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  Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
  Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
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Dependability management practices in nuclear power plants in India are conventionally governed by a set of rules known as “safety criteria.” Probabilistic assessments of safety systems are used in a modern plant to complement such rules. In this technical note, various design provisions provided in the instrumentation and control (I&C) of prototype fast breeder reactor (PFBR) (a reactor under commission in India) are detailed. As a precursor, the relationship between safety criteria and the average probability of failure on demand (PFD_Avg) of safety systems is established. Subsequently, various design provisions provided in the I&C of PFBR to reduce PFD_Avg are discussed. Such a review, with a dependability viewpoint, has resulted in identifying areas for further design improvement in future reactors. Research work carried out in areas of relays toward reducing PFD_Avg of safety systems is highlighted.