Design of a portable backup shutdown system for the high temperature gas cooled reactor

Abstract The experience of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident caused by the great earthquake that occurred in eastern Japan in 2011 showed the importance of preparing for the loss of function of the engineered safety features. Increasing the strength of equipment to prevent loss of function in an accident is effective, but the possibility of loss of function remains. Therefore, it is important to have an alternative to lost functions in order to put the accident under control early. Thus, this study designed an alternative shutdown system, namely a portable backup shutdown system (PBSS), to make countermeasures in the event of a loss of shutdown function more robust without impairing economic efficiency of the High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR). The PBSS is portable and capable of being installed manually so that it can operate in a total loss of off-site electricity. Various neutron absorber materials for the PBSS were also considered from the viewpoints of technical and cost-effective properties. As results of optimization, the boron nitride (BN) was selected as it shows a good neutronic property as well as a reasonable cost in comparison with other materials.