Exergy analysis of a PWR nuclear steam supply system - II part: a case study

The paper shows the results of the exergetic analysis of the Nuclear Steam Supply System (NSSS) of the MARS Pressurized Light Water Reactor using the theoretical methodology described in the authors’ previous works [1] and [2]. The analysis firstly aims at a novel assessment of the irreversibilities occurred in the nuclear reactor vessel to compare the results, in terms of Exergy Destruction and exergetic Efficiency, with those obtained adopting one of the most employed methodology as reference. The comparison showed that a detailed exergetic analysis, mainly aimed to strictly assess the fission temperature, can lead to a higher estimate of the PWR exergetic Efficiency values.