Nuclear Reactor Types
[ http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/pa ... tml#_ftn10 ]
Release Date: November 2006 Next Release Date: November 2007
Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR): PWRs use nuclear-fission to heat water under pressure within the reactor. This water is then circulated through a heat exchanger (called a "steam generator") where steam is produced to drive an electric generator. The water used as a coolant in the reactor and the water used to provide steam to the electric turbines exists in separate closed loops that involve no substantial discharges to the environment. Of the 104 fully licensed reactors in the United States, 69 are PWRs. Westinghouse, Babcock and Wilcox, and Combustion Engineering designed the designed the nuclear steam supply systems (NSSS) for these reactors. After these reactors were built, Westinghouse and Combustion Engineering nuclear assets were combined. The French-German owned firm Areva NP has acquired many of Babcock and Wilcox's nuclear technology rights, though portions of the original Babcock and Wilcox firm still exist and possess some nuclear technology rights as well. Other major makers of PWR reactors, including Areva, Mitsubishi, and Russia’s Atomstroyexport, have not yet sold their reactors in the U.S.
[ http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/pa ... s/pwr.html ]
Boiling Water Reactors (BWR): The remaining 35 operable reactors in the United States are BWRs. BWRs allow fission-based heat from the reactor core to boil the reactor’s coolant water into the steam that is used to generate electricity. General Electric built all boiling water reactors now operational in the United States. Areva NP and Westinghouse BNFL have each designed BWRs.
[ http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/pa ... s/bwr.html ]
Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR): PHWRs have been promoted primarily in Canada and India, with additional commercial reactors operating in South Korea, China, Romania, Pakistan, and Argentina. Canadian-designed PHWRs are often called "CANDU" reactors. Siemens, ABB (now part of Westinghouse), and Indian firms have also built commercial PHWR reactors. Heavy water reactors now in commercial operation use heavy water as moderators and coolants. The Canadian firm, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), has also recently proposed a modified PHWR (the ACR series) which would only use heavy water as a moderator. Light water would cool these reactors. No successful effort has been made to license commercial PHWRs in the United States. PHWRs have been popular in several countries because they use less expensive natural (not enriched) uranium fuels and can be built and operated at competitive costs. The continuous refueling process used in PHWRs has raised some proliferation concerns because it is difficult for international inspectors to monitor. Additionally, the relatively high Pu-239 content of PHWR spent fuel has also raised proliferation concerns. The importance of these claims is challenged by their manufacturers. PHWRs, like most reactors, can use fuels other than uranium and the ACR series of reactors is intended to use slightly enriched fuels. Particular interest has been shown in India in thorium-based fuel cycles.
[ http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/pa ... candu.html ]
High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors (HTGR): HTGRs are distinguished from other gas-cooled reactors by the higher temperatures attained within the reactor. Such higher temperatures might permit the reactor to be used as an industrial heat source in addition to generating electricity. Among the future uses for which HTGRs are being considered is the commercial generation of hydrogen from water. In some cases, HTGR turbines run directly by the gas that is used as a coolant. In other cases, steam or alternative hot gases such as nitrogen are produced in a heat exchanger to run the power generators. Recent proposals have favored helium as the gas used as an HTGR coolant. The most famous U.S. HTGR example was the Fort Saint Vrain reactor that operated between 1974 and 1989. Other HTGRs have operated elsewhere, notably in Germany. Small research HTGR prototypes presently exist in Japan and China. Commercial HTGR designs are now promoted in China, South Africa, the United States, the Netherlands, and France though none of these is yet commercially marketed. The proposed Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) in the U.S. will most likely be a helium-based HTGR, if it is funded to completion.
[ http://www.nuc.berkeley.edu/designs/mhtgr/mhtgr.GIF ]
Sodium-cooled reactors reactors: Sodium-cooled reactors are included on this list primarily because of proposals to build a Toshiba 4S reactor in Alaska. Sodium-cooled reactors use the molten (liquid) metal sodium as a coolant to transfer reactor generated heat to an electricity generation unit. Sodium-cooled reactors are often associated with “fast breeder reactors (FBRs)” though this is technically not the case in the 4S design.
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Hyperion's Small-Scale Nuclear Reactors
From PESWiki
[ http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory: ... r_Reactors ]
Page first featured: Nov. 11, 2008
Distributed Nuclear Module is Effectively a 'Large Battery' Hyperion Power Modules (HPMs) are built and stocked with enough fuel to last five years generating a constant 27 megawatts, enough to power 20,000 average American homes. They are small enough to be transported by truck, train, or ship, and are setup and operable quickly. Just 1.5 meters across, the sealed module, which has no moving parts, is buried undeground.
Then at the end of five years, they are returned to the manufacturer to be refueled. The modules are uniquely safe, self-moderating using a natural chemical reaction discovered 50 years ago. [1]
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Hyperion Power Module (HPG)
[ http://www.hyperionpowergeneration.com/ ]
(Diagram on website)
Hyperion on CNN and BBC TV
We appreciate the coverage but would like to correct a couple of statements. We intend to deploy the first Hyperion units within about five years. The Hyperion Power Module is not designed to be placed in the typical “back yard.” Like any power plant, it has specific site requirements. The Hyperion reactor will power approximately 20,000 American -sized homes, or, a military installation, bring energy to a disaster zone, or provide power for mining operations. Hyperion licensed the original reactor design from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). LANL is not responsible for Hyperion’s commercial efforts nor our technology.
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Clean, Safe, Affordable Power - Where you need it, When you need it.
Who would have thought that the benefits of generating electricity from huge nuclear power plants…could ever be provided in a small, compact, energy module that can be transported by truck, rail or ship to remote locations wherever reliable electricity and heat for communities and industry is needed?
Clean - no greenhouse gases to contribute to climate change
Safe - the most controlled and regulated type of power on the planet Affordable - the cheapest in terms of dollars & environmental impact Reliable - Available 24 /7 rain or shine, windy or calm
Now it is! Introducing the Hyperion Power Module (HPG)
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How it Works
[ http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Hyperion ]
'Source: Hyperion website and Guardian.uk; Nov. 9, 2008
Hyperion Power Module (HPM)
Think "nuclear battery". It is using uranium hydride (UH3) at a 10% level. Other materials used in the unit are considered "proprietary". (Per discussion with Hyperion on Nov. 11, 2008.)
The reactors, only a few metres in diameter, will be delivered on the back of a lorry to be buried underground. They must be refuelled every 7 to 10 years. Because the reactor is based on a 50-year-old design that has proved safe for students to use, few countries are expected to object to plants on their territory. An application to build the plants will be submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission next year (2009). There are no moving parts.
Small enough to be transported on a ship, truck or train, Hyperion power modules are about the size of a "hot tub" — approximately 1.5 meters wide. Out of sight and safe from nefarious threats, Hyperion power modules are buried far underground and guarded by a security detail. Like a power battery, Hyperion modules have no moving parts to wear down, and are delivered factory sealed. They are never opened on site. Even if one were compromised, the material inside would not be appropriate for proliferation purposes. Further, due to the unique, yet proven science upon which this new technology is based, it is impossible for the module to go supercritical, “melt down” or create any type of emergency situation. If opened, the very small amount of fuel that is enclosed would immediately cool. The waste produced after five years of operation is approximately the size of a softball and is a good candidate for fuel recycling.
Perfect for moderately-sized projects, Hyperion produces only 25 MWe — enough to provide electricity for about 20,000 average American sized homes or its industrial equivalent. Ganged or teamed together, the modules can produce even more consistent energy for larger projects.
Like a battery, the HPM is a compact, transportable unit with no moving internal parts. It’s not to be opened once distributed from the factory. Once sited safely in its underground containment vessel, an HPM is monitored but does not require a battery of operational personnel.. It just quietly delivers safe, reliable power – 70 MW thermal or 25 MW electric via steam turbine – for a period of seven to 10 years.
The core of the HPM produces energy via a safe, natural heat-producing process that occurs with the oscillation of hydrogen in uranium hydride. HPMs cannot go “supercritical,” melt down, or get “too hot.” It maintains its safe, operating temperature without the introduction and removal of “cooling rods” – an operation that has the potential for mechanical failure.
A good bit bigger than the typical consumer battery, HPMs are, however, just a fraction of the size of conventional nuclear power plants. About 1.5 meters across, the units’ size can be compared to a deep residential hot tub. It’s the size, along with the transportability and ease of operation, that make the self-contained HPM such a desirable choice for providing consistent, reliable, affordable power in remote locations.
Often referred to as a “cartridge” reactor or “nuclear battery,” the Hyperion HyperDrive is self-regulating with no mechanical parts to break down or otherwise fail. The inherent properties of uranium hydride serve as both fuel and moderator providing unparalleled safety among nuclear reactors. Sealed at the factory, the module is not opened until it has been returned to the factory to be refueled, approximately every five years or so, depending on use. This containment, along with the strategy of completely burying the module at the operating site, protects against the possibility of human incompetence, or hostile tampering and proliferation.
The power-producing core of this module will be contained within multiple gas-tight chambers to insure absolute containment of all gases, along wth other contaminants in the unlikely event that a single chamber fails. Further, the module will be buried in the ground during its operational life. This will protect the module from almost all conceivable threats, natural or man-made, and make tampering extremely difficult. Additionally, active area security will be provided by the operator.
Unlike conventional designs, the proposed reactor is self-regulating through the inherent properties of uranium hydride, which serves as a combination fuel and moderator. The temperature-driven mobility of the hydrogen contained in the hydride controls the nuclear activity. If the core temperature increases over the set point, the hydrogen is driven out of the core, the moderation drops, and the power production decreases. If the temperature drops, the hydrogen returns and the process is reversed. Thus the design is inherently fail-safe and will require minimal human oversight. The compact nature and inherent safety open the possibility for low-cost mass production and operation of the reactors.
Requirements by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) are considered the universal “gold standards” of safety. HPG has already had several meetings with the NRC and will continue to pursue the necessary design approvals and license to manufacture and operate Hyperion power modules.
Produces 70 MWt or 25 MWe.
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Possible Future Uses
1. 'Dirty fuels' profit by bailout bill's tax breaks for renewable energy
Incentives mean billions for coal and oil projects that increase emissions.
Source: Copyright 2008, LA Times Date: October 4, 2008 Byline: Julie Cart
[ http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-e ... 7153.story ]
QUOTE: “The next refinery expected to come on line is the Hyperion Resources Inc. plant in Elk Point, S.D., which would be the first built in the Untied States since 1976, excluding expansions. The facility, which could cost $10 billion, is intended to refine crude oil extracted from tar sands pits in Canada's Alberta province.”
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2. Canada: Migratory birds endangered by tar sands mining
[ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00928.html ]
Tar Sands Operations Affect Migrators, Environmentalists Say
Source: Copyright 2008, Washington Post
Date: December 26, 2008 Byline: Kari Lydersen
QUOTE: Five Midwestern refineries are seeking permission to modify their plants to process Albertan tar sands oil, and Hyperion, a Dallas-based company, is proposing a new tar sands oil refinery in South Dakota.