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Abstract
The design of a 700 MWe pressurized heavy water reactor has been developed. The design is based on the twin 540 MWe reactors at Tarapur of
which the first unit has been made critical in less than 5 years from construction commencement. In the 700 MWe design boiling of the coolant,
to a limited extent, has been allowed near the channel exit. While making the plant layout more compact, emphasis has been on constructability.
Saving in capital cost of about 15%, over the present units, is expected. The paper describes salient design features of 700 MWe pressurized heavy
water reactor.
2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction water reactors employ this design. Fig. 1 shows the typical
schematic flow diagram of a pressurized heavy water reactor.
The first stage of the Indian nuclear power programme is Uprating of reactor power, with the same core configuration
based on utilization of natural uranium resources available as that of 540 MWe, has been taken up in view of the available
in the country for a series of reactors known as pressurized margin in the fuel design. The power output is enhanced by
heavy water reactors (PHWRs). First of these reactors were of utilizing margin in the fuel linear heat rating and further flux
220 MWe capacity (Narora Atomic Power Station, 2006; Kaiga flattening. Extraction of additional heat is achieved by allowing
Generating Station, 1999), the technology for which was indig- boiling of coolant near the channel exit. Thus, it is seen that the
enized and standardized. The strong base, thus formed, in terms same reactor assembly and the same primary coolant loop are
of mature and proven technology, was the stepping-stone to capable of delivering thermal energy equivalent to 700 MWe
develop higher capacity reactors of 540 MWe (Tarapur Atomic output resulting in a significant economic advantage.
Power Project, 2006). These reactors have been designed
indigenously and one unit has been made critical in less than 5 2. Reactor core design
years from the commencement of construction. The efforts in
furthering this technology are continued for evolving the design The 220 MWe PHWR has 306 coolant channels. Each
of a 700 MWe pressurized heavy water reactor (Kakrapara channel houses 12 uranium dioxide fuel bundles of 19-element
Atomic Power Project, 2003). Future reactors planned to be configuration. The total power delivered to coolant in this reac-
built using this technology would be of the 700 MWe capacity. tor is 756 MW. Further enhancement of reactor power to coolant
The pressurized heavy water reactor is a horizontal pres- and then electrical output was obtained with a design having
sure tube reactor using natural uranium dioxide fuel with 392 channels, each channel housing 13 bundles of 37 element
heavy water as moderator and coolant. The moderator is at configuration. For 540 MWe units, the requirement of higher
low-pressure and temperature. The coolant is maintained in channel power of 5.5 MW with maximum bundle power of
single phase by pressurization. Heat extracted by the coolant about 642 kW (time averaged maximum) necessitated a bundle
from the fuel is transferred to the secondary side light water design having a higher number of elements. The 37-element fuel
to produce steam. Both 220 and 540 MWe pressurized heavy bundle had been selected based on the limits on element heat
rating and geometrical arrangement. For 700 MWe, the time
averaged maximum channel power is 6.5 MW and correspond-
Tel.: +91 22 25584689; fax: +91 22 25584689. ing maximum time averaged bundle power is 790 kW. However,
E-mail address: sabhardwaj@npcil.co.in. 37-element fuel bundle has an operating limit of 917 kW. Based
0029-5493/$ see front matter 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2005.09.032
862 S.A. Bhardwaj / Nuclear Engineering and Design 236 (2006) 861871
on the capacity of the fuel to generate higher power, uprating of endurance requirements. In-pile tests have been carried out on
540 MWe units was taken up, with the same core configuration. individual fuel elements simulating the reactor conditions.
It is estimated that the core can transfer 2166 MW to the coolant
and corresponding electric power output could be in the range of 3. Plant layout and structures
700 MWe. Table 1 gives salient core parameters. The fuel bundle
design is based on analyses, type testing and operating experi- The focus on plant layout and structures for the 700 MWe
ence. The estimated fuel temperature, internal gas pressure and PHWR is on simplification and compactness, with a view to
sheath strain are well within acceptable limits. Fuel bundles have reducing construction time and cost. Sizes of various buildings
been extensively type tested for their performance with respect have been optimized by segregating seismic and non-seismic
to pressure drop, fuelling machine compatibility, strength and components and systems in separate buildings.
The design of the reactor building has been standardized for
Table 1 the pressurized heavy water reactors. The design adopts a dou-
Core parameters ble containment philosophy with pre-stressed concrete primary
Serial number Parameter Value
containment and reinforced concrete secondary containment.
Each containment has a dome shaped roof. There are two open-
1 Number of fuel channels 392 ings in the dome to facilitate erection/replacement of steam
2 Lattice pitch 28.6 cm
3 Equivalent core radius 319.2 cm
generators. On the construction front, to improve leak tightness,
4 Core length (12 fuel bundles) 594.0 cm microsilica concrete will be used along with green cutting of
5 Moderator outlet temperature 70 C construction joints. The primary heat transport/moderator purifi-
6 Moderator inventory in calandria 260 t cation system floor in the reactor auxiliary building, which is
7 Primary heat transport main system 165 t very heavy and located at elevation 100.0 m in 540 MWe plant,
inventory
8 Core fission power 2291 MW (th)
will be shifted to the basement, on the top of the raft. Apart from
9 Core thermal power (to coolant) 2166 MW (th) simplifying the design it will also reduce the building height by
10 Design (maximum) channel power 6.5 MW (th) around 3 m. The compressors and chillers in the station auxiliary
11 Fuel cluster 37 rod building (SAB) will be located in the basement of the service
12 Bundle diameter 10.24 cm building and the turbine building, respectively, thus reducing the
13 Bundle length 49.5 cm
14 Maximum bundle power (time averaged) 790 kW (th)
size of station auxiliary building. The overall dimensions of the
service building is reduced compared to the 540 MWe units due
S.A. Bhardwaj / Nuclear Engineering and Design 236 (2006) 861871 863
to compact layout, re-location of non-seismic services/systems emphasis has been placed on achieving structural integrity by
in other codal structures and reducing the head room requirement minimising stress levels, vibration control, appropriate quality
for handling equipment in the fuel handling maintenance facil- control measures, etc. Design and manufacture of components
ity. The compact layout will automatically ensure lesser pipe for reactor assembly have evolved over the years, particularly in
and cable lengths. This will reduce the length of underground the areas of material selection, weld joint configuration, main-
tunnels and trenches, which has a major bearing on construction tenance/replacement. The design of the reactor assembly for the
time. All the main plant buildings are envisaged to have base- 540 MWe pressurized heavy water reactors employs the latest
ments, which can be utilized for routing pipes and cables, so features in the design of these components. The same design has
that the number of tunnels/trenches can be reduced. The possi- been adopted for the 700 MWe pressurized heavy water reactors.
bility of constructing the entire turbine building using structural Fig. 3 shows the reactor assembly.
steel is being thought of, which can considerably reduce the
construction time. Pipe and Cable Bridge in the 540 MWe units 4.1. Calandria
is a separate civil structure between reactor building and tur-
bine building housing pipes and cables running between these The calandria is a horizontal single-walled austenitic stainless
buildings. In the 700 MWe project, the pipe and cable bridge is steel vessel, which contains heavy water moderator and reflector
planned to be an integral part of the station auxiliary building. and allows on-power bi-directional fuelling. Both ends of the
The plant layout is shown in Fig. 2. main shell are stepped down in diameter and in situ welded to
Construction practices for structures have undergone signifi- the cylindrical extensions by means of flexible annulus plate. The
cant changes, resulting in reduction in construction time. These cylindrical extensions on either end of the main shell are known
include use of highly mechanized means of production, trans- as the small shells. This configuration enables in accommodating
portation and placement of concrete, use of self-compacting the differential expansion of calandria and zircaloy calandria
concrete, left-in shutters, advanced threaded couplers for rein- tubes passing through the calandria and rolled to the tube sheets
forcement steel and redefining the mix of heavy concrete for of end shields at either end.
easy placement by pumping. It is planned to use slip forming There are 85 vertical (non-radial) nozzles on top of the calan-
extensively to further reduce the construction time. dria and 13 nozzles on the sides. Adequate machining allowance
has been provided to compensate for tilting and shifting of noz-
4. Reactor assembly zles during welding.
In addition to the above nozzles, 12 moderator inlets near the
The reactor assembly consists of calandria, end shields, horizontal center line of the calandria and four moderator outlets
coolant channel assemblies and reactivity devices. The reactor at the bottom of the calandria shell are provided. The moderator
assembly is housed in a concrete structure known as calandria is injected inside the calandria through diffusers, having rectan-
vault, which is filled with water. With a view to enhancing safety, gular cross section of gradually increasing size. The diffusers
864 S.A. Bhardwaj / Nuclear Engineering and Design 236 (2006) 861871
are designed such that the moderator jets travel all along in the support frame, near the horizontal center line of the end shield,
reflector zone to the top of the calandria and then flow vertically for handling and movement during installation.
down to outlet nozzles. The locations of inlet and outlet nozzles The end shields are cooled by light water, entering from the
and diffuser geometry have been optimized using CFD codes, bottom at six locations. The main coolant outlet is at the top
duly validated by experiments. of the main shell. Auxiliary outlets are also provided near the
The integral calandria and end shield assembly is quite rigid in edges of the main shell. The coolant flow from the end shield
all directions, except for the axial direction. In the axial direction, is discharged into an outer annulus bounded by the diaphragm
it is free to deflect due to flexibility of diaphragm plates and plates, the end shield main shell and the shell of support struc-
annulus plates. The calandria is anchored to the calandria vault ture. The coolant water design temperatures at inlet and outlet
by four calandria keys to prevent any relative movement between are 60 and 65 C, respectively. This range is chosen to minimize
calandria and calandria vault, while permitting the calandria to the thermal stresses in the tube sheets and to limit the oxygen
expand and contract radially and to move in the vertical direction. content in the coolant water.
This is to prevent damage to the reactivity devices that may occur End shields are fabricated from austenitic stainless steel type
in case of relative movement between calandria and the vault. 304L except for the shielding balls, which are made of carbon
steel.
4.2. End shields
4.3. Coolant channel assembly
Adjacent to the ends of the calandria are the two end shields,
which are welded in situ with the calandria, to form an integral The coolant channel assemblies, which form a part of the
assembly. primary heat transport system, are designed to house the fuel
The end shield is filled with 10 mm diameter spherical car- bundles within the reactor core and to contain the pressurized
bon steel balls and light water in a 57:43 volume ratio. The light heavy water coolant flowing through them. 392 coolant channel
water, which acts both as shielding and coolant medium, is cir- assemblies are mounted horizontally through the calandria and
culated and cooled through an external circuit. the end shields. Each coolant channel assembly consists of a
The end shields along with their support structures are fab- coolant tube attached at either end to a stainless steel end fit-
ricated as composite units in the manufacturers shop. The end ting by a roll-expanded joint. A calandria tube envelopes each
shield is firmly supported and grouted to the embedded steel coolant tube to provide insulation between the hot coolant tube
pedestal of calandria vault. Fabricated lugs are welded to the and the relatively cool moderator. Four garter spring spacers are
S.A. Bhardwaj / Nuclear Engineering and Design 236 (2006) 861871 865
provided to maintain the annular gap between the coolant and 6. Primary heat transport system
calandria tubes.
Coolant tubes are seamless, hot extruded, cold worked and The primary heat transport (PHT) system is designed to trans-
stress relieved tubes, made from Zr to 2.5% Nb alloy. port the heat produced in the reactor core to the secondary side
In order to isolate the annulus between the coolant tube and of the steam generators (SG) to produce steam, which is fed
the calandria tube from the vault atmosphere, end fittings are to the turbine for generation of electric power. The transport
attached to the lattice tubes by means of flexible bellows assem- medium is pressurized heavy water. The circuit is divided into
blies. This arrangement allows relative axial movement between two identical loops. The core consisting of 392 coolant tubes,
coolant channel and the end shields besides providing for moni- containing the fuel is divided vertically into two halves to form
toring the sealed annuli for any leakage during reactor operation. the two loops. Two-loop concept has been adopted mainly from
The garter springs provide intermediate support to the coolant the consideration of limiting the rate of reactivity addition within
tube and minimize its excessive sag due to creep. Techniques for the capability of shut down systems, during loss of coolant acci-
determining and repositioning of the garter springs have been dent (LOCA). Each loop consists of a reactor inlet header (RIH)
developed. Presently, tight-fit garter springs are used, which and reactor outlet header (ROH) on either side of the core, with
prevent their displacement during service, thereby avoiding pre- a steam generator and primary coolant pump (PCP) connected
mature contact of the coolant tube with the calandria tube. between them without any isolation valves. Thus each reactor
The rolled joints between the coolant tubes and the end fit- inlet header is connected to 98 coolant tubes through inlet feed-
tings are of zero clearance type. This reduces the residual ers and each reactor outlet header is connected to 98 coolant
stresses in the rolled joint region to a low level, providing ade- tubes through outlet feeders. Bi-directional refuelling (that is
quate safeguard from consideration of delayed hydride cracking refuelling from opposite directions in adjacent channels) is
of the coolant tube. employed for flux flattening. Coolant flow in adjacent channels is
To accommodate thermal expansion and elongation due to also in opposite direction. The steam generators, primary coolant
radiation induced creep and growth, adequate margin, in the pumps and headers are located above the core to ensure estab-
form of bearing sleeve length and flexibility of the bellows, has lishment of thermo siphoning for decay heat removal following
been kept. With this, the useful channel life may be governed by loss of power to the primary coolant pumps. These primary cool-
other considerations such as hydrogen embrittlement, diametric ing pumps have been provided with flywheels to give matching
creep or sag. coast-down flows enveloping the decay power of the core.
The mean reactor outlet header pressure is controlled at
9.90 MPa (100 kgf/cm2 g). The pressure control is by a 45 m3
4.4. Reactor vault
pressurizer riding over the primary heat transport system. Over-
pressure protection is by 2 100% capacity instrumented relief
The reactor assembly is located in three concrete structures
valves connected to each loop. These valves relieve to the bleed
known as calandria vault and fuelling machine vaults. The calan-
condenser. The pressurizer smothers the pressure surges, aris-
dria vault is of reinforced heavy concrete, approximately 11.0 m
ing out of operational transients. The feed and bleed system,
long, 5.7 m wide and 17 m high. The calandria vault is lined with
apart from carrying out the function of inventory control, also
6 mm thick carbon steel liner, to prevent any kind of seepage in
provides a purification flow for maintaining the desired water
to the concrete. The calandria vault is structurally separate from
chemistry and removal of corrosion products. A 60 m3 capac-
the adjoining fuelling machine vaults. The vault water tempera-
ity heavy water storage tank is connected to the feed and bleed
ture is maintained below 52 C.
system. The large capacity storage tank assists the provisions of
The calandria vault is covered at the top by removable hatch
small leak handling system.
beams. These beams provide for accurately locating and sup-
To permit maintenance in the heat transport system, a shut
porting the reactivity devices.
down cooling system is provided to remove decay heat during
reactor shut down and to cool the heat transport system from
5. Moderator system 150 to 55 C. For this purpose, a shut down cooling pump and
heat exchanger are connected between each set of reactor outlet
About 123 MW heat is generated in the moderator during header and reactor inlet header. About 2166 MW heat is trans-
full power operation. This heat is removed by circulating the ferred to the coolant at full power. This heat is removed from
moderator through heat exchangers to maintain the temperature the core by the heavy water coolant entering the channels at
within 70 C. With a view to reduce maintenance requirements 266 C and leaving the channels at 310 C. The gross coolant
and man-rem consumption, 3 50% mechanical seal pumps are flow through the core is 8.528 103 kg/s. The feeder hydraulic
used, with the third pump as standby. resistances are optimally matched with the channel power output
The calandria is maintained 100% full with moderator dur- to give a uniform exit quality of the coolant from all channels.
ing full power operation. This reduces the rate of radiolysis and The coolant quality at reactor outlet header is limited to about
helps in reducing sloshing load on the calandria internals. Also, 2.6%. Fig. 4 shows the simplified flow sheet of the primary heat
a head tank is provided to minimize level fluctuations thus avoid- transport system.
ing excessive shift of poison-moderator interface of shut down To reduce developmental efforts and consequent costs, right
system #2. from the inception of design, it was endeavoured to use most
866 S.A. Bhardwaj / Nuclear Engineering and Design 236 (2006) 861871
is loaded during reactor operation by a pair of fuelling machines, through a transfer magazine, which provides for transit storage
working at both ends of the reactor in tandem. Bi-directional, for new as well as spent fuel.
multi-bundle refuelling scheme, along the flow direction has The transfer magazine facilitates transfer of all spent fuel
been adopted. All operations of the fuelling machines including bundles from fuelling machine to the transfer magazine and all
new fuel loading and spent fuel transfer are remotely performed new fuel bundles into the fuelling machine as a part of exchange
from the main control room. operation. The discharge of spent fuel bundles from transfer
The fuelling machine (FM) consists of the head, bridge, guide magazine is carried out after the fuelling machine is released.
columns, trolley associated process hoses and control cables. The transfer magazine consists of a six-tube transfer carriage,
The head consists of snout, magazine and a ram assembly. The which moves vertically up and down to align the tubes with either
snout assembly contains the mechanisms that are necessary to the new fuel magazine, or fuelling machine, or the shuttle trans-
clamp or unclamp the head onto a channel. The magazine assem- fer station. The transfer magazine remains partially filled with
bly has twelve positions to store fuel bundles, sealing plug, heavy water. It is completely filled and pressurized to 0.1 MPa
shielding plug, snout plug etc. The ram assembly consists of (1 kg/cm2 ) while communicating with fuelling machine. The
three concentric rams named B-ram, Latch ram and C-ram, spent fuel bundles received in the transfer magazine remains
designed to install/remove the plugs and move fuel bundles. The submerged in heavy water for cooling.
B-ram and Latch ram are ball screw driven and C-ram is water The spent fuel bundles are transported to the spent fuel storage
hydraulic driven. During the normal operations the fuel bundles bay located outside the reactor building by a shuttle transport
are pushed. However, if one of the machines is incapacitated, the system. The system comprises a shuttle transfer station, a special
ram assembly is designed to retrieve the fuel bundles from the carrier tube called shuttle moving in the shuttle transport tube
other machine using extractors. Details of the fuelling machine and the shuttle receiving station. During transfer of spent fuel
head are shown in Fig. 10. from transfer magazine to shuttle station, the fuel remains in dry
The BridgeTrolley arrangement provides X, Y, Z and swing condition for a short time. The fuel is then transferred from the
motion of the head, for accurately aligning it with the coolant shuttle station by a shuttle through a shuttle transport tube by
channel. The head is supported from the trolley through a gimbal hydraulic drag force. The shuttle is received in the spent fuel-
suspension system. receiving bay where the spent fuel is removed and sent via the
Two fuelling machines on either side of the channel work inspection bay to the storage bay.
in co-ordination. Both machines move and clamp onto the The fuel is stored under water to provide necessary cool-
end fittings forming a leak tight joint. After clamping, the ing and shielding. The storage pool, 15 m wide 60 m long, is
fuelling machine rams remove the snout plugs, sealing plugs designed for storage of spent fuel discharged from two units for
and shielding plugs. The upstream head loads the fuel bun- a period of 10 years.
dles in pairs while downstream machine receives the spent fuel.
Either fuelling machine can perform the function of loading or
receiving the fuel bundles. After the channel has been refuelled, 10. Safety systems
shielding and sealing plugs are reinstalled in channel and snout
plug in the snout. Channel leak tightness is checked before the Safety systems are provided to effectively reduce risk result-
machines are unclamped from the end fitting. ing from postulated failures of equipment or processes during
New fuel bundles equivalent to 4 weeks of full power oper- reactor operation. The safety systems are independent of the
ation, are temporarily stored in the service building. For refu- process systems required in the normal course of reactor opera-
elling, the bundles are then transferred, after inspection, to a new tion. The safety systems comprise of shut down system #1, shut
fuel magazine having a storage capacity of 48 bundles. There down system #2, emergency core cooling system and contain-
are two new fuel magazines. Refuelling operation is carried out ment systems.
870 S.A. Bhardwaj / Nuclear Engineering and Design 236 (2006) 861871
10.1. Shut down systems acting valves is provided to isolate the high-pressure helium. The
valves are tested on-line (without system actuation) for ensuring
Design of shut down systems (SDSs) for pressurized heavy their availability. Design features enhancing passive nature of the
water reactors has undergone a process of evolution. Concept system such as floating ball arrangement for preventing high-
of two diverse and independent shut down systems was first pressure helium entering calandria have been provided. While a
introduced in the 220 MWe reactor of the Narora Atomic Power negative worth of about 75 mk is realized in about 2.5 s of system
Station. These were primary shut down system (PSS) using grav- actuation, the total negative worth is around 300 mk when the
ity fall of cadmium absorber elements, and secondary shut down entire poison is mixed with the moderator. A schematic of SDS#2
system (SSS) injecting liquid poison column in vertical tubes is shown in Fig. 11. These systems have been extensively tested
located inside the core. The design in these 220 MWe units has in the laboratory and are being implemented in the 540 MWe
additional systems to augment the negative reactivity worth to units. Design of these two shut down systems has been adopted
take care of xenon decay during long term shut down. This is for the 700 MWe pressurized heavy water reactor.
achieved with the help of automatic liquid poison addition sys-
tem (ALPAS) wherein boron poison is added through moderator, 10.2. Emergency core cooling system
as well as using a system independent of moderator circulation,
known as gravity addition of boron (GRAB). The design was Emergency injection system is designed to prevent any signif-
further improved using liquid poison injection system (LPIS), icant fuel failures, under all postulated loss of coolant accident
which injects liquid poison directly into moderator by a helium (LOCA) following a breach of primary pressure boundary. Act-
accumulator. This system was introduced in lieu of ALPAS and ing in conjunction with any of the shut down systems, the release
GRAB and subsequently standardized for the later version of of radionuclides into the containment is minimized by maintain-
the 220 MWe pressurized heavy water reactors. ing coolable geometry of the fuel, without exceeding the release
With the experience gained, design of two shut down systems limits specified by the regulatory body.
each having adequate worth for long-term shutdown was evolved The emergency core cooling system comprises of two parts, a
for the 540 MWe pressurized heavy water reactor. The shut down passive high-pressure injection, followed by active long-term re-
system #1 (SDS#1) uses gravity drop of large number (28) of circulation phase for removal of decay heat. All header injection
cadmium absorber elements. The design incorporates several concept has been adopted. The injection is initiated automati-
features such as facility for on-line testing, improved dashpot cally on sensing a fall in reactor inlet header pressure below
arrangement etc. The total negative worth of the system is about 4.02 MPa (40 kgf/cm2 g) along with the presence of any one con-
72 mk. The shut down system #2 (SDS#2) employs gadolinium ditioning signal i.e. a high calandria level or high pump room
nitrate liquid poison, which is injected into moderator through pressure. For high-pressure injection (on LOCA signal), two
six liquid poison injection assemblies. High-pressure helium is numbers of 110 m3 capacity light water accumulators, pressur-
used for effecting fast injection. A series-parallel array of fast ized by a common 75 m3 nitrogen accumulator are located in
S.A. Bhardwaj / Nuclear Engineering and Design 236 (2006) 861871 871