[en] These factors have made the SMR area getting a wide attention worldwide. In this paper the main design features and market potential of the SMRs in all three reactors lines namely WCRs GCRs and LMRs are discussed. Design and development efforts worldwide are highlighted

[en] The construction of a nuclear district heating reactor (NHR) demonstration plant with a thermal power of 200 MW has been decided for the northeast of China. To facilitate the design and licensability a set of design criteria were developed for the NHR, based on existing general criteria for NPP but amended with regard to the unique features of NHR-200. Some key points are discussed in this paper. (author)

[en] The 5 MW Nuclear Heating Reactor (NHR-5) developed and designed by the Institute of Nuclear Energy and Technology (INET) and has been operated for four winter seasons since 1989. During the time of commissioning and operation a number of experiments including self-stability, self-regulation and simulation of ATWS etc. were carried out. Some operating experiences such as water chemistry, radiation protection, and environmental impacts and so on, were also obtained at the same time. All of these demonstrate that the design of NHR-5 is successful. (author)

[en] Operating experience and manifold feasibility studies reveal promising market potential for Small Reactors (SR) in remote areas of Russia. A number of SR designs ranged from few MWth to several dozens MWth are proposed by designers for power or heat production and cogeneration. Some of them are at the detailed design stage and ready for practical implementation. Safety concept and operation control approach of SRs are discussed in the paper using Floating Nuclear Power Plant VOLNOLOM-3 design as a typical example. (author)

[en] There is a potential need for small reactors in the future for applications such as district heating, electricity production at remote sites, and desalination. Nuclear power can provide these at low cost and with insignificant pollution. The economies required by the small scale application, and/or the remote location, require a review of the size and location of the operating staff. Current concepts range all the way from reactors which are fully automatic, and need no local attention for days or weeks, to those with reduced local staff. In general the less dependent a reactor is on local human intervention, the greater its dependence on intrinsic safety features such as passive decay heat removal, low-stored energy and limited reactivity speed and depth in the control systems. A case study of the design and licensing of the SLOWPOKE Energy System heating reactor is presented. (author)

[en] There is a potential future need for small reactors for applications such as district heating, electricity production at remote locations and desalination. Nuclear energy can provide an environmentally benign alternative to meet these needs. For successful deployment, small reactors must satisfy the requirements of users, regulators and the general public. The IAEA has been following the developments in the field of small reactors as a part of the sub-programme on advanced reactor technology. In accordance with the interests of Member States, a Technical Committee meeting (TCM) was organized in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, 15-19 May 1995 to discuss the status of designs and design requirements related to small reactors for diverse applications. The papers presented at the TCM and a summary of the discussions are contained in this TECDOC which, it is hoped, will serve the Member States as a useful source of technical information on the development of small reactors with simplified design

[en] The success of any nuclear program requires acceptance by the local public and all levels of government involved in the decision to initiate a reactor program. Public acceptance of a nuclear energy source is a major challenge in successful initiation of a small reactor program. In AECL's experience, public acceptance will not be obtained until the public is convinced that the specific nuclear program is needed, safe and economic and environmental benefit to the community. The title of public acceptance is misleading. The objective of the program is a fully informed public. The program proponent cannot force public acceptance, which is beyond his control. He can, however, ensure that the public is informed. Once information has begun to flow to the public by various means as will be explained later, the proponent is responsible to ensure that the information that is provided by him and by others is accurate. Most importantly, and perhaps most difficult to accomplish, the proponent must develop a consultative process that allows the proponent and the public to agree on actions that are acceptable to the proponent and the community

[en] New safe reactor but not a first of a kind engineering is a new reactor concept to fulfill the need on Small Reactor for power generation, both for electricity and for co-generation. Nuclear reactor system of this concept in certain degree has similar design compared to the established and successful reactor systems now in operation; so the material used for the same function and purpose is not the same. The strategy or choice adopted in achieving this concept will be automatically shown by the inspiration or philosophy of ''not to re-invent the wheel.'' Based on the above mentioned strategy, a certain degree of experimental verification and justification are of course needed/necessary to know better the deviations and the differences from the existing nuclear reactor concepts and further to anticipate of course precisely engineering behaviour of the proposed concept. Physical and engineering discussion on the proposed concept are main objectives of this paper in which most of the scope and objectives of this IAEA TCM on Small Reactors with minimized Staffing and/or Remote Monitoring are elaborated. They are discussed in such a way to give the technical and economical background of the proposed concept. (author)

[en] Many reactor designers world wide have successfully established technologies for very small reactors (less than 10 MW_TH), and technologies for large power reactors (greater than 1000 MW_TH), but have not developed small reactors (between 10 MW_TH and 1000 MW_th) which are safe, economic, and capable of meeting user technical, economic, and safety requirements. This is largely because the very small reactor technologies and the power reactor technologies are not amiable to safe and economic upsizing/downsizing. This paper postulates that new technologies, or novel combinations of existing technologies are necessary to the design of safe and economic small reactors. The paper then suggest a set of requirements that must be satisfied by a small reactor design, and defines a pool reactor that utilizes lead coolant and TRISO fuel which has the potential for meeting these requirements. This reactor, named LEADIR-PS, (an acronym for LEAD-cooled Integral Reactor, Passively Safe) incorporates the inherent safety features of the Modular High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor (MWGR), while avoiding the cost of reactor and steam generator pressure vessels, and the safety concerns regarding pressure vessel rupture. This paper includes the description of a standard 200MW thermal reactor module based on this concept, called LEADIR-PS 200. (author)

[en] Small nuclear power reactors offer compelling safety advantages in terms of the limited consequences that can arise from major accident events and the enhanced ability to use reliable, passive means to eliminate their occurrence by design. Accordingly, for some small reactor designs featuring a high degree of safety autonomy, it may be-possible to delineate a ''safety envelope'' for a given set of reactor circumstances within which safe reactor operation can be guaranteed without outside intervention for time periods of practical significance (i.e., days or weeks). The capability to operate a small reactor without the need for highly skilled technical staff permanently present, but with continuous remote monitoring, would aid the economic case for small reactors, simplify their use in remote regions and enhance safety by limiting the potential for accidents initiated by inappropriate operator action. This paper considers some of the technical design options and issues associated with the use of small power reactors in an autonomous mode for limited periods. The focus is on systems that are suitable for a variety of applications, producing steam for electricity generation, district heating, water desalination and/or marine propulsion. Near-term prospects at low power levels favour the use of pressurized, light-water-cooled reactor designs, among which those having an integral core arrangement appear to offer cost and passive-safety advantages. Small integral pressurized water reactors have been studied in many countries, including the test operation of prototype systems. (author)