Hybrid Heat Pipe Shutdown Rod as a Novel Concept of Passive Safety System for Microreactor

Ensuring the structural integrity of the monolithic core, which houses critical components such as heat pipes and fuel rods, is crucial for the safety of a microreactor. This research introduces a hybrid heat pipe shutdown rod as a novel passive safety system to address potential temperature rises in the monolithic core during accidents. It is designed to perform a dual function under accident conditions. It simultaneously absorbs neutrons and removes heat through structural modifications to the existing shutdown rod. Specifically, this system provides a heat transfer path within the monolithic core without increasing the size of the microreactor. By selecting cesium as the working fluid, we aimed to achieve rapid operation of the heat pipe to quickly reduce the temperature gradient in the monolithic core under accident conditions. The hybrid heat pipe was fabricated and evaluated and found to develop continuous flow even at temperatures around 205.1°C. However, its unique structure causes a pronounced converging–diverging effect, resulting in a temperature drop from about 70–170°C in the evaporator region, followed by a slight recovery to below 50°C in the condenser. This effect arises from changes in the cesium vapor mass flow rate due to phase changes and variations in the flow area between the evaporator and condenser. Despite these effects, the use of liquid cesium as the working fluid enables the hybrid heat pipe to operate under natural convection, avoiding startup problems that could cause flow blockage.