Nuclear powerNew reactor design makes nuclear power competitive with natural gas
San Diego-based General Atomics has applied for funding of several hundred millions from the U.S Department of Energy to commercialize a nuclear reactor which, the firm claims, could cut the cost of nuclear power by as much as 40 percent. The new design replaces water with helium as a coolant, allowing the plant to operate at higher temperatures, thus increasing the efficiency of the power plan and reducing the amount of waste needing storage.
Helium as a coolant has advantages over water // Source: blm.gov
San Diego-based General Atomics has applied for funding of several hundred millions from the U.S Department of Energy to commercialize a nuclear reactor which, the firm claims, could cut the cost of nuclear power by as much as 40 percent.
Technology Review reports thatif commercialized, the technology, which has been in development for five years, could make nuclear power far more competitive with fossil-fuel power plants. If funding is awarded, the reactor can operate commercially within twelve years. According to General Atomics, the reactor could also be safer than current reactors and could reduce nuclear waste by 80 percent.
The United States has not invested in new nuclear reactors due to the expense and the availability of a cheaper alternative in natural gas. If General Atomics claims are true, however, new nuclear power plants would be competitive with current energy alternatives.
TR notes that to reduce cost, the proposed reactors will be smaller than conventional reactors. Other firms are taking a similar approach to reactor size, but General Atomics is substantially increasing the efficiency of the power plant. Replacing water with helium as a coolant will allow the plant to operate at higher temperatures, and the proposed reactor also incorporates a new gas turbine for generating electricity.
Conventional reactors convert 32 percent of the energy in heat to electricity, but Atomic’s reactor will convert 53 percent. Using ceramics that can withstand high temperatures without melting, the new reactor is designed to shut down and cool off without continuously pumping coolant in the case of a power failure. The reactor is designed to burn up elements typically considered nuclear waste, resulting in using less fuel and a more efficient and cost saving system.
There are skeptics. Mujid Kazimi, a professor of nuclear and mechanical engineering at MIT, doubts the ability of the reactor to reduce nuclear cost by 40 percent. Citing previous attempts to sustain two helium-cooled reactors in the United States in the 1980s, Kazimi says, “There were several problems in the U.S. reactors, which led to shutting them down after only a few years of operation, I think that led the power companies to avoid them.”
Skepticism notwithstanding, China is operating a 10-megawatt helium-cooled reactor, and is expected to implement a commercially scaled version by 2017.
