Molten-Salt-Cooled Advanced High-Temperature Reactor for Production of Hydrogen and Electricity

Journal Article · Mon Dec 15 04:00:00 EST 2003 · Nuclear Technology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.13182/NT03-1· OSTI ID:20837814

Forsberg, Charles W ^[1]; Peterson, Per F ^[2]; Pickard, Paul S ^[3]

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1. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (United States)
2. University of California (United States)
3. Sandia National Laboratories (United States)

The molten-salt-cooled Advanced High-Temperature Reactor (AHTR) is a new reactor concept designed to provide very high-temperature (750 to 1000 deg. C) heat to enable efficient low-cost thermochemical production of hydrogen (H{sub 2}) or production of electricity. This paper provides an initial description and technical analysis of its key features. The proposed AHTR uses coated-particle graphite-matrix fuel similar to that used in high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs), such as the General Atomics gas turbine-modular helium reactor. However, unlike the HTGRs, the AHTR uses a molten-salt coolant and a pool configuration, similar to that of the General Electric Super Power Reactor Inherently Safe Module (S-PRISM) liquid-metal reactor. Because the boiling points for molten fluoride salts are near {approx}1400 deg. C, the reactor can operate at very high temperatures and atmospheric pressure. For thermochemical H{sub 2} production, the heat is delivered at the required near-constant high temperature and low pressure. For electricity production, a multireheat helium Brayton (gas-turbine) cycle, with efficiencies >50%, is used. The low-pressure molten-salt coolant, with its high heat capacity and natural circulation heat transfer capability, creates the potential for robust safety (including fully passive decay-heat removal) and improved economics with passive safety systems that allow higher power densities and scaling to large reactor sizes [>1000 MW(electric)].

• OSTI ID: 20837814
• Journal Information: Nuclear Technology, Journal Name: Nuclear Technology Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 144; ISSN 0029-5450; ISSN NUTYBB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
AFTER-HEAT REMOVAL
BOILING POINTS
ELECTRICITY
FLUORIDES
GAS TURBINES
GRAPHITE
HEAT
HELIUM
HTGR TYPE REACTORS
HYDROGEN
LIQUID METAL COOLED REACTORS
MOLTEN SALTS
NATURAL CONVECTION
POWER REACTORS
REACTOR SAFETY
SPECIFIC HEAT
TEMPERATURE RANGE 1000-4000 K