The Feasibility of Using the 25mw Super Near Boiling Nuclear Reactor (SNB25) to Provide Thermal and Electrical Energy for a Large Canadian Forces Base in the Canadian Arctic

Abstract

A feasibility study of a power plant using the Super Near Boiling 25 MWt (SNB25) nuclear reactor as a heat source and capable of supporting the electrical and thermal requirements for a base the size of Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Kingston in the Arctic was carried out. Such a power plant would allow the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) to have a self-sustaining operational base in the Arctic to conduct Search and Rescue (SAR) and sovereignty missions.The thermal and electrical requirements for a base the size of CFB Kingston are determined to be 31.63 MWt and 7.16 MWe, respectively. Using the Heating Degree Days (HDD) approach to account for temperature differences between Southern Ontario and the Arctic, a base the size of CFB Kingston in the Arctic would require 75.16 MWt to operate. A chemical engineering software program, UniSim, was used to simulate the energy cycle of the base which consisted of a district heating loop to provide hot water and an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) using n- pentane as the working fluid to provide the electrical energy. The UniSim simulations determined that the cycle would use six shell and tube heat exchangers, two axial gas turbines coupled to generators, and twelve centrifugal pumps, in addition to a group of five SNB25 reactors that could provide 25.03 MWt and 2.63 MWe to a base in the Arctic with energy requirements about a third of those of CFB Kingston. The design foresees redundancy which is essential to safe operation in the Arctic.