2020 ANS Virtual Winter Meeting: Advanced nuclear reactors and power systemsNuclear NewsNovember 20, 2020, 1:04PM|Nuclear News Staff“Advanced Nuclear Reactors and Power Systems-I” on November 18 during the 2020 ANS Virtual Winter Meeting was the first of a three-session set examining the status of various advanced reactors. The sessions were sponsored by the Operations and Power Division and chaired by Piyush Sabharwall of Idaho National Laboratory.Presentation topics in the first session included the core design and helium Brayton cycle design of the Holos-Quad microreactor, a microreactor design for a truck charging station, and a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) estimation on HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium) fuels for small modular reactors.Here are some highlights:A microreactor design: Nicholas E. Stauff, of Argonne National Laboratory, presented information about the core design of the Holos-Quad microreactor, a concept proposed by HolosGen to generate 10 MWe with a lifetime of approximately eight effective full power years. The design is based on a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor concept using four subcritical power modules, each containing its own power conversion system executing a closed-loop Brayton cycle. The full system is designed to fit into one commercial 40-foot transport container for ease of delivery.“It is designed with a strong emphasis on economic performance, which drove the selection of a high-temperature operation target to reach a plant efficiency that makes the design economically sustainable and competitive in the market,” Stauff said. A Brayton cycle design: Anton Moisseytsev, also of ANL, followed Stauff with a description and analysis of the Holos-Quad’s closed-loop helium Brayton cycle design. “The work I presented here was done for examining design conditions,” Moisseytsev said. “But now the work is being extended to a transient analysis, which will include both reactor and Brayton cycle designs. In the longer term we will conduct a transient analysis under accident conditions.”MiFi-DC generator: Stauff gave a second presentation in the session that focused on microreactor design for a truck charging station. Motivated by the immense use of fossil fuels in the truck transport industry, researchers at ANL began investigating microreactors as a source of thermal energy, which can be coupled with a thermal storage unit and used to drive a heat engine for electrical production at rest stops. The micro-fission direct current (MiFi-DC) generator would be mass produced in a factory, shipped via semitruck, and installed partially underground near rest stops across the country.“Our preliminary feasibility study of the MiFi-DC core concept showed what I consider to be very attractive results,” Stauff said. “It is a very compact system with a long lifetime. It is a simple design that we think will lead to a very high level of safety. And the design can be adapted to a wide range of operating temperatures, which enables the use of different heat storage systems.”A case study: The session concluded with Liam Carlson, of Virginia Commonwealth University, providing an LCOE estimation using NuScale’s 160 MWt SMR concept as a case study. The LCOE for a nuclear power plant is the price of electricity generated by a plant where revenues would equal costs, indicating a return on the capital invested equal to the discount rate, often expressed in units of $/MWh.Carlson said that the average LCOE estimated for NuScale’s SMR is approximately $86/MWh. He added that the increase in total fuel costs due to higher enrichment may only be considered economically viable if the resulting LCOE is no more than the original design and available competing power generation technologies.Tags:brayton cyclemicroreactorsnuscalesmrsShare:LinkedInTwitterFacebook
NuScale SMR chosen for U.K. wind-nuclear hybridBritish hybrid clean energy company Shearwater Energy announced on January 15 that it is joining with U.S.-based NuScale Power to develop a hybrid project using wind energy and small modular reactor technology to produce power and green hydrogen.According to news reports, the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on an initial project, which could be sited at the now-decommissioned Wylfa nuclear power station on the island of Anglesey, off the northwestern coast of Wales. No land agreements have been reached, however.Go to Article
INL’s MARVEL could demonstrate remote operation on a micro scaleThe Department of Energy launched a 14-day public review and comment period on January 11 on a draft environmental assessment for a proposal to construct the Microreactor Applications Research Validation & EvaLuation (MARVEL) project microreactor inside Idaho National Laboratory’s Transient Reactor Test (TREAT) Facility.The basics: The MARVEL design is a sodium-potassium–cooled thermal microreactor fueled by uranium zirconium hydride fuel pins using high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU). It would be a 100-kWt reactor capable of generating about 20 kWe using Stirling engines over a core life of about two years.The DOE proposes to install the MARVEL microreactor in a concrete storage pit in the north high bay of the TREAT reactor building. Modifications to the building to accommodate MARVEL are anticipated to take five to seven months. Constructing, assembling, and performing preoperational testing are expected to take another two to three months prior to fuel loading.Go to Article
Advanced reactors take center stage in Popular MechanicsThe January/February 2021 issue of Popular Mechanics hit subscriber mailboxes this week with a stark cover image of a single small reactor under the headline, “Tiny nuclear reactors are about to revolutionize American energy.” The story looks at advanced reactors as a pivotal step to “redeem nuclear’s stature in American energy.”A good primer: The article does a good job introducing the casual reader to the idea that “bigger is no longer better” and that the future of nuclear power in the United States will most likely be “a combination of traditional large plants and smaller, safer megawatt reactors.”Advanced reactors, including small modular reactors, show that nuclear is no longer a one-size-fits-all operation, the article notes. The industry now “is all about personalization,” says Ken Canavan, Westinghouse’s chief technical officer, who is quoted in the article. The capacity and scalability of SMRs “is just irreplaceable,” he adds.The article explains that SMRs, microreactors, and other advanced reactor designs will be able to bring reliable, carbon-free power to small or remote locations, replacing fossil fuel power plants and supplementing the “resource-sucking downtimes left by renewables.”Go to Article
Canada unveils ambitious plan for SMRsDeclaring small modular reactors to be “the next innovation that will help us reach net-zero emissions by 2050,” Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O’Regan last week introduced his government’s SMR Action Plan at a virtual event live-streamed on YouTube.Go to Article
Advanced reactors important for carbon-free power production in U.S., tweets Vice NewsA video posted to Twitter by Vice News discusses the prospect of advanced reactors being an important mix of carbon-free power production in the United States. Hosted by Gelareh Darabi, an award-winning Canadian-British-Iranian journalist and documentary filmmaker, the video provides quick and easy statistics for the general audience and pulls from social media influencer I_sodope. It also includes comments from nuclear experts.Go to Article
U.K. sets plans for clean energy and green jobs by 2050A 170-page energy white paper, Powering Our Net Zero Future, issued by the United Kingdom government on December 14 sets big goals for cleaning up the U.K.’s energy system. According to the U.K. government, the plan would create and support green energy jobs across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and would keep electricity bills affordable as the U.K. transitions to net zero emissions by 2050.The white paper notes that the U.K. will generate emission-free electricity by 2050 with a trajectory that will see "overwhelmingly decarbonized power in the 2030s. Low carbon electricity will be a key enabler of our transition to a net zero economy with demand expected to double due to transport and low carbon heat."The white paper builds upon the U.K. prime minister’s 38-page Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, which was issued on November 18.Go to Article
NuScale module’s hydrogen production numbers updatedAs a result of last month’s power uprate announcement from NuScale Power regarding its small modular reactor—a 25 percent increase to 77 MWe—the company has now announced updated evaluations for the technical feasibility and economics of producing hydrogen using heat and electricity from its SMR, the NuScale Power Module (NPM). Go to Article
New Brunswick debates investing in SMRsIn an article published by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on December 7, politicians representing New Brunswick, Canada, debate the benefits and potential risks of investing in small modular reactor development. Two major parties in the province support SMR development, while the Green Party sees “danger signs.”Go to Article
NuScale unveils Energy Exploration Center at Oregon StateNuScale Energy Exploration Center at Oregon State University. Photo: Business WireSmall modular reactor developer NuScale Power has announced the opening of the NuScale Energy Exploration (E2) Center at Oregon State University (OSU).The E2 Center is designed to offer users a hands-on learning opportunity to apply nuclear science and engineering principles through simulated, real-world nuclear power plant operation scenarios, according to NuScale on November 17. The center employs state-of-the-art computer modeling within a simulator of the NuScale SMR power plant control room, allowing users to take on the role of control room operator at a 12-unit NuScale SMR plant to learn about the features and functionality unique to the company’s SMR technology.More to come: The E2 Center at OSU is the first of three planned installations of a NuScale power plant control room simulator at U.S. universities. Support for the centers was provided by a grant in 2019 from the Department of Energy. Additional information on the E2 Center is available here.Go to Article
A transformational challenge: Making crack-free yttrium hydrideFabricated yttrium hydride samples are pulled out of the system. Photo: ORNLOak Ridge National Laboratory scientists have developed a method to produce solid yttrium hydride for use as a moderator for the Transformational Challenge Reactor (TCR), a 3-MWt additively manufactured microreactor that ORNL aims to demonstrate by 2023. Lacking a commercial supply of the metal hydride, ORNL scientists developed a system to produce yttrium hydride in large quantities and to exacting standards.The hydrogen density and moderating efficiency of metal hydrides—which combine a rare earth metal with hydrogen—could enable smaller reactor cores that can operate more efficiently and reduce waste products, according to ORNL. The material could be used in other advanced reactor designs, including space power and propulsion systems for NASA, and has been proposed as a shield component for thermalization and neutron absorption in fast-spectrum nuclear reactors.Go to Article