Project Objective
Develop a sufficient technical and economic basis for this type of reactor plant to determine whether it can compete with natural gas and still meet safety, proliferation resistance and waste disposal concerns.
What is a Pebble Bed Reactor?
- 360,000 pebbles in core
- about 3,000 pebbles handled in FHS every day
- about 350 pebbles discarded daily
- one pebble discharged every 30 seconds
- average pebble cycles through core 15 times
- fuel-handling most intensive part of plant
Project Prospect
Many believe that HTGRs are not credible due to past failures. Our work is meant to turn that belief around with substantive analysis. If successful, propose building a reactor research facility to license by test, explore different fuel cycles, process heat applications, and advanced control system design, helium gas turbines and other components. (Within five years!)