The IRIS Reactor Technical Data and Specifications

Disclaimer:
Information presented in this article is based on publicly available data of the IRIS reactor project, as properly cited from the original sources. This article is NOT part of the official IRIS project led by Westinghouse. For more reliable information, the reader should refer to any official websites and information sources of the IRIS project and/or the IRIS consortium. All trademarks and registered trademarks shown in this article are the property of their respective owners.

General Plant Data
Core thermal power	1000 MWt [ref.2-page35]
Power Plant Net Output	335 MWe [ref.2-page35]
Nuclear Steam Supply System
Number of coolant loops	Integral RCS [ref.2-page35]
Steam temperature/pressure	317/5.8 °C/MPa [ref.2-page35]
Feedwater temperature/pressure	224/6.4 °C/MPa [ref.2-page35]
Reactor Coolant System
Total core flow rate	36000 kg/s [ref.3-page53]
Primary coolant flow rate	4700 kg/s [ref.2-page35]
Reactor operating pressure	15.5 MPa [ref.2-page35]
Core inlet temperature	292 °C [ref.2-page35]
Core (riser) outlet temperature	330 °C [ref.2-page35]
Reactor Core
Fuel assembly total length	5.207 m [ref.2-page35]
Fuel inventory	48.5 tU [ref.2-page35]
Average linear heat rate	10.0 kW/m [ref.2-page35]
Average core power density (volumetric)	51.26 kW/l [ref.2-page35]
Specific power (= core thermal power/fuel inventory)	20.6186 kW/kg-HM
Fuel material	Sintered UO2 [ref.2-page35] Westinghouse standard PWR fuel
Fuel average density	96% Theoretical Density [ref.3-page203] UO2-TD = 10.96 g/cc
Rod array	Square 17×17 XL [ref.2-page38,ref.5-page155]
Number of fuel assemblies	89 [ref.2-page35]
Number of fuel rods/assembly	264 [ref.2-page35]
Fuel pellet diameter	8.19 mm [ref.1-page634]
Pellet-clad gap	0.082 mm [ref.1-page634]
Clad thickness	0.572 mm [ref.1-page634]
Outer diameter of fuel rods	9.5 mm [ref.2-page35,ref.5-page155]
Pitch (center-to-center)	12.54 mm [ref.1-page634]
P/D	1.32 [ref.3-page34]
Average H/HM ratio (Hydrogen to Heavy Metal ratio)	3.4 [ref.3-page34]
Volume fractions	33.50% fuel 54.92% moderator 11.58% structure
Volume ratios	fuel-to-moderator: 0.6099 moderator-to-fuel: 1.6396
Enrichment	4.95 Wt % U-235 [ref.2-page35]
Coolant average density	0.7295 g/cc [ref.6-page31] 0.727664 g/cc (calculated from enrichment and H/HM data)
Equilibrium cycle length	30-48 months [ref.2-page35]
Average discharge burnup	60 000 MWd/tU [ref.2-page35]
Reactor Pressure Vessel
Cylindrical shell inner diameter	6.21 m [ref.2-page35]
Wall thickness of cylindrical shell	28.5 cm [ref.2-page35]
Total height (including clossure head)	22.2 m [ref.5-page154]
Active core height (core barrel)	426.7 cm [ref.5-page156]
Active core inner diameter (core barrel)	241.27 cm [ref7-page45] calculated from core thermal power, power density, and active core height
Active core outer diameter (core barrel)	285 cm [ref.5-page157]
Steam Generators
Type	Vertical, helical coil tube bundle, once-through, superheated [ref.2-page35]
Number	8 [ref.2-page35]
Thermal capacity (each SG)	125 MWt [ref.2-page35]
Number of heat exchanger tubes (each SG)	656 [ref.2-page35]
Reactor Coolant Pump
Type	Spool type, fully immersed [ref.2-page35]
Number	8 [ref.2-page35]
Pump head	19.8 m [ref.2-page35]
Primary Containment
Type	Pressure suppression, steel [ref.2-page35]
Geometry	Spherical, 25 m diameter [ref.2-page35]
Design pressure/temperature	1300/200 kPa/°C [ref.2-page35]

References

1. Duderstadt, James J. and Louis J. Hamilton. (1976), Nuclear Reactor Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, New York.
2. IRIS@NuclearNews
3. MIT Master Thesis – Thermal Hydraulic Performance Analysis of a Small Integral PWR Core
4. J-NucEngDes – Carelli – The exciting journey of designing an advanced reactor
5. J-NucEngDes – Carelli et al. – The design and safety features of the IRIS reactor
6. Data from US NRC
7. Reactor dosimetry in the 21st century

Useful links

• IRIS official website
• IRIS – 2003 FINAL TECHNICAL PROGRESS REPORT
• IRIS@wikipedia
• Water density as a function of temperature and pressure

Related post:

• Study on Power Uprating of Integral Primary System PWR
• Standard PWR nuclear fuel assembly (17×17) technical specifications

Standard PWR nuclear fuel assembly (17×17) technical specifications

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