Liquid metal cooled fast reactors (LMFRs) use liquid metal as a coolant instead of water commonly used in commercial nuclear power plants. This allows the coolant to operate at a higher temperature and a lower pressure than current reactors, thus improving the efficiency and safety of the reactor system. They also use the fast neutron spectrum, which means that neutrons can cause fission without having to be slowed down first as in current reactors. This allows liquid metal cooled fast reactors to use fissile materials and spent fuels from current reactor to generate electricity. Due to their much higher power density, higher thermodynamic efficiency and higher temperature, liquid metal cooled fast reactors become more and more attractive among different countries for improving reactor designs, power outputs and nuclear waste management. Understanding physical phenomena in liquid metal cooled fast reactors is thus vital in increasing innovation for reactor design and operation optimization.
To address the challenges related to liquid metal cooled fast reactors, research activities from complementary fields are solicited, such as neutronics, thermal hydraulics, nuclear fuels/materials performance, severe accident analysis, nuclear waste management and fuel cycle analysis, and both experimental and computational approaches can significantly contribute to advances in liquid metal cooled fast reactors.
This Research Topic focuses on all aspects of experimental, numerical and theoretical approaches for a deeper understanding of liquid metal cooled fast reactors, including, but not limited to:
• Thermal hydraulics associated with liquid metal cooled fast reactors
• Fundamental multi-phase flow and heat/mass transfer studies under LMFR environments
• Corrosion issues in liquid metal cooled fast reactors
• Multiphysics/multiscale (from atomic to engineering scales) modeling and simulations of LMFR fuels and materials
• Experimental and computational studies on LMFR fuels and materials including potential use of accident tolerant fuels in LMFRs and thermophysical properties of liquid metal
• Neutronics and reactor engineering analysis for liquid metal cooled fast reactors
• Severe accident analysis and management for liquid metal cooled fast reactors
• Accelerator-driven subcritical reactors
• Experimental/research/test fast reactors and fast neutron reactors
• Reactor system analysis to develop innovative LMFR systems
• Nuclear waste management and fuel cycle analysis related to LMFRs
• Other topics not mentioned here but related to these areas
The editors encourage submissions of original research articles, short communications, and review articles that cover the above-mentioned topics.
Liquid metal cooled fast reactors (LMFRs) use liquid metal as a coolant instead of water commonly used in commercial nuclear power plants. This allows the coolant to operate at a higher temperature and a lower pressure than current reactors, thus improving the efficiency and safety of the reactor system. They also use the fast neutron spectrum, which means that neutrons can cause fission without having to be slowed down first as in current reactors. This allows liquid metal cooled fast reactors to use fissile materials and spent fuels from current reactor to generate electricity. Due to their much higher power density, higher thermodynamic efficiency and higher temperature, liquid metal cooled fast reactors become more and more attractive among different countries for improving reactor designs, power outputs and nuclear waste management. Understanding physical phenomena in liquid metal cooled fast reactors is thus vital in increasing innovation for reactor design and operation optimization.
To address the challenges related to liquid metal cooled fast reactors, research activities from complementary fields are solicited, such as neutronics, thermal hydraulics, nuclear fuels/materials performance, severe accident analysis, nuclear waste management and fuel cycle analysis, and both experimental and computational approaches can significantly contribute to advances in liquid metal cooled fast reactors.
This Research Topic focuses on all aspects of experimental, numerical and theoretical approaches for a deeper understanding of liquid metal cooled fast reactors, including, but not limited to:
• Thermal hydraulics associated with liquid metal cooled fast reactors
• Fundamental multi-phase flow and heat/mass transfer studies under LMFR environments
• Corrosion issues in liquid metal cooled fast reactors
• Multiphysics/multiscale (from atomic to engineering scales) modeling and simulations of LMFR fuels and materials
• Experimental and computational studies on LMFR fuels and materials including potential use of accident tolerant fuels in LMFRs and thermophysical properties of liquid metal
• Neutronics and reactor engineering analysis for liquid metal cooled fast reactors
• Severe accident analysis and management for liquid metal cooled fast reactors
• Accelerator-driven subcritical reactors
• Experimental/research/test fast reactors and fast neutron reactors
• Reactor system analysis to develop innovative LMFR systems
• Nuclear waste management and fuel cycle analysis related to LMFRs
• Other topics not mentioned here but related to these areas
The editors encourage submissions of original research articles, short communications, and review articles that cover the above-mentioned topics.