1. Introduction. Types of nuclear reactors. Water-moderated water-cooled Reactors.
2. Core materials
• Uranium dioxide and its properties. Requirements for the pellet. Behaviour under radiation.
• Water moderator. Nuclear-physical and thermal properties. Requirements for the water of the primary circuit. Radiolysis. Special water treatment.
• Structural material. Properties. The radiation strength.
• Materials of the regulating units. Rods. Absorbers. Additives to the fuel. The use of boron absorber.
3. The design of fuel rods and cassettes of nuclear steam generating system. The performance characteristics of fuel elements. Control of blanket tightness.
4. Constructions of vessel internals. Core support barrel, mine, iron-water protection tank, block of protective tubes, pressure header.
5. The design of the reactor vessel. Blocking of integrity. Radiation resource.
6. Typical design solutions of nuclear steam generating system.
7. Security system of nuclear steam generating system.
• Protective safety systems. The system of tight spaces. Mine accident localization. The system of relief valves of pressure compensation. High-speed reducing installations for steam escape into the atmosphere.
• Providing security systems. Emergency feedwater system of emergency core cooling. Emergency feedwater system of a steam generator. The system of ensuring a reliable supply. Accumulator tank system.
• Localizing safety systems. Tight blanket with the condenser. Accident localization system with the loss of coolant.
• Control safety systems. Control systems and automation of operation and maintenance of activities of safety systems.
8. Reliability of security system
• Securities laws. The intensity and frequency of failures. The average time of recovery (repair). The coefficient of operational readiness.
• Improving the reliability of safety system. Redundancy and duplication. Failures for general reasons. Calculations of logic circuits. Method of graphs. Method of event tree. 9. Fast Neutron Reactors
• History. Design and creation of fast neutron reactors (FNR).
• Optimum composition of the fission zone. Minimum content of the fissile isotope. Conversion.
• Principles of mutual arrangement of fuel zone and the area of conversion. Two-region, one-region and modular packaging. Methods of alignment of the field of heat generation. Zonal profile. Coefficient of heat generation irregularity.
• Core materials. Fuel cycles. The fuel composition. The use of MOX fuel. Estimated fuel compositions: critical load, conversion ratio, specific power. Sodium coolant. Nuclear and thermal properties. Compatibility of sodium with other components of the core. Purification of sodium, hot and cold trap (filtration and getter purification). Construction materials of FNR. The performance characteristics of stainless steels. Corrosion and radiation resistance.
• Constructions of fuel rods and FNR cartridges. Fuel elements with metallic and ceramic fuel. Group fuel rods. Cartridge design. Hydroprofiling. The principles of layout of the fuel zone and placement of FNR regulating units. The scheme of congestion. Control of fuel element tightness.
• The fundamental structural and technological solutions of FNR. System of heat removal and packaging of the 1st cooling circuit.