Advanced High-Temperature Reactor for Production of Electricity and Hydrogen: Molten-Salt-Coolant, Graphite-Coated-Particle-Fuel

Technical Report · Thu Feb 21 04:00:00 EST 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/814324· OSTI ID:814324

Forsberg, C W ^[1]

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1. ORNL

The objective of the Advanced High-Temperature Reactor (AHTR) is to provide the very high temperatures necessary to enable low-cost (1) efficient thermochemical production of hydrogen and (2) efficient production of electricity. The proposed AHTR uses coated-particle graphite fuel similar to the fuel used in modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (MHTGRs), such as the General Atomics gas turbine-modular helium reactor (GT-MHR). However, unlike the MHTGRs, the AHTR uses a molten salt coolant with a pool configuration, similar to that of the PRISM liquid metal reactor. A multi-reheat helium Brayton (gas-turbine) cycle, with efficiencies >50%, is used to produce electricity. This approach (1) minimizes requirements for new technology development and (2) results in an advanced reactor concept that operates at essentially ambient pressures and at very high temperatures. The low-pressure molten-salt coolant, with its high heat capacity and natural circulation heat transfer capability, creates the potential for (1) exceptionally robust safety (including passive decay-heat removal) and (2) allows scaling to large reactor sizes [{approx}1000 Mw(e)] with passive safety systems to provide the potential for improved economics.

• Research Organization: ORNL Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy (US)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 814324
• Report Number(s): NO REPORT NUMBER
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

08 HYDROGEN
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
CONFIGURATION
ECONOMICS
ELECTRICITY
GRAPHITE
HEAT TRANSFER
HELIUM
HYDROGEN
LIQUID METALS
MOLTEN SALTS
NATURAL CONVECTION
PRISMS
REMOVAL
SAFETY
SPECIFIC HEAT