Publication Laka-library:
Small Nuclear Power Reactors (2006)
| Author | WNA |
 |
6-01-3-60-05.pdf |
| Date | November 2006 |
| Classification | 6.01.3.60/05 (NUCLEAR SAFETY - REACTORS - OTHER TYPES, SMALL MODULAR REACTORS) |
| Front | 
|
From the publication:
Small Nuclear Power Reactors
(WNN - November 2006)
* There is revival of interest in small and simpler units for generating electricity from
nuclear power, and for process heat.
* The interest is driven both by a desire to reduce capital costs and to provide power
away from main grid systems.
* The technologies involved are very diverse.
As nuclear power generation has become established since the 1950s, the size of reactor units has
grown from 60 MWe to more than 1300 MWe, with corresponding economies of scale in operation.
At the same time there have been many hundreds of smaller reactors built both for naval use (up to
190 MW thermal) and as neutron sources, yielding enormous expertise in the engineering of
deliberately small units.
Today, due partly to the high capital cost of large power reactors generating electricity via the steam
cycle and partly to consideration of public perception, there is a move to develop smaller units.
These may be built independently or as modules in a larger complex, with capacity added
incrementally as required. Economies of scale are provided by the numbers produced. There are
also moves to develop small units for remote sites. The IAEA defines "small" as under 300 MWe.
The most prominent modular project is the South African-led consortium developing the Pebble
Bed Modular Reactor of of 170 MWe. Chinergy is preparing to build a similar unit, the 195 MWe
HTR-PM in China. A US-led group is developing another design with 285 MWe modules. Both
drive gas turbines directly, using helium as a coolant and operating at very high temperatures. They
build on the experience of several innovative reactors in the 1960s and 1970s.
Generally, modern small reactors for power generation are expected to have greater simplicity of
design, economy of mass production, and reduced siting costs. Many are also designed for a high
level of passive or inherent safety in the event of malfunction (Traditional reactor safety systems are
'active' in the sense