Areva had a blogger conference call this morning and among the items discussed are their new reactors in development. The Atmea- 1 (pressure water reactor) and the Kerena (SWR-1000) boiler water reactor. Areva is also working on a sodium fast reactor for France to increase burnup of actinides and is involved in the long term high temperature next generation nuclear plant project.
Atmea-1
ATMEA1 became ready gor licensing applications at the end of 2009.
ATMEA1 brings together field-proven technology that is already incorporated into AREVA’s EPR (Evolutionary Power Reactor) and MHI’s APWR (Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor).
Design life of 60 years, 95% capacity factor
Optimized balance between active and passive safety systems.
A license application for Atmea I is expected within three years.
Kerena
The Kerena design was been developed from that of the Gundremmingen nuclear power plant by Areva with extensive German input and using operating experience from Generation II BWRs to simplify systems engineering. The 1250-1290 MWe reactor has a 60 year operating life and uses high-burnup fuels, meaning that it can go for up to two years between refuelling outages. The simplified, standardised design incorporates passive safety systems alongside certain active ones and could be built in less than 48 months, according to Areva’s reactor design and construction arm, Areva NP.
Finland’s Fennovoima selected Kerena as one of three possible designs for its new build project, while German utility EOn agreed to work with Areva on further developing the reactor design as part of a 2008 agreement to cooperate on the construction of new UK nuclear power plants.
The SWR 1000 would contribute to reduce the price per kWh by 10%
* Reactor positioned in the medium-power range (1000-1250 MW electrical)
* Calls extensively upon existing technology
* High capacity factor (above 90%)
* Designed to last for 60 years
* Maintenance simplified and service lifetime extended
* Flexibility in the amount of time fuel stays in the reactor(12-24 months)
* Increased fuel burnups (above 60 GWd/t)
* Reduced waste production
* Simplified systems and components
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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