Download or read book Feasibility Study of Supercritical Light Water Cooled Reactors for Electric Power Production, Progress Report for Work Through September 2003, 2nd Annual/8th Quarterly Report written by Philip E. MacDonald and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The supercritical water-cooled reactor (SCWR) is one of the six reactor technologies selected for researchand development under the Generation-IV program. SCWRs are promising advanced nuclear systemsbecause of their high thermal efficiency (i.e., about 45% vs. about 33% efficiency for current Light WaterReactors, LWRs) and considerable plant simplification. SCWRs are basically LWRs operating at higherpressure and temperatures with a direct once-through cycle. Operation above the critical pressureeliminates coolant boiling, so the coolant remains single-phase throughout the system. Thus the need forrecirculation and jet pumps, a pressurizer, steam generators, steam separators and dryers is eliminated. The main mission of the SCWR is generation of low-cost electricity. It is built upon two proventechnologies, LWRs, which are the most commonly deployed power generating reactors in the world, andsupercritical fossil-fired boilers, a large number of which is also in use around the world.