Preliminary Results of the Optioneering Design Study for the EAGLES-300 core

The EAGLES Consortium was established in Europe aiming at deploying by 2039 EAGLES-300, a ~300 MWe commercial LFR in the SMR segment with competitiveness, safety and sustainability as distinguishing features. To materialize this ambition, an optioneering study was launched, exploiting the strong expertise of the Consortium members. For the reactor core, compactness, ~1 breeding ratio and high technology readiness were taken as drivers. At the end of optioneering, several design choices were taken, and a preliminary configuration set which meets all the design objectives and constraints. A particular challenge was represented by the design of the shielding, required to protect the core supporting structure against radiation damage. Several options were investigated also numerically, screening the use of moderating and absorbing materials, trying to overcome traditional, bulky solutions (i.e., manifold rings of structural assemblies). A compact layout was found, using only a moderating material which abates the hard tail of the neutron spectrum more significantly than how much absorbers reduce the total neutron flux. The resulting configuration, although still passible of adaptions and changes in the subsequent conceptual and basic phases, indicates the feasibility of pursuing a design which complies with all the established criteria, thereby of substantiating the overall vision of the EAGLES Consortium.