A Project Management and Systems Engineering Structure for a Generation IV Very High Temperature Reactor

The Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) will be an advanced, very high temperature (approximately 1000o C. coolant outlet temperature), gas cooled nuclear reactor and is the nearest term of six Generation IV reactor technologies for nuclear assisted hydrogen production. In 2001, the Generation IV International Forum (GIF), a ten nation international forum working together with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee (NERAC), agreed to proceed with the development of a technology roadmap and identified the next generation of nuclear reactor systems for producing new sources of power. Since a new reactor has not been licensed in the United States since the 1970s, the risks are too large for a single utility to assume in the development of an unprecedented Generation IV reactor. The government must sponsor and invest in the research to resolve major first of a kind (FOAK) issues through a full-scale demonstration prior to industry implementation. DOE’s primary mission for the VHTR is to demonstrate nuclear reactor assisted cogeneration of electricity and hydrogen while meeting the Generation IV goals for safety, sustainability, proliferation resistance and physical security and economics. The successful deployment of the VHTR as a demonstration project will aid in restarting the now atrophied U.S. nuclear power industry infrastructure. It is envisioned that VHTR project participants will include DOE Laboratories, industry partners such as designers, constructors, manufacturers, utilities, and Generation IV international countries. To effectively mange R&D, engineering, procurement, construction, and operation for this multi-organizational and technologically complex project, systems engineering will be used extensively to ensure delivery of the final product. Although the VHTR is an unprecedented FOAK system, the R&D, when assessed using the Office of Science and Technology Gate Model, falls primarily in the 3rd - Exploratory Development, 4th – Advanced Development, and 5th- Engineering Development stages of maturity rather than in the basic and viability stages. Therefore the R&D must be controlled and project driven from the top down to address specific issues of feasibility, proof of design or support of engineering. The design evolution must be through the systems approach including an iterative process of high-level requirements definition, engineering to focus R&D to verify feasibility, requirements development and conceptual design, R&D to verify design and refine detailed requirements for final detailed design. This paper will define a framework for project management and application of systems engineering at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). The VHTR Project includes an overall reactor design and construction activity and four major supporting activities: fuel development and qualification, materials selection and qualification, NRC licensing and regulatory support, and the hydrogen production plant

A Systems Engineering Framework for Design, Construction and Operation of the Next Generation Nuclear Plant

Not since the International Space Station has a project of such wide participation been proposed for the United States. Ten countries, the European Union, universities, Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories, and industry will participate in the research and development, design, construction and/or operation of the fourth generation of nuclear power plants with a demonstration reactor to be built at a DOE site and operational by the middle of the next decade. This reactor will be like no other. The Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) will be passively safe, economical, highly efficient, modular, proliferation resistant, and sustainable. In addition to electrical generation, the NGNP will demonstrate efficient and cost effective generation of hydrogen to support the President’s Hydrogen Initiative. To effectively manage this multi-organizational and technologically complex project, systems engineering techniques and processes will be used extensively to ensure delivery of the final product. The technological and organizational challenges are complex. Research and development activities are required, material standards require development, hydrogen production, storage and infrastructure requirements are not well developed, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission may further define risk-informed/performance-based approach to licensing. Detailed design and development will be challenged by the vast cultural and institutional differences across the participants. Systems engineering processes must bring the technological and organizational complexity together to ensure successful product delivery. This paper will define the framework for application of systems engineering to this $1.5B -$1.9B project

NP-MHTGR Fuel Development Program Results

In August 1988, the Secretary of Energy announced a strategy to acquire New Production Reactor capacity for producing tritium. The strategy involved construction of a New Production Modular High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (NP-MHTGR) where the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) was selected as the Management and Operations contractor for the project. Immediately after the announcement in August 1988, tritium target particle development began with the INEEL selected as the lead laboratory. Fuel particle development was initially not considered to be on a critical path for the project, therefore, the fuel development program was to run concurrently with the design effort of the NP-MHTGR

Using Decision Analysis in Evaluation and Prioritization of Technologies for Long Term Stewardship

The purpose of this paper is to describe a systematic approach to assess and prioritize technology concepts and systems for future research and development (R&D) funding. This paper discusses the analysis and rationale used in developing an evaluation process to assist those engaged in prioritizing technologies. This paper will explain the developed evaluation process, discuss the methodology, and summarize the rationale underlying the process

Near-Surface Engineered Environmental Barrier Integrity

The INEEL Environmental Systems Research and Analysis (ESRA) program has launched a new R&D project on Near-Surface Engineered Environmental Barrier Integrity to increase knowledge and capabilities for using engineering and ecological components to improve the integrity of near-surface barriers used to confine contaminants from the public and the environment. The knowledge gained and the capabilities built will help verify the adequacy of past remedial decisions and enable improved solutions for future cleanup decisions. The research is planned to (a) improve the knowledge of degradation mechanisms (weathering, biological, geological, chemical, radiological, and catastrophic) in times shorter than service life, (b) improve modeling of barrier degradation dynamics, (c) develop sensor systems to identify degradation prior to failure, and (d) provide a better basis for developing and testing of new barrier systems to increase reliability and reduce the risk of failure. Our project combines selected exploratory studies (benchtop and field scale), coupled effects accelerated aging testing and the meso-scale, testing of new monitoring concepts, and modeling of dynamic systems. The performance of evapo- transpiration, capillary, and grout-based barriers will be examined

A Program to Stabilize Nuclear Materials as Managed by the Plutonium Focus Area

This paper describes the program to stabilize nuclear materials, consistent with the Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) plan, Accelerating Cleanup: Paths to Closure. The program is managed by the Plutonium Stabilization and Disposition Focus Area, which defines and manages technology development programs to stabilize nuclear materials and assure their subsequent safe storage and final disposition. The scope of the Plutonium Stabilization and Disposition Focus Area (PFA) activities includes non-weapons plutonium materials, special isotopes, and other fissile materials. The PFA provides solutions to site-specific and complex wide technology issues associated with plutonium remediation, stabilization, and preparation for disposition. Our paper describes an important programmatic function of the Department of Energy nuclear materials stabilization program, including the tie-in of policy to research needs and funding for the nuclear materials disposition area. The PFA uses a rigorous systems engineering determination of technology needs and gaps, under the guidance of a Technical Advisory Panel, consisting of complex-wide experts. The Research and Development planning provides an example for other waste areas and should be of interest to Research and Development managers. The materials disposition maps developed by the PFA and described in this paper provide an evaluation of research needs, data gaps and subsequent guidance for the development of technologies for nuclear materials disposition. This paper also addresses the PFA prioritization methodology and its ability to forecast actual time to implementation

The GEMINI Initiative: A Step forward towards Nuclear Cogeneration with HTGR

This paper describes the history, rationale, objectives and current status of the transatlantic GEMINI Initiative (www.gemini-initiative.com) signed in June 2014 between the US NGNP Industry Alliance (NIA) and the European Nuclear Cogeneration Industrial Initiative (NC2I) as a common effort towards demonstration and deployment of nuclear cogeneration with intrinsically safe High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors. The NIA and the NC2I are comprised of major actors in the fields of nuclear and process heat user industries, energy supply and nuclear technology development companies, and collectively embody long-standing European and American experience in HTGR technology.JRC.F.4-Innovative Technologies for Nuclear Reactor Safet