standard forsteam connecting technology

JAEAReview

 HTTR-GT test Confirmation of fuel/material
performance under commercial
reactor conditionSupport of establishing design/material standard
Development of basic
technologies for IS process

 HTTR-IS test Confirmation of fuel/material
performance under commercial
reactor condition

Establsihment of safety standards
Reviewing heat utilization facility Accumulating technical knowledge
Pre-reviewing demonstration reactor(GT, SR) Reviewing heat utilization facility
 Reviewing demonstration reactor (GT, SR) Pre-reviewing demonstration reactor (GT, IS)

HTTR-GT/H2 test Design of GT, fuel, and IS facility, core, heatflow and seismic design, support of safety
evaluation
 Provision of HTTR-GT/H2 test data andtechnical knowledge
 Training of operator

HTTR
Hydrogenproduction facility
GT facility※GT︓Gas Turbine, SR︓Steam reformer, IS︓IS process ** JAEAʼs draft plan

 Reviewing demonstration reactor (GT, IS)

8JAEA international collaboration on HTGRMultilateral collaboration

Bilateral collaboration

OECD／NEAPolandCzech

France GermanyHungary Korea

USA

Joint Test by HTTR, LOFC Project (Contracted Research)
 Loss of forced cooling test (Completed)- All three primary helium gas circulators were tripped at the initial reactor power of 30%

Information exchange based on public information under “Action Plan for theImplementation of the Strategic Partnership between Japan and the Republicof Poland (2017-2020)” (National Centre for Nuclear Research: NCBJ)

 Loss of core cooling test (planned)- All three primary helium gas circulators are tripped at the initial reactor power of 100%- Vessel cooling system is simultaneous tripped at reactor power of 30%United Kingdom

NI2050 Cooperation related to HTGR cogeneration

IAEA

China FranceGermany
IndonesiaHolland
Kazakhstan

Korea Russia SouthSwitzer-Turkey Ukraine United USA
Africa land
Kingdom

Coordinated Research Project (CRP) under Technical
Working Group on Gas Cooled Reactors (TWG-GCR)
 Modular HTGR safety designHTTR The only test andresearch reactor ofHTGR in the world tosupply heat of 950oC

Cooperation to U-Battery project(Commercial HTGR system) (URENCO, etc.)

USA
Civil Nuclear R&D Working Group (CNWG)
 International joint
researches for needsof each country

Development of simulation algorithm, validation of analyticalmodel, study of connecting test between HTTR and heatutilization system(Department of Energy: DOE, Idaho National Laboratory: INL)

Generation IV International Forum (GIF)

Canada China France KoreaSwitzer- USAland

EU Australia

Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR)Hydrogen Production System Project
Fuel and Fuel Cycle Project
VHTR
Material ProjectComputational Methods Validation and Benchmarking ProjectEU

GEMINI+ Project Design and R&D of HTGR with heat application

Indonesia(Badan Tenaga Nuklir Nasional:BATAN)

China(Tsinghua University, Institute of Nuclear
and New Energy Technology: INET)

Korea(Korea Atomic Energy Institute: KAERI)

Information exchange

Kazakhstan
 Design collaboration for pre-FS of HTGR (National Nuclear Center: NNC)
 High burn-up fuel research (Institute of Nuclear Physics: INP) Oxidation-resistant graphite research(Al-Farabi Kazakh National University: KazNU, INP) Safety research (Nuclear Technology Safety Center: NTSC)

9Summary JAEA and Japanese industries have been developing HTGR, Gas Turbine and Hydrogen production
technologies.
 HTTR is expected to restart without additional major reinforcements since high-level inherent
safety features of HTTR were confirmed through safety review by NRA.
 Regarding the Iodine-Sulfur hydrogen production technology, 150-hour and 30 L/h continuous H2
production was successfully completed in January 2019 using the hydrogen production test facility.
 HTGR fits for SMR since HTGR has high-level inherent safety and is superior in economy due to its
high efficiency. HTGR is an attractive reactor not only for nuclear power generation system but
also for such other systems as hydrogen production system, hybrid system with renewable energy,etc.
 JAEA and Japanese industries have established various advanced HTGR technologies necessary forcommercial HTGR systems. We are ready to meet your interest and form partnership inapplication of Japanʼs HTGR technologies to HTGR development in your countries.

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