Year
2017
Abstract
ATOM (Autonomous, Transportable, On-demand, Modular) reactor is a conceptual Small Modular Reactor (SMR), based on the Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR), which is currently advocated for further development by Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). When developing the design requirements of ATOM, Security/Safeguards-by-design (SSBD) should be considered at the earliest stage of the design process to optimize the system. However, previous designs of SMRs did not consider the security and safeguards aspects of their design. As the initial investigation into evaluating and identifying SSBD for the Autonomous Small Modular Reactor (ASMR), this paper analyzes the design features that could cause new challenges, or enhance the effectiveness of security or safeguards aspects in each stage of the fuel cycle. First, evaluation methodologies of proliferation resistance of fuel cycle systems are reviewed with the intent of identifying the best suited methodologies. Then, various aspects of SMR design features which could affect the proliferation resistance, such as physical protection, and safeguardability are analyzed. For example, the possible effect of design features specific to ATOM, such as autonomous operation, core without boron, load-follow power output, etc. are analyzed. In addition, general characteristics of SMRs such as sealed designs, smaller core inventory, increased deployment, and conceptual designs such as modular design, underground design, and hybrid system are discussed in a qualitative way. Moreover, proliferation resistance for different core design scenarios such as enrichment, burnup, cycle length, etc. are analyzed to determine the design requirements. Ultimately, it is anticipated that the equipment and systems, investigated in this study, could be optimized to minimize the security costs and physical inspection times while meeting or exceeding other requirements, such as safety or economic feasibility.