Design and Safety Features of the AMPS Nuclear Electric Plant

Abstract

The Autonomous Marine Power Source (AMPS) is a small-scale nuclear-electric power plant initially conceived for commercial submarine applications [l] requiring a long-endurance air independent supply of electrical power. Refinement of the concept permits adaptation to potential applications in military nuclear/diesel-electric submarines [2]. The initial development effort has focussed on an extremely compact 100 kWe prototype power plant, but


design studies indicate that on relaxing the size constraint the AMPS principles may be readily applied in the 400 to 1000 kWe range. The AMPS plant utilizes a low-pressure, low temperature


reactor heat source coupled to a low-temperature organic Rankine cycle engine generating electrical power. The dimensions and weight of the plant are necessarily constrained by the scale of the submarine, and the design incorporates features of intrinsic safety, reliability, simplicity and ease of operation conditioned to the intended mobile marine application. The use of intrinsic safety principles leads to simplification of plant systems, and thus to a cost-effective and compact design with improved likelihood of societal acceptance. This paper describes the key design features of the AMPS plant, while placing special emphasis on safety aspects.