大洗 2007年 4月 日16-19 Slide 1

Matt Richards, Arkal Shenoy, and Mike Campbell – General Atomics

IAEA International Conference on Non-Electric Applications of Nuclear Energy

Japan Atomic Energy AgencyOarai, Japan

April 16-19, 2007

Matt RichardsGeneral Atomics, San Diego, CA, USA

(JAEA Oarai Research Center)Matt.Richards@gat.com

Pre-Conceptual Hydrogen Production Modular Helium Reactor Designs

大洗 2007年 4月 日16-19 Slide 2

MHR Design Features Are Well Suited for Significant Expansion of Nuclear Energy

• Passive Safety– No active safety systems

required– No evacuation plans required

• Competitive Economics• High Thermal Efficiency• Siting Flexibility

– Lower waste heat rejection, reduced water cooling requirements

• High-Temperature Capability with Flexible Energy Outputs– Electricity– Hydrogen– Synfuels, etc.

• Flexible Fuel Cycles– LEU, HEU, Pu, TRU, Thorium

ControlRodDriveAssemblies

ReactorMetallic Internals

ReplaceableReflector

Core

Reactor Vessel

Shutdown Cooling System

Hot GasDuct

ControlRodDriveAssemblies

ReactorMetallic Internals

ReplaceableReflector

Core

Reactor Vessel

Shutdown Cooling System

Hot GasDuct

大洗 2007年 4月 日16-19 Slide 3

One Reactor Design Can Use Multiple Fuels for Multiple Applications

TRISO fuel in fuel blocks

Electricity

Hydrogen

LWRSpent Fuel

TRISO

Low-Enriched Uranium

TRISO

Common Reactor Core -Ultra Safe Design

Weapons Surplus Pu

TRISO

ThoriumUtilization

TRISO

Heat

大洗 2007年 4月 日16-19 Slide 4

The MHR is a Passively Safe Design

Passive Safety Features• Ceramic, coated-particle

fuel– Maintains integrity during

loss-of-coolant accident• Annular graphite core with

high heat capacity– Helps to limit temperature

rise during loss-of-coolant accident

• Low power density– Helps to maintain

acceptable temperatures during normal operation and accidents

• Inert Helium Coolant– Reduces circulating and

plateout activity

Passive Air-Cooled RCCS

大洗 2007年 4月 日16-19 Slide 5

Hydrogen Plant Will Not Impact Passive Safety

• Potential Licensing issue is co-location of MHR and Hydrogen Plant– Passive safety of MHR allows

co-location– Earthen berm provides

defense-in-depth• Other reactors located in

close proximity to hazardous chemical plants and transportation routes– NRC allows risk-based

approach– INL recommends 60 to 100 m

separation distance– JAEA studies also support

close separation distance

大洗 2007年 4月 日16-19 Slide 6

The GT-MHR Produces Electricity Economically with High Efficiency

• MHR coupled to a direct-cycle Brayton power-conversion system

• 600 MW(t), 102 column, annular core, prismatic blocks

• 48% thermal efficiency with 850°C Outlet Temperature

• Installed capital costs of approximately $1000/kW(e)

• Busbar electricity generation costs of approximately 3.1 cents per kW(e)-h.

ControlRods

PCS

Generator

Turbocompressor

Recuperator

Precooler

AnnularCore

Intercooler

MHR

大洗 2007年 4月 日16-19 Slide 7

H2-MHR Can Produce Hydrogen with High Efficiency

MHR Coupled to Thermochemical Water Splitting (Sulfur-Iodine Process)

MHR Coupled to High-Temperature Electrolysis

大洗 2007年 4月 日16-19 Slide 8

SI-Based H2-MHR Uses IHX to Interface MHR with Hydrogen Production System

Residual HeatRemovalSystem

MH

R4

× 60

0 M

W(t)

IHX

590°C

950°C 925°C

565°C HydrogenProduction

System

H2O

H2

O2

WasteHeat

(120°C)

Electricity for Pumps/Compressors

Annual H2 Production (4-module plant): 3.68 x 105 metric tons

Hydrogen Production Efficiency: 45.0% (based on HHV of H2)

Product H2 Pressure: 4 MPa

IHX Design Concept Using Heatric Modules Height ~30 m Diameter ~6 m

大洗 2007年 4月 日16-19 Slide 9

HTE-Based H2-MHR Generates Both Electricity and High-Temperature Steam to Drive Solid-Oxide Electrolyzer Modules

Annual H2 Production (4-module plant): 2.68 x 105 metric tons

Hydrogen Production Efficiency: 55.8% (based on HHV of H2)

Product H2 Pressure: 4.95 MPa

MH

R60

0 M

W(t)

IHX

, 59

MW

(t)

590°C

950°C Steam/H2827°C

WasteHeat

Electricity

H2O

HydrogenProduction

System

SG

Sec

onda

ry H

eH2/Steam O2/Steam

H2OProduct

Hydrogen Ste

am S

wee

p

PowerRecovery

321 kg/s

280 kg/s(87%)

42 kg/s(13%)

PowerConversion

System

SOE Module Concept 4 MW(e) per Trailer

Toshiba developing tubular-cell concept as part of NGNP USIT Team.

大洗 2007年 4月 日16-19 Slide 10

Nth-of-a-Kind Hydrogen Production Costs are Approximately $2/kg for both SI-Based and HTE-Based Plants

Total Hydrogen Production Cost = $1.97/kg

MHR Plant Capital Charges (24.9%) SI Plant Capital Charges (18.6%)MHR Plant O&M Costs (5.2%) SI Plant O&M Costs (10.6%)Nuclear Fuel Costs (9.8%) Electricity Costs (30.9%)

Total Hydrogen Production Cost = $1.92/kg

MHR Plant Capital Charges (34.8%) HTE Plant Capital Charges (28.3%)MHR Plant O&M Costs (7.3%) HTE Plant O&M Costs (15.8%)Nuclear Fuel Costs (13.8%)

SI-Based Plant HTE-Based Plant

Electricity costs result mostly from pumping process fluids in the hydrogen plant (not from pumping helium). Efforts are being made to optimize the flow sheets to reduce pumping requirements.

SOE module unit costs assumed to be $500/kW(e). If module unit costs are increased to $1000/kW(e), hydrogen production cost increased to $2.52/kg.

大洗 2007年 4月 日16-19 Slide 11

Nuclear Hydrogen Production Costs Compare Favorably with Steam-Methane Reforming

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

4.00

4.50

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20Price of Natural Gas ($/MMBtu)

Cos

t of H

ydro

gen

($/k

g)

SMR - No CO2 Penalty

SMR - $30/mt CO2 Penalty

SMR - $50/mt CO2 Penalty

Nuclear Hydrogen, $1.97/kg

Nuclear Hydrogen with $20/mt O2Credit, $1.81/kg

$9.72/MMBTUDecember 2005 Natural Gas Wellhead Price

Economic comparisons are especially favorable if carbon dioxide penalties and oxygen credits are taken into account.

大洗 2007年 4月 日16-19 Slide 12

VHTR Can Provide a Wide Variety of Energy Outputs

Electricity

Steam

Process Heat

Hydrogen

NaturalGas

Coal Gasification

大洗 2007年 4月 日16-19 Slide 13

GT-MHRs and H2-MHRs Can Be Deployed with Advanced Fuel Cycles to Address Spent Fuel Management and Sustainability Issues

LWR

Spe

nt F

uel

Deep Burn using MHRs fully fueled with TRU

Pu-239 burnup > 95 %

All-Actinides burnup > 60 %

Np-237 and Precursors > 60 %

Pu-239 burnup > 95 %

All-Actinides burnup > 60 %

Np-237 and Precursors > 60 %

Waste accumulation 75 kgTRU /GWe-yr

UREX

Fission Products

TRU

U recycle

MHRs can be used to process legacy LWR spent fuel

Residual radioactivity is contained by ceramiccoatings over geologic time scales

Pu Oxide (PuO1.68)

747,000 MW-days/tonne>95% 239Pu Transmuted at

Peach Bottom I

Successful Deep-Burn Irradiation of Coated-Particle Pu-Fuel

大洗 2007年 4月 日16-19 Slide 14

MHRs Can Be Deployed Using a Self-Cleaning Fuel Cycle to Relieve Repository Burdens

TRISO FAB

Pu, Transuranics

LEU (15-20%)

UREXFP

Ura

nium

Waste accumulation: 35 kgTRU /GWe-yr8 times less than present LWRs

EURANIUM

DB-TRISO FAB

Sustainability: 200 – 300 years in U.S.

大洗 2007年 4月 日16-19 Slide 15

FBR/VHTR System Deployment Provides Sustainability, Proliferation Resistance, and Energy Flexibility

SFR

VHTRFuel

Manufacturing

Depleted Uranium

1

2SFR Core

FuelManufacturing

SFR BlanketFuel

Manufacturing

4

5

VHTR

16

26Loss

Loss25

Loss24

Core

6

7Blanket

8SFR

Spent FuelStorage

9SFR

Front EndReprocessing

22Loss

VHTRSpent Fuel

Storage17 18

VHTRFront End

Reprocessing

23Loss

SpentFuel

Reprocessing

10

19

Seperations11

Heavy MetalStorage

Heavy MetalStorage

12

14

28

27

21

U

FPs

UnrecycledCm

20

Loss

Recycled Uranium

LWR Pu+ MA

LWR Pu+ MA

15

3

13

VHTROnce-Through

Option

Deep BurnFuel Cycle.Generate degraded TRU to spike SFR Blanket.

Long-term sustainability for resource-deficient countries (e.g., Japan)

JAEA/GA jointly investigating FBR/VHTR deployment scenarios in Japan.

大洗 2007年 4月 日16-19 Slide 16

Conclusions

• MHR design features make it an outstanding choice for future deployment of nuclear energy– Passive safety– High-temperature capability– High thermal efficiency, flexible siting– Flexible fuel cycles and energy outputs

• MHR deployment supports significant, sustainable expansion of nuclear energy– Better utilization of repository space with greatly

reduced requirements for recycle of nuclear fuel– Deployment in symbiosis with FBRs can provide virtually

unlimited sustainability

大洗 2007年 4月 日16-19 Slide 17

ご静聴、有難うございました。Thank you for your kind attention.

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