Progress in Nuclear Energy 70 (2014) 20e28

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Progress in Nuclear Energy

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/pnucene

Review

Technology readiness assessment of Small Modular Reactor (SMR)

designs
Zhitao Liu*, Jihong Fan
State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation, Beijing 100029, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Small Modular Reactor (SMR) is an emerging energy technology that meets the demand of safety,
Received 22 January 2013 efficiency and sustainability. This paper reviews the representative SMR designs. Comparisons are
Received in revised form made between each current SMR and its originating design, obtaining a summarization of the
25 June 2013
development course and the innovation features of each SMR version. To get a comprehensive un-
Accepted 12 July 2013
derstanding of SMR, this paper suggests a bidirectional assessment method. In the longitudinal di-
rection, assessments focus on technology evolution, especially SMR’s approaches to safety and its
Keywords:
responses to Fukushima accident. In the transversal direction, a breakdown of SMR leads to the
Small Modular Reactors (SMR)
Technology Readiness Level (TRL)
detailed assessment of its systems and equipments, thus identifying the maturity and inadequacy of a
Nuclear power certain SMR design. Based on empirical analysis, this paper suggests an approximate ten year effort be
Clean energy needed for the leading light water reactor (LWR) based SMR to solidify the final form and operate
under the full range of commissioning conditions.
Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction categorized as light water reactors (LWR), gas cooled reactors,

liquid metal cooled reactors, and molten salt reactors (Lommers
In recent years, Small Modular Reactors (SMR) have been et al., 2012; Baxi et al., 2008; The Gen4 Module (G4M). ht;
attracting considerable attention around the world. SMR provides Triplett et al., 2012; Holcomb et al., 2012; Singh et al., 2011; Kim
an energy option with low carbon emission, enhanced safety et al., September 2012; Park, 10e14 October 2011a,b). In the cate-
conviction, convenient construction and operation, which is be- gory of LWR-based designs, main examples include mPower from
coming more and more evident especially in the Post-Fukushima Babcock and Wilcox (Halfinger Jeff and Haggerty Michael, 2012),
era (OECD/IEA, 2012; Kessides and Kuznetsov, 2012). The term W-SMR from Westinghouse (Fetterman et al., 2012), NuScale from
“small” generally refers to the reactors with an equivalent electric Oregon State University (Reyes and Lorenzini, 2012), and in-
power less than 300 MW, while “modular” means a single reactor stitutions from China have reported the up-to-date SMR progress
that can be grouped with other modules to form a larger nuclear such as HTR-PM and ACP-100 (M. Hadid Subki, 5e9 December
power plant (Status of Small Reactor D, 2007; The U.S. Department 2011).
of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy and February 15, 2011). SMR The diversity of the SMR concepts provides a good flexibility of
can repower aging fossil plants, be coupled with other energy selection, but the investors may be dazzled to decide which SMR
sources, including renewable and fossil energy, to produce multi- design has the best maturity and prospect for commercial
ple energy end-products (Ingersoll, 2009; Aumeier et al., deployment. The regulatory authorities may be engaged in identi-
September 2011). fying the safety risks to response to public perceptions and estab-
Concept development and design activities of SMR are pro- lish licensing process. The technicians may be dedicated to resolve
gressing by universities, institutes and reactor vendors (Vujic et al., the problems SMRs suffered from decreased thermodynamic effi-
2012). Tens of SMRs at various development stages can be ciencies and neutron economy compared to large reactors. The
published papers and reports endeavored to introduce the details
of a specific SMR design or analyze the economic competitiveness
compared to large reactors. This abundant information is very
* Corresponding author. Building No. 1, Compound No. 29, North 3rd Ring,
Xicheng District, Beijing, China. Tel.: þ86 10 5819 7732; fax: þ86 10 581970667732. beneficial to form a macroscopic view on SMR. But to address the
E-mail addresses: liuzhitao@tsinghua.org.cn, liuzhitao@snptc.com.cn (Z. Liu). concerns and problems above, it is more necessary and important

0149-1970/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2013.07.005
 Z. Liu, J. Fan / Progress in Nuclear Energy 70 (2014) 20e28 21

to make an assessment on the technology maturity, reliability and

complexity. Based on these considerations, this paper presents the
analysis and recognition of technological readiness level (TRL) of
SMR development.

2. Main SMR design options

A comprehensive summarization of the SMR concepts could be

found in a series of international organization reports (International
Atomic Energy Agency, 2009; Small Nuclear Power React, 2012),
while this paper reviews only currently active designs that have some
level of industry involvement which imply a potential of near-term
commercialization. It should be noted that LWR-based SMRs are
considered to be the most mature and have the lowest technical risk.
Today there are 356 LWR nuclear power units in operation with a net
electricity capacity of 328 072 MWe, 88% of the total nuclear power
plant installed capacity (Operational & Long-Term S et al., 2012). The
LWR-based SMRs incorporate these existing LWR experiences, with
innovative technologies and some novel components. The design
options below are all LWR-based SMRs. Some LWR-based SMRs are
not mentioned in this paper either due to the lack of technology
maturity or the limited pubic information for intellectual rights
protection.

2.1. mPower

The mPower reactor was unveiled by Babcock & Wilcox (B&W)

in June 2009 (Nuclear Engineering International, 11 June 2009). The
reactor had a planned capacity of 125 MWe when originally
announced, and the reactor’s rated capacity was raised to 530 MWt
of thermal power and 180 MWe of electrical power after its pre-
application design certification interaction to the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) (US.NRC, July 10, 2012).
The mPower reactor is a direct descendent of the B&W maritime
reactor program, which was used in the nuclear powered merchant
ship Otto Hahn that had been successfully launched in 1964 Fig. 1. Cutaway of B&W mPower reactor (Ferrara, August 10, 2012).
(Simpson, 1995). Key features of the Otto Hahn reactor design are
incorporated in the B&W mPower reactor design, including: 1) The
placement of nuclear steam supply system (NSSS) components power is described as 800 MWt and the electrical output could be
within a single pressure vessel. Control rod drives do not penetrate more than 225 MWe (Robert et al., 2011).
the integral reactor vessel (IRV), but are instead wholly enclosed The design uses many of the key features from the Westing-
within the IRV. 2) The integral once-through steam generator is an house AP1000 plant. Passive safety systems are conceptually
advanced derivative of the steam generators used in older B&W similar to the AP1000 plant, such as high head injection from core
designs. The mPower is designed to produce superheated steam makeup tanks, ultimate transition to sump recirculation and decay
and does not require steam separators and dryers prior to admit- heat removal by closed cycle natural circulation of heat exchangers.
ting steam into the high pressure turbine. And the nuclear design is based on the proven product. The core of
The safety feature profits from the integral design of the reactor WSMR is made up of 89 Robust Fuel Assemblies (RFA) which have
vessel. As it contains the entire primary coolant loop within the operated in 252 fuel cycles at 50 plants worldwide since 1997.
reactor pressure vessel with automatic primary loop depressur- The WSMR is compact, only 32 feet in containment vessel
ization, the integral reactor vessel does not have large cold or hot diameter, approximately 25 of these vessels will fit within the
leg piping thus the potential of large break loss of coolant accidents containment vessel of AP1000. But WSMR is not simply a smaller
is eliminated. As no electrically driven pumps are required, heat version of AP1000. As a modular reactor, all of the components
removal can be used in the event that these systems are exhausted associated with the reactor coolant system are contained within a
by flooding the containment and establishing natural circulation. single pressure vessel, thus eliminating large piping to connect the
Passive safety concept is adequately utilized since the heat power is system components. The maximum diameter of the reactor is held
much smaller and the relative cooling ability could be enhanced. to less than 12 feet to ensure that it can be shipped via standard rail
There are water supplies located above and within the containment package.
that can cool the vessel with gravity driven-cooling if secondary The primary equipments are innovative designs to meet the
cooling is lost (Fig. 1). demands of system integration. The steam generator is a straight
tube configuration with the primary reactor coolant passing
2.2. Westinghouse SMR through the inside of the tubes and the secondary coolant on the
outside. In this design, primary reactor coolant flow is directed
The Westinghouse SMR (WSMR) was declared to be launched in vertically downward through the inside of the tubes where heat is
February 2011 (POWERnews and February 23, 2011). This reactor transferred to the secondary fluid. Secondary flow enters the steam
22 Z. Liu, J. Fan / Progress in Nuclear Energy 70 (2014) 20e28

generator shell as a sub-cooled liquid and exits as a saturated steam support the licensing within the existing LWR regulatory
mixture, where it is directed to the steam drum for moisture sep- framework.
aration. The moisture separation equipment in the drum was A high degree integration of the NuScale design is reflected in
selected and sized to produce dry steam conditions for input to the the simplification of equipment, even the cancellation of some
turbine for power generation. A bolted flange near the centre of the traditional key equipment. Reactor coolant pumps are eliminated in
integral reactor assembly allows for the steam generatorepres- Nuscale design (Reyes, 5e9 December 2011). The nuclear core is
surizer assembly to be removed, allowing access to the fuel during a cooled entirely by natural circulation during normal operation as
refueling outage. well as transient or accident conditions. Water is heated in the
The plant structures are arranged to provide strong defense under nuclear core to produce a low density fluid that travels upward
various conditions. The containment is designed to be submerged in through the hot leg riser. The density difference acting over an
water during normal operation, and it will also withstand relatively elevation difference results in a buoyancy force that drives the fluid
high internal and external pressure loadings. Above-grade floors will flow around the loop. A once-through steam generator contributes
house equipment that is not subject to radionuclide releases. The to the intensification of NSSS in mPower, WSMR as well as in
spent fuel pool is located below grade to protect against external NuScale design. The steam generator of NuScale is a helical-coil,
threats (Fig. 2). once-through heat exchanger located in the annular space be-
tween the hot leg riser and the reactor vessel’s inside wall. Feed-
2.3. NuScale water enters the tubes at the bottom and superheated steam exits
at the top. Two redundant, independent sets of steam generator
NuScale is an integral pressurized-water reactor (iPWR), tube banks occupy the steam generator region.
designed by NuScale Power, LLC. The design is based on MASLWR Each NuScale module includes two redundant passive safety
(Multi-Application Small Light Water Reactor) developed at Oregon systems to provide pathways for decay heat to reach the contain-
State University during 2000e2003. Each NuScale SMR has a rated ment pool, the decay heat removal system (DHRS) and the
thermal output of 160 MWt and electrical output of 45 MWe (U.S. containment heat removal system (CHRS). These systems do not
NRC, April 19, 2012). require external power for actuation. To practically eliminate radi-
The maturity of design could be expressed as followed: 1) Nu- ation release, NuScale has seven layers of barriers between fuel and
clear fuel is a. 2) The NuScale design relies on well-established LWR environment. Besides fuel pallet and cladding, reactor vessel, and
technology, including a standard LWR fuel in 17  17 configuration, containment in conventional nuclear plants, it adds water in reactor
proven codes and methods, and existing regulatory standards. It is pool, stainless steel lined concrete reactor pool, biological shield
supported by a one-third scale, electrically heated integral test fa- covers each reactor, and reactor building as release defense (Fig. 3).
cility which operates at full pressure and temperature, which will The design parameters of several SMRs mentioned above are
summarized in Table 1.

3. Technology evolution

The SMR design options listed above are some of the diversified
designs worldwide in recent years. The assessment of the SMR

Fig. 2. Containment of WSMR (Blinn and June 12, 2012). Fig. 3. NuScale Reactor Module (Ingersoll and June 12, 2012).
 Z. Liu, J. Fan / Progress in Nuclear Energy 70 (2014) 20e28 23

Table 1
Key design parameters of several SMRs.

mPower Westinghouse SMR NuScale

Thermal/Electric output, MW 400/125 800/225 160/48

Thermal dynamic type/Efficiency Indirect rankine cycle/31% Indirect rankine cycle/28% Indirect rankine cycle on
superheated steam/30%
Primary coolant/Circulation mode Light water/Forced Light water/Forced Light water/Natural
Primary pressure, MPa 13.1 N/A 10.7
Core inlet/Outlet temperatures,  C 297/321 N/A 247.9/288.9
Core diameter  height, mm 2000  2030 (N/A)  2400 N/A, reduced height core
Fuel type/initial enrichment, % UO2/5% 235U UO2/<5% 235U UO2/3e4% 235U
Burn-up cycle duration, equivalent 1644 700 732
full power days
Average bun-up of discharge fuel, 40 70 62
MWday/kg
Mode of reactivity control - Mechanical control rods - Mechanical control rods - Mechanical control rods
in operation with internal drives; with internal drives; with external drives;
- No liquid boron - Liquid boron - Liquid boron
Reactor vessel diameter  3600  22 000 3500  24 700 2740  13 176
height, mm
Secondary pressure, MPa 5.7 N/A N/A
SG secondary side inlet/outlet 163/300 N/A N/A
temperatures,  C
Turbine type Not specified; Air cooled condenser N/A Standard 45 MW turbine
I&C system Based on the state of the art for PWR OVATION-based Digital State-of-the-art PWR digital systems
and marine reactors Control System
Containment type and dimensions, m Cylindrical containment with spherical dome; Compact containment Deep vacuum compact containment
Secondary containment provided by submerged in water, submerged in water pool, 4.570  18.290
underground reactor building. 9.8  27.1

technologies will be important to make a full view of the status of with high safety levels and possibly reduced emergency response
the design, the gaps to the targets, the time and finance and other requirements.
resources still be needed, and the risk of developing the technology.
A scientific assessment of the SMR technology should be at least 3.2.1. Main methods for safety
from two perspectives: 1) a longitudinal retrospection of the The basic consideration is to prevent accident imitators.
technology evolution, to identify the origin of a specific SMR design, 1) Integral pressurized water reactor design. The NuScale, mPo-
the history of its development, and the main approaches to the wer, and W-SMR designs use an integral pressurized water reactor
enhanced safety, economy and operability. 2) a transverse analysis (iPWR) design in which most of the primary system components are
of the systems and components of the SMR design from a top-down contained within a single vessel. The integral design reduces the
method, to identify the maturity of the key systems and compo- number and size of penetrations and welding links through the
nents which are based on proven technology or on entirely inno- reactor pressure vessel, eliminating the high-consequence accident
vative design. A longitudinal retrospection of the technology scenario of a large pipe-break LOCA. In an iPWR the maximum size
evolution could be carried out as followed. pipe penetrating the reactor vessel is 5e7 cm in diameter, while in a
large PWR pipes that connect the reactor vessel to the external steam
generator vessels are 80e90 cm diameter.
3.1. Balance of tradition and innovation
SMR focus it safety functions on proper cooling of reactor core in
case of accidents through following methods.
The concept of SMR dates back up to 1960s (International
Atomic Energy Agency, 1961). The current SMR designs mainly
2) Increased relative coolant inventory. An enlarged vessel yields
rooted from two origins: 1) marine-based power reactors, such as
a larger inventory of water per unit of power than in the loop-
the mPower derived from the Otto Hahn marine reactor, 2) land-
type plant, which increases the relative thermal inertia within
based electricity generation reactor, such as WSMR from AP1000.
the reactor vessel. This result in a reduction in the rate at which
The design objectives of SMR are smaller power grade, smaller
the system temperature increases during a loss of forced flow
configuration size, smaller generation cost, and smaller operation
transient, providing the operators with more time to respond
risk. Consequently the SMR designs absorb the advantages of the
to an upset condition.
existing marine-based and land-base reactors, meeting the design
3) Increased relative heat transfer area. A simple calculation could
objectives through progressive or significant innovation.
reveal that relative surface area of the iPWR vessel per unit po-
wer is increased. Roughly speaking, if a diameter of a SMR reactor
3.2. Approaches to safety core is 1/n of a large reactor, then the relative surface area of
reactor vessel per unit power could be n times of a large reactor.
In SMR designs, the defense in depth strategy is used as in larger 4) Increased passive cooling capability. The vessel height-to-
reactor designs to protect the public and environment from acci- diameter ratio of a SMR is 2e3 times larger than that of a
dental releases of radiation. The main goal is to prevent or eliminate large reactor since more equipments are incorporated verti-
as many accident initiators and accident consequences as possible. cally inside the vessel. This increases gravity-driven natural
Certain common measures of SMR lead themselves to safety are, convection circulation capability. In the NuScale design, the
relatively smaller core sizes enabling integral coolant system lay- natural circulation driving force is designed to be sufficiently
outs, larger reactor surface-to-volume ratios, lower core power strong to be used as a core cooling mechanism for full power
densities et al. The intended outcome is greater plant simplicity operation, thus eliminating the need for pumps entirely.
24 Z. Liu, J. Fan / Progress in Nuclear Energy 70 (2014) 20e28

On prevention of radiation release, SMRs have following auxiliary systems, steam and power conversion systems. To get a
measures. full view of the technology readiness of a certain SMR design, it is
necessary to make a transverse analysis of the constituent systems
5) Smaller radionuclide inventory. The radionuclide inventory in a and equipments.
reactor core is roughly proportional to power level. In addition In this respect, it will be helpful to refer to the Technology
to the intrinsically smaller radionuclide inventory of an SMR, Readiness Assessment Guide (U.S. Department of Energy and Sep
some SMR designs add additional barriers to fission-product 15, 2011) released by U.S. DOE to indicate the maturity level of a
release to achieve a dramatically smaller accident source term. given technology, as defined in Table 3.
6) Under-ground construction. The smaller plant footprint of an
SMR makes it more economically viable to construct the pri- 4.1. Reactor coolant system and connected primary systems
mary reactor system fully below ground level, which signifi-
cantly hardens it against external impacts such as aircraft or The Reactor Coolant System consists of major components other
natural disasters. As an example, the WSMR design has a than the reactor, such as steam generator, reactor coolant pump,
containment vessel volume that is more than 23 times smaller pressurizer, and related pipings linking the equipments. For SMRs,
than the Westinghouse AP-1000 containment. Below-grade the structure and functions of pressurizer and pipings are relatively
construction of the reactor and containment vessels also pro- simple and they are mostly settled into the integrated pressure
vides the potential for additional seismic resistance and helps vessel. So they will not be discussed specially in this paper.
reduce the number of paths for fission-product release in the
event of an accident. 4.1.1. Integral PWR
One of SMR’s basic design considerations is to minimize the size
of the plant configuration. The reactor coolant system of SMR listed
3.2.2. Measures responded to Fukushima accident in this paper all use integral PWR system. In fact, during the
The Fukushima disaster revealed deficiencies in the design of development of PWR in the past decades, three kinds of coolant
nuclear power plants. The SMR designs have their protection systems could be summarized, that is, the disperse layout, the
measures against Fukushima accident (IAEA, 5e9 December 2011). compact layout, and the integral layout. The disperse layout is a
The measures are summarized as Table 2. conventional layout. Different equipments of the reactor coolant
system are connected by long piping. This not only occupies a large
4. Systems and equipments volume, but also increases the flow resistance. The compact layout
use two-layer stub pipe instead of long pipe to connect the
SMR power plant is a set of systems and components, including equipments. So they are closer to the reactor pressure vessel, with a
reactor coolant system along with connected primary systems, fuel space of only about 0.5 m. The integral design, the reactor core and
and core, engineered safety features, instrumentation and controls, steam generator are all installed in the RPV, and the pump and the

Table 2
Protection against Fukushima-type Events.

Events and threats mPower WSMR NuScale

Earthquakes and  Deeply embedded reactor  Seismic isolation is being considered to limit seismic  System is submerged in a pool of water
floods building dissipates effects on the containment vessel and equipment below ground in an earthquake resistant
energy, limits motion in the containment. building. Reactor pool attenuates ground
 Separated, waterproof reactor  Features such as watertight doors and below-grade motion and dissipates energy.
compartments address building are being implemented in the design.  Deeply embedded reactor building provides
unexpected events flood protection.
Station blackout  Safety-related DC power  Redundant safety-related DC batteries support Passive cooling of reactor for 30 days with
supports all accident safe shutdown for 72 h. water followed by an unlimited period
mitigation for 72 h.  Seven days of natural circulation core of air cooling
 Auxiliary Power Units cooling is provided
inside reactor building with no need for any AC power
recharge battery system.  Two redundant, small ancillary diesels are
 Space allocated for 7 days provided to
battery supply for supply essential plant indication to the operator.
plant monitoring/control. Ancillary diesels can run for four days with
no operator support.
Containment Passive hydrogen recombiners  The 13/4 inch steel containment is a high integrity Insulating vacuum to improve steam
integrity are used to prevent explosions steel pressure vessel surrounded by a shield condensation rates during a LOCA by
without need for power supply building and imbedded eliminating air, to prevent combustible
below grade for protection from projectiles, hydrogen mixture in the unlikely event
including aircraft impact. of a severe accident (i.e., little or no oxygen),
 Battery powered hydrogen igniters & passive to eliminate corrosion and humidity problems
hydrogen recombiners inside containment.
to prevent explosions.
Spent fuel pool  The structure is underground,  Spent fuel pool is located below grade and  Below ground spent fuel pool is housed in a
integrity inside reactor service building, contains heavily seismically robust reactor building and
and cooling located on base mat. reinforced concrete structures lined with steel. stainless steel refueling pool liners are
 Large heat sink provides  Spent fuel will remain covered with gravity independent from concrete structure to
cooling for 30 more days before flow of water from retain integrity.
boiling and uncovering of fuel safety related Decay Heat Removal Tanks  More water volume for cooling per fuel
with 20 years of spent fuel. for a period of seven days. assembly than current designs
 Auxiliary external water supply connections
are easily accessible to plant.
 Z. Liu, J. Fan / Progress in Nuclear Energy 70 (2014) 20e28 25

Table 3
Technology Readiness Levels (TRL 6 to TRL 9).

Technology TRL definition Description

readiness level

TRL 9 Actual system operated over the full The technology is in its final form and operated under the full range of
range of expected mission conditions. operating mission conditions. Examples include using the actual system
with the full range of wastes in hot operations.
TRL 8 Actual system completed and qualified Technology is proven to work - Actual technology completed and qualified
through test and demonstration. through test and demonstration.
TRL 7 Full-scale, similar (prototypical) system Represents a major step up from TRL 6, requiring demonstration of an actual
demonstrated in relevant environment system prototype in an operational environment.
TRL 6 Engineering/pilot-scale, similar (prototypical) Representative model or prototype system, which is well beyond that of TRL 5,
system validation in relevant environment is tested in a relevant environment. Represents a major step up in a technology’s
demonstrated readiness. Examples include testing a prototype in a high-fidelity
laboratory environment or in simulated operational environment.

pressurizer are mounted on the RPV. The primary piping is elimi- commissioning from forgings processing. And maintenance of such
nated. This design decreases the volume of the system and related a compact structure could be more difficult.
shielding. It will be favorable for the construction of SMR in large In fact, the concept of SMR starts at 1950’s. In the U.S, B&W
scale. improved the marine reactor into IBR, and designed the CNSG se-
But meanwhile it should be noted that the higher integration of ries (1\2\3\4\4A). CE designed UNIMOD at the same time. In Russia,
the primary system also poses the biggest challenge to SMR they designed the compact reactor, such as KLT-3, KLT-4, and the
development. Since all the primary system equipments are inte- integral reactor, such as ABV-6, ABV-6Y, and ABV-6M. In France,
grated into one single vessel, the structure inside the RPV is more they developed independently the CAP series integral reactor, such
complicated. A component inside the RPV will be more prone to as K-48, K-150. The output power of these reactors is relatively
affect other components compressed in the same small RPV. The small. In the newly designed SMR for electricity generation pur-
radiation from reactor core will be more intensive and therefore the pose, the output power is promoted and the parameters such as
SMR will need a high reliability of the quality of the welding, the inventory, pressure, temperature will change. Adaptive design will
tube material, and the water of the secondary system. The difficulty be needed based on the previous experience. The technology
in equipment manufacture will turn to the assembling and readiness level could be 8.

Fig. 4. Schematic diagram comparison of steam generator (IAEA-TECDOC-1668, 2011).

26 Z. Liu, J. Fan / Progress in Nuclear Energy 70 (2014) 20e28

4.1.2. Steam generator Canned motor pumps have a long history of safe, reliable per-
The steam generator is a heat exchanger transferring energy formance in military and commercial nuclear plant service. Cur-
from reactor core to the turbines as well as a barrier isolating tisseWright developed the canned motor pumps used in the first
contaminations from the primary system to the secondary system. nuclear submarine, as well as in the first commercial nuclear power
For SMRs, steam generator is an important equipment to guarantee plant in 1957. And the world’s largest canned motor pump has been
that the plant is in reliable service. fixed in AP1000 nuclear power plant at Sanmen, China. Base on its
There are two kinds of steam generators as shown in Fig.4. application experience, the TRL of primary coolant pump could be
Large reactors mostly use recirculating steam generators (RSG). 8 to 9.
While for SMRs, once-through steam generators (OTSG) are
preferentially adopted. In an OTSG, the flow in the secondary 4.2. Fuel and core design
system is forced circulated by feed-water pumps. Superheated
steam is generated which both enhances the heat efficiency and The common design goal of SMR fuel and core is higher burnup
simplifies the system since equipments such as moisture sepa- and longer lifecycles. A higher burnup value will lead to a more
rators will not be needed. fully utilization of uranium resources. A longer refueling interval
Straight-tube OTSG is an OTSG with vertical straight tube as heat will decrease proliferation risks and lower chances of radiation
exchangers. B&W incorporated its first straight-tube OTSG into escaping containment. In particular for reactors in remote areas,
NSSS at Oconee Unit1 in 1973. Straight-tube OTSGs have now been longer fuel life can be very helpful to make unattended operation a
installed in Arkansas 1, Oconee 2, Oconee 3. The problem is that the reality.
absence of blow-down system makes the salinity deposit on the The basic approach of current SMR fuel development is
surface of heat transfer tubes, thus the requirements on tube ma- simplification of design and ease of licensing. Reactor fuel devel-
terials and water quality will be more stringent. opment is both time consuming and costly. Challenges come from
Helicoil-tube OTSG is another type of OTSG. More heat exchange clad oxidation, water chemistry, assembly strengthening, fission
surface could be achieved in certain space volume. And such a gas release, burnable poison, and manufacturing et al. So the
geometry caused a secondary flow in pipes, prompting heat ex- shortcut is usually taken by refining on fuels with good operating
change. Helicoil-tube OTSG was first equipped on nuclear experience. Fuel of WSMR is a derivative of the successful 17  17
icebreaker Lenin in 1958. The important issue of a helicoil-tube Robust Fuel Assembly (RFA) design. Over 14 000 RFA assemlies
OTSG is the non-uniformity of the convective heat transfer. The have operated in 252 fuel cycles at 50 plants worldwide and lead
excessive temperature deviation inside the steam generator will test assemblies have operated to approximately 70 GWD/MTU. In
cause damage to heat transfer tubes. Two advanced gas cooled. February 2013, fabrication of prototype WSMR fuel assemblies for
reactors (AGR) at Heysham U.K. installed helicoil-tube OTSGs had to testing started at the Fuel Fabrication Facility in Columbia, SC. Re-
operate under low power conditions to protect the tubes. In gen- sults of the test will be submitted to the US NRC for design certi-
eral, the TRL of steam generator could be 7. fication. Facilities to develop mPower fuel have been launched to
develop and demonstrate key fabrication technologies, and serve
4.1.3. Primary coolant pump for testing and licensing process. In April 2013, a test program for
Reactor coolant pump is a piece of equipment to drive the Nuscale fuel was successfully completed. A full-length, full-power,
coolant to circulate through the primary loop so that the heat electrically-heated fuel assembly mock-up with spacer grids was
generated in the core can be transferred to the steam generator. For tested for a wide range of natural circulation flow rates. The critical
large reactors, shaft seal pumps have been widely used. A shaft seal heat flux (CHF) data collected from the test will be used to define
pump is composed of a routine squirrel cage induction motor the limiting conditions for fuel performance.
routine with low cost and high pump efficiency. A heavy flywheel is The design of SMR reactor core focuses on three issues: the core
fitted on the electric motor to provide enough coast-down inertia to dimensions, the optimized core loading as well as effective fuel
maintain sufficient fluid flow to the reactor in the case of a loss of cycle, and the safety limits. These three issues are interactive, and a
power. And the maintenance of the shaft seal pumps is convenient general equilibrium is pursued among them.
with only about 10 h to replace the shaft seal structure. The reactor core dimension is an essential parameter in SMR
For SMRs, canned motor pumps are used instead of shaft seal design. The diameter of the core is directly related to the radial size
pumps (primary coolant pumps are even canceled in Nuscale of the reactor pressure vessel, which itself is limited by the
reactor). A canned motor pump contains the motor and all rotating requirement to ship the vessel by rail car. The height of the core
components inside a pressure vessel. The pressure vessel consists directly influences the length of the control rods and their drives
of the pump casing, thermal barrier, stator shell, and stator cap, and the reactor internals. Given the maximum core radial size, the
which are designed for full reactor coolant system pressure. The active core height will then be selected to support the fuel cycle
stator and rotor are encased in corrosion-resistant cans that pre- energy requirement with a reasonable number of feed assemblies
vent contact of the rotor bars and stator windings by the reactor each cycle, while also maintaining a relatively modest core height.
coolant. Because the shaft for the impeller and rotor is contained The core loading design has to provide sufficient excess reac-
within the pressure boundary, seals are not required to restrict tivity in the core to achieve the required cycle energy while the
leakage out of the pump into containment. A gasket and canopy safety criteria are met. Most SMRs tend to use mechanical shim
seal type connection between the pump casing, the stator flange, instead of chemical shim for reactivity control during normal
and the thermal barrier is provided. This design provides definitive operation. Such a method will probably lead to more localized
leak protection for the pump closure. To access the internals of the parameters that in large reactors. For example, cold shutdown
pump and motor, the canopy seal weld is severed. When the pump margin, the core axial offset evolution through the cycle showed
is reassembled a canopy seal is rewelded. At least two advantages strongly localized phenomenon in SMR reactors. One way to solve
are obvious for canned motor pump’s application in SMR. Firstly, this problem is to increase the neutron poison composition in those
because it is lack of seal shaft and the supporting system, the adjacent locations. The fuel and core design is an iterative process
structure of a canned motor pump could be more compact. Sec- between assembly design and the core management. It is relatively
ondly, enhanced safety could be realized since seal shaft is a po- long process that may take years of efforts. So the TRL of fuel and
tential source of coolant leakage. core is close to 7.
 Z. Liu, J. Fan / Progress in Nuclear Energy 70 (2014) 20e28 27

4.3. Engineered safety features requiring maintenance intervention to address drift or degradation
due to harsh environmental stress.
Engineered safety features (ESF) are consisted in the nuclear plant Advanced diagnostics and prognostic systems in SMR are closely
to ensure a safe shutdown of the reactor, removal of core residual related to extend the interval between maintenance outages
heat and preservation of containment integrity. In case of accidents, through better equipment monitoring, reduce labor demands for
ESF will inject cooling water into the core for preventing core equipment surveillance, and reduce risks through clearer under-
meltdown, depressurize the containment space for preventing ra- standing of equipment conditions and failure margins. It is neces-
diation release, and keep the hydrogen from concentrating. The sary to validate prognostic capabilities to provide optimal plant
equipments of ESF are not so complicated. But whether the function operation with high reliability.
of SMR ESF could efficiently behave is a vital issue. SMR objectives for reduced staffing imply highly automated
Many different safety features are involved in SMR design and plant control with greatly reduced reliance upon on-site highly
related information could be found in Table 2 in this paper. These skilled staff for interactive operational control under normal con-
SMRs are being made using passive safety features and inherent ditions and immediate intervention for event management. Highly
safety features. Passive safety features are engineered, but do not automated, intelligent control capabilities have not been demon-
require outside input to work. They only depend on physical laws. strated for nuclear power plant operations and there is limited
So SMRs in remote areas could operate safely. experience in other application domains. Thus, an investigation of
The most crucial system can be attributed to passive core the state-of-the-art for control technology is necessary. Given the
cooling system. An effective cooling system will lead to a cold identification of the state-of-the-art and an understanding of the
shutdown when accident happens. An SMR try to equip itself with SMR requirements and application constraints, a definition of the
passive safety features that draw heavily from the plant design that needed degree of automation and intelligence can be developed in
is certified by nuclear safety authorities. For example, the key the context of near-term and long-term capabilities.
components of the SMR passive core cooling systems are four core Advanced I&C in SMR will bring benefits to the construction and
makeup tanks (CMTs), an in-containment pool (ICP) and associated operation of the plants. Reducing cable installations using wireless
ICP tanks, an automatic depressurization system (ADS), an outside or shared wire communications will reduce construction cost of a
containment pool (OCP) and two ultimate heat sink (UHS) tanks. SMR plant. Using remote handling techniques will make it feasibly
Integrated into the CMTs are passive residual heat removal heat to conduct some routine maintenance between scheduled shut-
exchangers. During an event, the WSMR relies on the natural forces downs. But many components of this I&C system are not
of gravity and convection to shutdown and maintains the plant in a commercially available at present, all necessary components still
safe condition. Both of these short-term and long-term reactivity needs engineering development efforts. So the TRL of engineered
and decay heat control strategies for the WSMR are similar to those safety features could be 7.
of the AP1000 plant. But after all there are differences between
them as shown in Table 4 (Matthew et al., 2012). And test will still 4.5. Auxiliary systems, steam and power conversion system
be necessary to prove the validity of the new system. So the TRL of
engineered safety features could be 8. The auxiliary systems include primary and secondary water sup-
ply and treatment systems, chemical and volume control systems,
4.4. Instrumentation and controls component cooling systems, a refueling system, and spent fuel stor-
age pools. The steam and power conversion system include the main
SMR instrumentation and controls (I&C) technology encom- steam system, the main turbine generator system, main condenser,
condenser evacuation system, turbine gland seal system, turbine
passes many technical aspects that include measurement, di-
agnostics and prognostics, controls and plant operations, and bypass system, extraction steam system, condensate cleanup system,
and the condensate and feedwater pumping and heating system.
operational infrastructures (Clayton et al., 2010).
There is little special requirement regarding to the SMRs. And the
The integral nature of SMR brings about several measurement
designs and equipments of these systems are very mature.
technology differences from that of large reactors. Measurement of
certain key parameters of SMR can best be accomplished using in-
5. Conclusion
vessel sensors that require development and demonstration. These
in-vessel measurement capabilities include flux/power, primary
SMR is a novel concept combining fresh ideas, varying inven-
flow, reactor coolant system temperatures, primary water in-
tiveness and extensive heritage from existing technology. LWR
ventory, steam generator water inventory, and steam generator
based SMR designs are leading technologies as a result of the deep
stability, etc. Additionally, SMR will operate with extended opera-
understanding of the physical phenomena and abundant experi-
tional cycles and longer maintenance intervals. Sensors developed
ence in equipment fabrication as well as plant operation. Since the
for SMR plants must be capable of long-term operation without
power per unit is relatively smaller, the major equipment could be
much smaller than that in large reactors. Consequently the fabri-
cation, transport and installation of the equipment could be
Table 4
WSMR and AP1000 passive core cooling system.
simplified. Long lead item procurement usually significantly in-
fluences the mainline duration of plant construction. In a SMR
Function AP1000 Westinghouse SMR plant, long lead item procurement will save time, contributing to a
Short term reactivity Control rods Control rods shorter construction schedule. And at a certain site, to achieve an
controls equal output power, more SMR modules will be constructed that
Long-term reactivity 2 CMTs 4 CMTs
large unit. It will make fuller use of sale scale effects, learning ef-
controls
Decay heat removal 1 PRHR/PCS 4 CMTs w/integral heat fects and localization effects. SMR will win a competitive prospect.
exchangers Currently there is no SMR plant in construction or in commis-
Long-term makeup 1 IRWST/Sump 2 ICP tanks/sump sion. The biggest challenge in the development of SMR is the higher
water supply integration of the primary system. Efforts will be needed on the
Ultimate heat sink PCS (72 h) 2 UHS tanks (72 h each)
following aspects: 1) to develop and test materials working in
28 Z. Liu, J. Fan / Progress in Nuclear Energy 70 (2014) 20e28

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