Title:

What is Exciting about Nuclear Fuel? Pretty Much Everything!

Speaker:

Prof. Koroush Shirvan

Affiliation:

John Clark Hardwick (1986) Career Development Professor in Nuclear Science and Engineering department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

When:

Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 11:00:00 AM   Add to Calendar

Where:

Boggs Building, Room 3-47

Host:

Fan Zhang
dbrown360@gatech.edu
4043855502

Abstract

Cost is the primary barrier for nuclear energy deployment in the US. Nuclear fuel is the heart of all the nuclear reactor systems and the defense-in-depth principles and safety systems are designed around it. While traditionally treated as a low-cost item as part of the nuclear power plant total cost, nuclear fuel dictates the reactor power density and the nuclear island construction requirements. This talk will focus on nuclear fuel research activities undertaken by the center of Nuclear Innovation in Fission Technologies at MIT. The fuel forms range from long term concepts including 3D printed cylindrical TRISO fibers to near term concepts including composite claddings with applications to existing reactors, advanced reactors and space nuclear thermal propulsion. When pushing the current fuel forms to higher burnups or assessing new fuel forms, mechanistic understanding and capability to assess their performance holistically is critical in determining the value-proposition and avoiding the 25-30 year resource intensive fuel qualification campaigns. Additionally, the developed capability must also exhibit reasonable turnarounds, otherwise new designs and operational envelopes cannot be probably scoped out to improve the fuel management and ultimately reduce costs. As such, the talk also overviews new methods and approaches to fuel testing and modeling that have been effective in guiding the nuclear fuels community. Overall, improving nuclear fuel power density and targeting GENIII+ safety goals is the most effective way in reducing cost of nuclear energy.

Biography

Koroush Shirvan is the John Clark Hardwick (1986) Career Development Professor in Nuclear Science and Engineering department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Shirvan previously held a role of principal scientist at MIT with >10 years of experience in developing and designing innovative nuclear fuel, nuclear reactor components and power systems, particularly accident tolerant fuels and small modular reactors. In 2017, he established the center of Nuclear Innovation in Fission Technologies, currently supported by Department of Energy and industry partners including Exelon, Fortum and EPRI. He is an active consultant to the nuclear industry on matters of cost and safety. He is also organizer of several professional nuclear education activities including co-director of the Reactor Technology Course for Utility Executives.

Notes

https://bluejeans.com/912143864/3393