Kairos power thermal hydraulics research and development

•Kairos Power is developing, commercializing, and deploying a salt-cooled high temperature reactor (KP-FHR) technology.•Kairos Power adopts an innovative “rapid iteration” product development process to reduce development risk.•Strategy centering around design and test at different scales and complexity levels.•A high-level overview of the KP-FHR design, thermal hydraulics R&D strategy, test program, and modeling and simulation activities is presented. The Kairos Power Fluoride salt-cooled High temperature Reactor (KP-FHR) is a new, U.S.-developed advanced reactor technology. In order to meet its development schedule and objectives, Kairos Power is adopting an innovative thermal hydraulics R&D strategy. The strategy is centered around design and testing at different scales and complexity levels, with modeling, simulations, and resulting analysis serving to integrate these design and test efforts. Kairos Power’s approach to rapid and predictable design, development, commercialization and deployment includes engineering design activities along with development activities, such as testing, fabrication, and the qualification necessary to successfully license and deploy the KP-FHR. Licensing and quality assurance considerations are integrated with testing and design activities. This approach reduces development risk through a “rapid iteration” product development process that leverages modern tools and methods used in aerospace, automotive, and biotech industries. Kairos Power’s testing program and safety analysis software development are rooted in the application of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Regulatory Guide 1.203 for evaluation model development and assessment. This paper presents a high-level overview of the KP-FHR design, thermal hydraulics R&D strategy, test program, and modeling and simulation activities, including the reactor systems code KP-SAM and applications of computational fluid dynamics methods in design and analysis. Selected examples are shown to demonstrate current status and progress.