On the Thermal-Hydraulic Essentials of the Holtec Inherently Safe Modular Underground Reactor (HI-SMUR) System

HI-SMUR 140 is a small (145 MWe) modular pressurized water reactor designed to harness fission energy without the use of a recirculation pump. HI-SMUR’s core resides deep underground in a thick-walled reactor vessel (RV) enclosed by a stainless steel-lined reinforced concrete “Reactor Well”. The HI-SMUR Nuclear Steam Supply System (NSSS) is a conjugated pressure vessel assemblage wherein the steam generator(s) are integrally joined to the RV, i.e., without any interconnecting piping, and the pressurizer is integral to the reactor vessel. There are no penetrations in the RV for over a height of 120 feet above the reactor core, which precludes the scenario of loss of coolant to the core from a postulated pipe break event. The rejection of decay heat from the reactor in the wake of a scram is engineered to occur without the aid of on-site or off-site power, making the HI-SMUR NSSS demonstrably capable of withstanding a cataclysmic environmental phenomenon of Fukushima’s intensity without loss of core cooling or without precipitating any damage to the plant or the surrounding environment. The system design places a premium on accessibility and maintainability of vital equipment such as the steam generators, RV internals, and the control rod drive assemblies. This paper is the first in a series of papers planned to explain and quantify the performance and safety aspects of HI-SMUR 140. In this paper, the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of the HI-SMUR NSSS are explored using classical hydraulic correlations which have served as the tool for the scoping parametric study of the system. In particular, the stability of the system under varying power output conditions and the long-term reliability of the fuel under the most adverse thermal/hydraulic conditions are presented.