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Hyperion Micronuke Reactor

Hyperion's Current Version, 25 MWe, Fast Neutron, Lead-Bismuth Cooled, Factory Refuelable

 

 

Hyperion 25 MWe reactor using 500°C Russian Alpha-7 Lead-Bismuth Technology.  Up for NRC Certification.  Image from NRC site, Feb 17, 2010.
Notice the reactor silo vault is not in the building with the turbine and there is a second silo vault for cool-down on the far side of the heat exchangers.
Looks like Dr. Otis Peterson's Uranium Hydride 25 MWe reactor (off the tail gate of a Flying Saucer) is on the back burner for now. 
Uranium hydride too Advanced for the NRC?  The Russians have been using and abusing the Alpha-7 submarine reactor since the mid-70s.
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/advanced/hyperion.html 

Hyperion Power Module [update]

The Hyperion Power Module is a 70 MWt/25 MWe lead-bismuth cooled reactor using 20% enriched uranium nitride fuel. The reactor was originally conceived as a potassium-cooled self-regulating 'nuclear battery' fuelled by uranium hydride. However, in November 2009, Hyperion Power said it was changing the design to uranium nitride fuel and lead-bismuth cooling to expedite design certification.  [A well-proven Russian submarine design. - JPH]  This now classes it as a fast neutron reactor, without moderation.

The reactor is about 1.5 metres wide and 2 metres high, so easily portable, it is sealed and has no moving parts. It is designed to deliver electricity or process heat (or cogeneration) continuously for 7-10 years without refueling, after which time it would be left to cool for up to two years before being returned to the factory.
 

Update Jan 22, 2010.

(From Rod Adams' podcast 148, Jan, 2010.)  (The Hyperion hydride reactor is the most elegant reactor but the NRC isn't at all up to speed on it - we are many years behind some other countries - so certification for something that seems as if it came off the tailgate of a flying saucer appears to be many years away. -- JH).  The DOE can also license reactors - for the military. 

Determined to have a reactor in a cost and size range that would be in worldwide demand and worldwide affordable, Hyperion decided to come up with something interim that has about the same size and temperature characteristics as Dr. Otis Peterson's original patented uranium hydride reactor that they can make and sell much sooner.  In its basic essence, its a small version of the reactor the Russians have been using for decades to power their (very fast, but noisy,) Alpha-7 submarines. 

A million dollars a megawatt, the 20 ton, 25 MWe basic reactor is heavy-haul truck (won't fit in a F-350) or rail transportable in a standard shipping container.  The Lead - Bismuth coolants are frozen for shipping, melted at site with electrical trace heaters to get the reactor ready for running.  It is to be installed in a dual vault facility so a spent reactor would have some time (years?) to passively cool down before shipping back to the factory.  A fuel load is good for 10 years solid of full-power days before returning to factory for refueling.  It is a low pressure primary coolant, has 12  1.5 meter travel fuel depletion, and load followable control rods arranged in a circle, gravity droppable.  Gravity works everywhere.  Automatic boron balls and shut down rods to guarantee control in any situation.

Lead-bismuth primary coolant, hotter than light water reactor fuel.  Uranium nitride fuel (ceramic, no cracking problems like you might get by running conventional uranium oxide pellets hotter), passive cooling upon total power loss.  Unlike the Alpha-7 reactor direct immersion steam generators, Hyperion's reactor design has an L-B intermediate loop, its superheated steam generator is 500°C Primary, 480°C secondary, with the intermediate loop's steam generator being located above the reactor.  Earliest shipping dates could be 2012 or 2013 for non-USA shipping - islands?.

At 746 watts per horsepower, a 25 MWe reactor translates into a 33,000 shaft horsepower engine.  A good sized shipping vessel engine.  Some of the folks window-shopping at Hyperion's store are asking about that.  [Again, Hyperion is talking about 4,000 units for its first full production run. -- JH]

Currently Hyperion has about 50 full-time staff, 40 part time.  The initial unit will be heavily instrumented and run under a "compensatory measure" regime to assure full knowledge and confidence before full power operation. -30-

 

 

Hyperion's Original Version, 25 MWe, Slow Neutron, Heat Pipe Cooled, Factory Refuelable

 

Hyperion's original uranium hydride reactor. 
A truly green nuclear reactor

Hyperion TRIGA-Like MicroNuke

You can simply bury and forget the "tiny" Hyperion SELF-REGULATING reactor.

 

(This is a commercial product.)
Visit Hyperion's web site:  http://www.hyperionpowergeneration.com/   


                             Hyperion TRIGA-like MicroNuke
Part  1     You can simply bury the "tiny" Hyperion SELF-REGULATING reactor.
Part  2     How about a small HYPERION
demonstration facility?
Part  3    Our Government is backing coal and refusing to fight Global Warming

NEWS ITEMS   for this subject.  COMMENTS  for this subject

 

(Right) Promotional image from Hyperion web site.    

LFR reactors OK-550 and BM-40A, capable of producing 155 MW of power, have been applied on Soviet Alfa class submarines. They were significantly lighter than typical water-cooled reactors and had an advantage of being capable to quickly switch between maximum power and minimum noise operation modes, but lacked reliability, as solidifying of lead-bismuth solution turned the reactor inoperable. However, lead-bismuth eutectic has a very low melting temperature, 123.5 °C (254.3 °F), making desolidification a relatively easily accomplished task.

According to Nuclear Engineering International, the initial design of the Hyperion Power Module will be of this type, using uranium nitride fuel encased in HT-9 tubes, using a quartz reflector, and lead-bismuth eutectic as coolant.[1]

 

(Right) Promotional image from Hyperion web site.

 

 

 

To:  Hyperion reveals design details of its 25 MW reactor

 

Initial "Launch" Design for Hyperion Power Module announced today at the Winter Conference of American Nuclear Society in Washington, D.C. and London's "Powering Toward 2020" Conference 

WASHINGTON, D.C. and LONDON, ENGLAND, November 18, 2009 - At the Annual Winter Conference of the American Nuclear Society in Washington today, and simultaneously at the "Powering Toward 2020" conference in London, England, Hyperion Power Generation Inc. revealed the design for the first version of the Hyperion Power Module (HPM) that it intends to have licensed and manufactured at facilities in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

The HPM is a safe, self-contained, simple-to-operate nuclear power reactor, which is small enough to be manufactured en masse and transported in its entirety via ship, truck, or rail. Euphemistically referred to as a "fission battery," the HPM will deliver 70 megawatts of thermal energy, or approximately 25 megawatts of electricity. This amount of energy is enough to supply electricity to 20,000+ average American-style homes or the industrial/commercial equivalent.

 "In response to market demand for the HPM, we have decided on a uranium nitride-fueled, lead bismuth-cooled, fast reactor for our 'launch' design," said John R. Grizz Deal, Hyperion Power's CEO. "For those who like to categorize nuclear technologies, we suppose this advanced reactor could be called a Gen IV++ design." 

The design that Hyperion Power intends to have licensed and manufactured first will include all of the company's original design criteria, but is expected to take less time for regulators to review and certify than the initial concept created by Dr. Otis "Pete" Peterson during his tenure at Los Alamos National Laboratory. "We have every intention of producing Dr. Peterson's uranium hydride-fueled reactor; it is an important breakthrough technology for the nuclear power industry," noted Deal. "However, in our research of the global market for small, modular nuclear power reactors - aka SMRs - we have found a great need for the technology. Our clients do not want to wait for regulatory systems around the globe, to learn about and be able to approve a uranium hydride system. A true SMR design, that delivers a safe, simple and small source of clean, emission-free, robust and reliable power is needed today - not years from now. As we construct and deploy this launch design, we will continue to work towards licensing Dr. Peterson's design."

Kept quiet until today, this initial design for the company's small, modular, nuclear power reactor (SMR) is the first of several that have been under co-development with staff from Los Alamos National Laboratory. Hyperion Power's market goals include the distribution of at least 4,000 of its transportable, sealed, self-contained, simple-to-operate fission-generated power units.

Offering a cost-efficient source of clean, emission-free, baseload energy, the HPM will provide crucial independent power for military installations; heat, steam and electricity for mining operations; and electricity for local infrastructure and clean water processes in communities around the globe.

More information can be found at the company's web site: http://www.HyperionPowerGeneration.com

 

Hyperion to build small reactor assembly facility in the UK.pdf

Hyperion about Hyperion:
Conceived at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the HPM intellectual property portfolio was licensed to Hyperion Power Generation for commercialization under the laboratory's technology transfer program. Inherently safe, and self-moderating, the HPM utilizes the energy of low-enriched uranium fuel and meets all the non-proliferation criteria of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP). Each unit produces 70 MWt or 27 MWe- enough to provide electricity for 20,000 average American-size homes or the industrial equivalent. Approximately 1.5 meters wide by 2 meters tall, the units can be transported by ship, rail or truck and produce power for five to seven years depending on usage.

Eastern European launch in 2013
The company says that it will have a prototype of its reactor fully designed next year and that it has already secured an order for six units from a group of investors in Eastern Europe, including the Czech engineering company TES, who have an option to buy a further 44. It also claims to have other commitments from various parties – mostly energy utilities that currently use diesel generators in remote locations – for a further 100 units.
The company expects to deliver its first reactor in June 2013.

 

Part  1: 

You can simply bury and forget the "tiny" Hyperion SELF-REGULATING reactor.

 

(Shown here in a Hyperion Co. drawing doing water purification duty in a low-tech environment).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part  2: 

How about a small HYPERION demonstration facility?
The World's First Coal-To-Nuclear Conversion To End Global Warming

The hot-tub size HYPERION reactor (™ Hyperion Power Generation, Inc. (HPG) )  might provide a demonstration substitute for a much more powerful TRISO pebble bed reactor.    http://www.hyperionpowergeneration.com/    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_Power_Generation     http://www.altiragroup.com/   Hyperion's Patent 
                                                                                                         (Below: Promotional image from Hyperion web site.)

Rated at 27 MWe, 1,000°F Steam, and $25 million, the HYPERION™ reactor is 1/6 as powerful as the 160 MWe South African PBMR pebble bed reactor. 

By replacing a coal-burning boiler, a single Hyperion reactor can eliminate about 250,000 tons of CO2 - that's a quarter million tons, folks - every year.

Hyperion reactors are rated at 70 MW thermal at 1,000°F.  That's not hot enough to make the supercritical hot water needed for the TRISO Nuclear Repowering idea but is plenty hot enough to make the 1,000°F superheated some small typical 3-stage steam power generating stations must have.  And certainly hot enough and powerful enough to replace the coal burning boilers in the nation's thousands of building complex power plants. Capitol Power Plant 

The basic design doesn't appear to be limited to 25 MWe.  That size may be Hyperion's choice for its initial product offering and reflect their judgment as to where for the greatest number of unit sales lie.  I think its an excellent choice.  There is a big market for IC electricity sources in the 2 to 50 MWe range for rural co-op villages and towns.

It appears they built and tested at least a 5 MW (thermal) prototype in 2004 or earlier.  (Below: Standing on it!  Impulse response test.  From patent application.)  5 MWt translates to perhaps 2,200 horsepower.  We're looking at a vapor chemical reaction cycling around an equilibrium point.  Be nice to see the climb up from zero power.  Since it is always cycling around a set temperature when running, hitting its empty hot boiler with cold water would be a real test.  Would that cause it to go out of oscillation and stall?  I wonder what a liquid LFTR reactor impulse response looks like?  Gotta keep in mind that, pound for pound, nuclear fuel has three million times as much energy in it as fossil gasoline and a Hyperion naturally carries a 5+ year load of fuel between pit stops.  Easy on that throttle, Scotty.

While my area isn't thermodynamics, I do wonder about the heat pipes (filled with either liquid metal or other heat conveying substances) and how they transfer their heat to the boiler.  This arrangement seems to provide the isolation of both a primary and secondary cooling loop.  70 MWt is a lot of heat from a sand-like heat source in a volume that's way small compared to some of the classic tube boilers I've seen in that same BTU range.  The heat pipes may also be providing a gathering of heat from the sand-like heat source to the surfaces of the boiler tubing to provide an action resembling that of a steam generator as opposed to a classic boiler tube.  We'll see.

Do they deal with fission products somewhat along the same lines as a TRISO particle?  Can't have a neutron poison like Xenon-135 floating around in that closed and dry particle filled space.

From a practical standpoint, a single Hyperion could drive one of White Pine Electric's 20 MWe steam turbines or four Hyperions connected in parallel could easily drive one of the J. R. Whiting plant's two 102 MWe steam turbines.  According to CARMA, this coal-burning generating plant emits about 850,000 tons of CO2 each year.  (Whiting has two 102 MWe units and one 124 MWe unit.)

Using the very generous American Wind Energy Association capacity [baseload] factor of 33%, it would take about 300 1 MWe wind turbines - about $450 million dollars worth - to equal one 102 MWe steam turbine.

So, it would take perhaps $150 million using HYPERION™ nuclear to do the same job as it would take $450 million to do using wind.
Who says nuclear is more expensive than wind?

A couple of really great launch platforms for the Nuclear Repowering idea: 

White Pine Electric Power Plant, at White Pine, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  Three 1956 20 MWe (megawatt, electrical) coal burning units.  Much of the plant's output goes to power a copper production facility. A perfect place to try out a 25 MWe Hyperion TRIGA-like micronuke on a single coal burning unit.  A small unit would have small steam and feedwater piping which would make it easy to install the Hyperion in parallel with the existing coal burning boiler.  This would enable the turbine operator to select from either the nuclear or coal steam source simply by operating a couple of valves.  In 2005, the facility burned a total of 74,910 tons of coal producing 215,000 tons of CO2.  White Pine Electric

White Pine is located near the highly respected Michigan Technological University school of engineering at Houghton, Michigan.  http://www.mtu.edu/engineering/

J. R. Whiting plant near Erie, Michigan.  On the western shore of Lake Erie, just north of Toledo and south of Fermi II near Monroe, Michigan.  Three 1952 100+ MWe coal burning units.  IF 4 Hyperions and their shielding could be crammed onto the same footprint as one of J. R. Whiting's 1950s 300 MW thermal boilers, we should be able to repower one of the 102 MW electrical units from coal to nuclear.  In 2005 the facility burned about 1,000,000 tons of coal producing 2,810,000 tons of CO2  J.R. Whiting

J. R. Whiting is not far from the University of Michigan and its School of Nuclear Engineering  http://www-ners.engin.umich.edu/  The author recalls seeing a pool-type TRIGA reactor at the U of M during the 1950s.

Either plant could also become the launch platform for the State of Michigan's new clean energy technology initiative to develop CO2 mitigation technologies for heavy industry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Others have said about Hyperion:

I think that thousands of these reactors could be used to displace coal power. They could be buried on the property of existing coal plants (shut down the coal plants and use these devices) and at existing nuclear power sites. Later after there has been more operating experience with them, they could be positioned inside cities and towns.

"The Hyperion Power Module (HPM) is a 15-ton, small self-regulating hydrogen-moderated and potassium-cooled reactor producing 70 MWt /25 MWe fuelled by powdered uranium hydride. It is designed to operate for 5 - 10 years before being returned to the factory for refueling. It is about 1.5 meters wide and 2 meters high, so easily portable, and has no moving parts. Hyperion Power Generation has had preliminary discussions with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and a US design certification application is possible in 2012, when the company plans to begin manufacturing the plants in New Mexico. The design is licensed from the DOE Los Alamos laboratory there. The company reported sales interest from Eastern Europe in August 2008, at $27 million per unit."  http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf33.html 

"Hyperion plans to build three manufacturing plants, with the goal of producing 4,000 mini nuclear modules between 2013 and 2023. Next year, the company will submit an application to build the modules to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission." - - PhysOrg.com 


"The UK Guardian newspaper reports
, Hyperion Power Generation CRO Deal claims to have more than 100 firm orders, largely from the oil and electricity industries, but says the company is also targeting developing countries and isolated communities.

The company plans to set up three factories to produce 4,000 plants between 2013 and 2023. 'We already have a pipeline for 100 reactors, and we are taking our time to tool up to mass-produce this reactor.' 

The first confirmed order came from TES, a Czech infrastructure company specializing in water plants and power plants. 'They ordered six units and optioned a further 12. We are very sure of their capability to purchase,' said Deal. The first one, he said, would be installed in Romania. 'We now have a six-year waiting list. We are in talks with developers in the Cayman Islands, Panama and the Bahamas.'

Six year waiting list appears to be 5 years until the first one is delivered and then one hundred of the 15 ton reactors produced in the first year to 18 months and then scaling to 400-500 reactors every year."  -- Saigon Charlie, Nov. 10, 2008.

Economics

$25 million for each of the initial 25-30MWe reactors. 
For getting oil from oil shale this system can supply heat instead of natural gas. Hyperion also offers a 70% reduction in operating costs (based on costs for field-generation of steam in oil-shale recovery operations), from $11 per million BTU for natural gas to $3 per million BTU for Hyperion. Over five years, a single Hyperion reactor can save $2 billion in operating costs in a heavy oil field. A lot of the initial one hundred orders are from oil and gas companies. 

Here is a comparison to help put the system's potential into perspective. 

A single truck can deliver the HPM heat source to a site. The device is supposed to be able to produce 70 MW of thermal energy for 5 years. That means that the truck will be delivering about 10.5 trillion BTU's to the site. Natural gas costs about $7 per million BTU which would would cost $73 million. 

That is about 3 times as much as the announced selling price for an HPM, but the advantage does not stop there - the HPM is targeted for places where there are no gas pipelines to deliver gas, so natural gas is not available at any price. 

Instead, it would be better to compare the HPM to diesel fuel, which currently costs about 2 times as much per unit of useful heat as natural gas and still requires some form of delivery for remote locations. In some places, fuel transportation costs are two or three times as much as the cost of the fuel from the central supply points. 

In certain very difficult terrains, or in places where there are people who like to shoot at tankers, delivery costs can be 100 times as much as the basic cost of the fuel.

About the Hyperion's ancestor reactor:

General Atomics' well known TRIGA® nuclear reactor program is completing fifty years of success in the design and operation of its reactors. TRIGA, the most widely used research reactor in the world, has an installed base of over sixty-five facilities in twenty-four countries on five continents. Now the only remaining supplier of research reactors in the United States, General Atomics continues to design and install TRIGA reactors around the world, and has built TRIGA reactors in a variety of configurations and capabilities, with steady state power levels ranging from 20 kilowatts to 16 megawatts. The TRIGA reactor is the only nuclear reactor in this category that offers true "inherent safety," rather than relying on "engineered safety."   http://triga.ga.com/50years.html 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below: Dissociation pressures of uranium tritide, deuteride, and hydride vs. temperature.

 

 

 

 

 

The reactor takes advantage of the physical properties of a fissile metal hydride, such as uranium hydride, which serves as a combination fuel and moderator. The invention is self-stabilizing and requires no moving mechanical components to control nuclear criticality. In contrast with customary designs, the control of the nuclear activity is achieved through the temperature driven mobility of the hydrogen isotope contained in the hydride.

If the core temperature increases above a set point, the hydrogen isotope dissociates from the hydride and escapes out of the core and into the surrounding storage volumes, the moderation drops and the power production decreases. If the temperature drops, the hydrogen isotope is again associated by the fissile metal hydride and the process is reversed. The chemical isotope splits chemically when it gets too hot. Again, just as when the extra pressure in your car's radiator keeps water from boiling and turning into steam, you can design the hydride system to have different boiling temperatures by adjusting its pressure. 

There is some heat due to fast background neutrons when the reactor is in the transport/standby mode.

They use 4.9% enriched uranium. Fissile fuel burnup of at least 50% should be achievable with adequate design. This produces about 450 gigawatt days per ton of uranium or thorium. This is about ten times more efficient than current nuclear reactors. There would half as much left over uranium (unburned fuel) 

It's fuel lasts for about 5 years. Other reactors also have re-fueling. In this case, refueling is done by digging up the reactor if needed and then having the manufacturer perform the refueling. In between there are no people operating the reactor because it is self-regulating.

The manufacturer separates about a football size amount of material when taking the used fuel out. 


Helpful readers have provided us with some additional information about the chemistry involved.

"They don't show it here, but this is basic chemistry; there is a critical temperature above which no amount of pressure can stop the complete dissociation of UH3,, but it is off this plot.  I think the patent mentioned 700C, and that looks like a reasonable extrapolation here.  In any event, the patent points out that the operating temperature can be regulated by the pressure, and that's explicit on this plot too." 

"This also demonstrates how the reactor is shipped and started.  The reactor is shipped assembled with uranium metal sand in the reactor core and uranium hydride in the storage trays, and an inert gas atmosphere.  To start, the inert gas is sucked out and hydrogen (Or deuterium, or a mix, depending on other things like the reactor life) is bled into the casing while the reactor core and storage trays are heated by external power.  With the storage trays at 400-500C, and most of the hydride there dissociated, when the reactor core goes a bit above 200C, the metal in the reactor starts to form the hydride, the hydrogen density shoots up, moderation occurs, and you're off!.  More hydrogen is added until you get the operating temperature you want, and the system is sealed.  In operation, the storage trays are hot enough that most of the uranium hydride has been dissociated to metal and hydrogen gas."

 

Self-Regulating Nuclear Power Reactor November 15, 2008

Posted by gaussling

Hyperion Power Generation (HPG) company has announced the commercial development of their Hyperion Power Module.  While there are numerous reports on the internet, it is more useful for curious and tech savvy folk to read the patent application (US 20040062340) for a detailed description of the device. While the idea has been knocking around for 50 years, it took the inventor, Dr. Otis G. Peterson, to work out the control issues for a safe, self regulating system.

The reactor uses the hydride of a fissile actinide like U-235 (as UH3 powder) at ~5% enrichment in U-238 to serve as a self-moderating nuclear pile. The marvels of chemistry, namely chemical equilibrium, play a large role here because the hydrogen content (as hydride) varies as a function of temperature. An increase in temperature of the UH3 leads to loss of hydrogen from the U to another hydrogen storing metal. Loss of hydrogen moderator leads to loss of reactivity and a downturn in heat generation. But the downturn in heat generation favors the return of hydrogen (as H2) to the uranium to make hydride. This causes the reactivity of the system to increase, so the rate of fission and heat generation rises as a result.

The system eventually reaches a steady state temperature where the rates of hydrogen gain and loss from uranium become equal and the rate of heat evolution reaches a steady output.

According to Table 1 of the application, at 5 MW thermal the U-235 critical mass is 30 kg and at 50 MW thermal it is 215 kg. The table also discloses that at a loading of 30 kg U-235 the energy content is 78 MW years and at a loading of 215 kg U-235 the energy content is 540 MW years.

Of course, this is a patent and not a peer reviewed publication. But it was developed at Los Alamos so one would suppose it should have some credibility. The patent suggests that the reactor would be buried underground while in service. It is unclear if that is for shielding or security, or both.

 

 

HYPERION™ Has a patent:  Self-regulating nuclear power module   Pdf of the patent.

United States Patent Application 20040062340

Abstract:

The present invention includes a nuclear fission reactor apparatus and a method for operation of same, comprising: a core comprising a fissile metal hydride; an atmosphere comprising hydrogen or hydrogen isotopes to which the core is exposed; a non-fissile hydrogen absorbing and desorbing material; a means for controlling the absorption and desorption of the non-fissile hydrogen absorbing and desorbing material, and a means for extracting the energy produced in the core.

Representative Image:

Self-regulating nuclear power module

Inventors:

Peterson, Otis G. (Los Alamos, NM, US)

Discussion Paragraph [0051] The invention is preferably limited in operation to the temperature range from approximately 350° C. [660°F] to 800° C. [1,500°F] for UH 3 based fuel, where the dissociation pressure, shown in FIG. 5 , of the hydride is in the range that permits efficient gas transport. The data comes from “The H-U System,” Bulletin of Alloy Phase Diagrams , 1, No. 2 (1980), pp. 99-106. This temperature range is fortuitous because it includes the near optimum temperature for operation of steam boilers, i.e., the mid-500° C. [930°F] range. Samuel Glasstone, Principles of Nuclear Reactor Engineering , D. Van Nostrand Co. (1955), §1.24.

Beyond Hyperion

Designing, building, and running a successful parallel powering of the 102 MWe unit using the author's supercritical water interface idea would demonstrate that a small-reactor-to-large-steam-turbine interface is not only available, but practical, and could be scaled up to drive the world's largest coal-burners - some coal-burning plant units are nearly 1,000 MWe - using the more powerful TRISO pebble and prism [compacts] reactors. 

This technological development is essential to take on the world's 5,000 worst coal-burning power plants that are causing a major part of Global Warming's CO2.

Later, J. R. Whiting's 124 MWe unit could be converted from coal-burning to a single 160 MWe PBMR TRISO pebble bed reactor boiler.  According to CARMA, this single coal-burning generating unit emits slightly over 1 million tons of CO2 each year. 

Or, both the remaining 102 MWe and the 124 MWe units could be driven by a single General Atomics 300 MWe GT-MHR TRISO prism [compacts] reactor to eliminate the entire remaining 1.93 million tons of annual CO2, thereby creating the world's first zero-emissions repowered coal plant - equal to the output capacity factor of 1,000 1 MWe wind turbines.

Coal2Nuclear ______________________________________________________________________  top 

 

Part  3:

Our Government is backing coal and refusing to fight Global Warming

Exhibit A:  Small Reactor Reviews.pdf

Exhibit B: "General Atomics' well known TRIGA® nuclear reactor program is completing fifty years of success in the design and operation of its reactors. TRIGA, the most widely used research reactor in the world, has an installed base of over sixty-five facilities in twenty-four countries on five continents. Now the only remaining supplier of research reactors in the United States, General Atomics continues to design and install TRIGA reactors around the world, and has built TRIGA reactors in a variety of configurations and capabilities, with steady state power levels ranging from 20 kilowatts to 16 megawatts. The TRIGA reactor is the only nuclear reactor in this category that offers true "inherent safety," rather than relying on "engineered safety."   http://triga.ga.com/50years.html 

My personal opinion:

This is beyond comprehension.  The TRIGA reactor has been around for over 50 years.  Who are these folks trying to kid?  Hyperion's reactor is a power producing version of a 50-year old reactor that's installed in over 65 research facilities around the world.  Who benefits from this delaying tactic? Coal, far more than the big reactor companies. -- JH

Coal2Nuclear ______________________________________________________________________  top 

COMMENTS  about this subject.

1.      Brenda:

Though there are still some details lacking, for logical reasons, Hyperion seems to be on a path with amazing potential. They are building on some excellent science and engineering done by one of the premier centers of atomic knowledge in the country. More information is available about the design than you imply. I found some very interesting documents using “Otis Peterson uranium hydride” as a Google search term. One that I need to find via a library is
Los Alamos Report No. LA-UR-04-1087 Author Peterson, O. G. Otis G.
Title ComStar Compact Self regulating Transportable Reactor CONCEPT
This document is listed on a publication list, but is not freely available because of library policies and copyright restrictions.

I have spoken with John (Grizz) Deal on The Atomic Show Podcast; he convinced me that he knows what he is doing in leading a company full of talented atomic geeks with a great idea and some solid financial backing.

Rod Adams
Editor, Atomic Insights
Host, The Atomic Show Podcast

 

 

 NEWS ITEMS   for this subject.

Lt. Gen. Leo Marquez Named to Advisory Board
for Hyperion Power Generation

Developer of New Small, Transportable Nuclear Power Module Adds Valuable Team Advisors

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, July 28, 2009 - Lieutenant General Leo Marquez (retired), the recipient of numerous military awards and the inspiration for the United States Air Force's (USAF) set of annual awards that bear his name, has been named to the Business Advisory Board for Hyperion Power Generation Inc.

Hyperion business and technical advisory boards provide the firm with unparalleled insight into global energy markets, geopolitical systems, engineering standards, and cutting edge science. Hyperion is developing a unique, new, small transportable nuclear power reactor that will provide a cost-efficient source of clean, emission-free, baseload energy to provide crucial independent power for military installations; heat, steam and electricity for mining operations; and electricity for local infrastructure and clean water processes in communities around the globe.

"General Marquez is a true American hero," said John R. Grizz Deal, Hyperion's CEO. "His knowledge, intelligence, and never-ending quest for excellence made him a highly-valuable leader during his Air Force career and will be a great asset to Hyperion. His tenacious enthusiasm for the development of new small, modular nuclear power reactors and other energy systems that will free our country from the bonds of conventional fossil fuel-based systems is infectious."

A native of New Mexico, Marquez received his bachelor's degree from New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, where he is recognized as a distinguished alumnus. He also has a masters of science degree in business administration from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. and attended the advanced management program for executives at Carnegie-Mellon University. Marquez completed Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.

His stellar career in the USAF included assignments as a fighter pilot, flight instructor, maintenance control officer, logistics project officer and more. He was rewarded for his efforts with promotions that culminated in his position as Deputy Chief of Staff for logistics and engineering, at USAF Headquarters at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

General Marquez's military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal and Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster. He was selected as Air Force Logistics Command Systems Manager of the year in 1974. In 1977 he was the recipient of the Air Force Association's Executive Management Award. The award named after him, the Lieutenant General Leo Marquez Award, is presented to the highest performers in the categories of aircraft, munitions/missile and communications-electronics maintenance.

Currently, the General is a member of the Executive Committee for the Kirtland Partnership Committee, a not-for-profit New Mexico Corporation that provides community support for the continuing operation of Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

 

Hyperion launches U2N3-fuelled, Pb-Bi-cooled fast reactor
20 November 2009

Hyperion Power has released the first technical details of the small 70MWt nuclear reactor that it is developing.

Hyperion Power Module core diagram
 
 
Hyperion Power Module core diagram. There are 24 assemblies of uranium nitride fuel, and 18 control rods. The centre of the core is hollow so that boron carbide marbles could be dropped in the centre to shut down the reactor in an emergency.

 

Although the company had originally been aiming to create a TRIGA reactor burning uranium hydride, it has decided for reasons of speed-to-market to focus on commercialising a liquid-metal-cooled fast reactor instead.

The Hyperion Power Module has a core of 24 assemblies of a metal fuel, uranium nitride, that is 20% enriched set in HT-9 cladding tubes. Flowing around the pins is liquid lead-bismuth eutectic coolant. Quartz is used as a radial reflector. A gas plenum is at one end of the 2-3m long fuel pins.

Two sets of boron carbide control rods keep the reactivity of the core under control. One set of 12 control rods advance about 0.5mm/day to moderate the reaction. A second set of 6 shutdown rods close to the centre of the reactor would automatically drop into the core in case of an accident. The centre of the core is hollow. Inside that void space marbles of boron carbide would be dropped in case of an emergency.

The hot (500 degrees C) coolant transfers its heat through an intermediate heat exchanger to another lead-bismuth loop, through another intermediate heat exchanger to a tertiary circuit with an undisclosed fluid, and then through a third heat exchanger to water (at about 200 degrees C). The reactor is not only designed to deliver electricity, but also process heat or co-generation. Hyperion Power president and CEO John 'Grizz' Deal told NEI that the configurations of the secondary and tertiary circuit would depend on the reactor's uses.

 

The reason why the 70MWt reactor has a relatively low electrical efficiency of 36%, or 25MWe, is because the steam loop does not run through the inside of the reactor, for simplicity and safety. The factory-built and factory-sealed reactor, which weighs 50 tons, would operate like a battery: it would be slotted into place in a power station built by an undisclosed partner company, connected, and generate power continuously for seven to 10 years without refuelling. Then it would be disconnected and left to cool down for up to two years (with water) before being removed and returned to the factory for dismantling.

Although no fuel has been tested or manufactured for the project, Deal said that fuel burns would begin before the end of the year. He said that Los Alamos National Laboratory, from whom Hyperion has licenced some of the technology, has researched uranium nitride. It said that the Russian military has used uranium nitride fuel and the lead-bismuth coolant.

Deal said in October that Hyperion is still planning to build a factory in the UK; but construction would be some way off. Initially he said that the company would rely on the supply chain for producing the first units.

He said that the company is looking to find six launch customers, some of which would run a prototype, including customers based in the US and UK. He said in mid-November that the company had signed 123 memorandums of understanding or letters of intent with customers.

Deal also said that in order to have operating units within four years, the company was also considering building its first pilot units in facilities that do not require approval from a nuclear regulator, such as US Department of Energy facilities, or military facilities.

In terms of suppliers, the company has signed up TetraTec as the architect-engineer-constructor, supported by Chamberlain.

 

 

November 17, 2009

Hyperion reveals design details of its 25 MW reactor

 
 

Firm kicks-off effort to prepare a submission to the NRC for safety review

hyperion-nuclearHyperion Power Generation, which is designing a small, 25 MWe, nuclear reactor, revealed design details Nov 18 (slides) about the company's product at the winter meeting of the American Nuclear Society taking place in Washington, DC.

This is the first release of reactor design information by the company. It marks the kick-off of the firm’s pre-application process with the NRC for safety analysis review that leads to a reactor design certification decision by the agency.

No matter where, globally, Hyperion plans to build their reactor, the NRC certification is a critical success factor because the agency’s regulatory review is considered to be the “gold standard” by other countries.

According to John Grizz Deal, Hyperion CEO, the firm plans to submit its design to the NRC in late 2010 or early 2011. Hyperion technical staff said the NRC learning curve is a challenge since it is not a light water reactor.

“We hope that it will not be too hard for them to understand our design. We choose technologies for fuel and fuel cladding that are well understood from a safety perspective.”

Design details

design toolsThe sealed core, which is good for up to 10 years, does not require refueling at the customer site. Instead, the entire mechanism is replaced by a new one. The first use of the reactor at a customer site will be to produce electricity. The planned output of the reactor will be 25 MWe. Other applications include process heat and power for remote military applications. The company claims to have numerous customers lined up to buy the units.

Features include;

* Each unit will generate approximately 70MWt and 25MWe – enough to power 20,000 average American homes.

* The temperature of the secondary loop is 450-500 F. The secondary loop is a liquid metal circuit to produce steam so that there is no contact between the primary reactor and water in any form.

* Overnight costs are estimated by the firm to be $2,000 - $3,000 per KW capacity. The bottom line market goal is to generate electricity for < US$0.10 per kWh anywhere in the world.

* The reactor, which measures 1.5 x 2.5 meters, can be transported by truck to a customer site. Connections to a secondary loop, turbine, and transmission lines increases the footprint, but not by much.

Hyperion Reactor Information

Hyperion Reactor Overview 1

* Operation is limited to reactivity adjustments to maintain constant temperature output and it has much fewer in-core components than a light water reactor. Hyperion claims that operational reliability is enhanced by the reduction of moving mechanical parts. Staffing will be at least two people at all times to comply with NRC requirements.

The reactor is intended to meet requirements for dedicated power by hospitals, factories, foundries, government centers, water treatment, or irrigation and desalinization. Resource intensive uses at remote sites include mining and oil production & refining. Military facilities that cannot compromise tactical readiness relative to having enough electricity may find the small footprint of the reactor and ease of transport to be of interest.

Safe shutdown

The reactor has two shutdown systems which provides redundancy. In event of a problem, there is a space in the center of the core into which the operator can rapidly dumped marble size boron pellets which will lead to rapid shutdown of the reactor.

Hyperion Plan Review of Active Core

Hyperion plan view of active core

Once reactor comes to end of fuel cycle, in about 5-10 years, it takes two years to cool down via air circulation. Then the entire reactor can be removed for disposition. Ideally, a customer will have two setups for these reactors so that one slot is empty at startup of the first one. When it’s done, you put the new one in the empty space, and let the old one cool off in place for two years. Then the customer can arrange for Hyperion to remove it. It gives new meaning to the term “plug and play.”

Future fuel fabrication plans

Fuel will be enriched to between 15-19.6% because this small reactor needs more highly enriched fuel to get power levels to point of economic value. Fuel is a uranium nitride alloy. No fuel has been fabricated or tested so far. A system engineer at Hyperion said in an interview INL’s ATR is an option for testing fuel. Other international sites (unnamed) are also interested if ATR is not available. The firm’s goal is to verify that fuel meets requirements for higher burn-up rates.

Hyperion said in October it plans to build a factory to make the reactors in the UK. CEO Deal is making a simultaneous announcement there about design details this week.

 

Hyperion launches U2N3-fuelled, Pb-Bi-cooled fast reactor

Hyperion Power has released the first technical details of the small 70MWt nuclear reactor that it is developing.          20 November 2009

Hyperion Power Module core diagram

Hyperion Power Module core diagram. There are 24 assemblies of uranium nitride fuel, and 18 control rods. The centre of the core is hollow so that boron carbide marbles could be dropped in the centre to shut down the reactor in an emergency.

Although the company had originally been aiming to create a TRIGA reactor burning uranium hydride, it has decided for reasons of speed-to-market to focus on commercialising a liquid-metal-cooled fast reactor instead.

The Hyperion Power Module has a core of 24 assemblies of a metal fuel, uranium nitride, that is 20% enriched set in HT-9 cladding tubes. Flowing around the pins is liquid lead-bismuth eutectic coolant. Quartz is used as a radial reflector. A gas plenum is at one end of the 2-3m long fuel pins.

Two sets of boron carbide control rods keep the reactivity of the core under control. One set of 12 control rods advance about 0.5mm/day to moderate the reaction. A second set of 6 shutdown rods close to the centre of the reactor would automatically drop into the core in case of an accident. The centre of the core is hollow. Inside that void space marbles of boron carbide would be dropped in case of an emergency.

The hot (500 degrees C) coolant transfers its heat through an intermediate heat exchanger to another lead-bismuth loop, through another intermediate heat exchanger to a tertiary circuit with an undisclosed fluid, and then through a third heat exchanger to water (at about 200 degrees C). The reactor is not only designed to deliver electricity, but also process heat or co-generation. Hyperion Power president and CEO John 'Grizz' Deal told NEI that the configurations of the secondary and tertiary circuit would depend on the reactor's uses.

The reason why the 70MWt reactor has a relatively low electrical efficiency of 36%, or 25MWe, is because the steam loop does not run through the inside of the reactor, for simplicity and safety. The factory-built and factory-sealed reactor, which weighs 50 tons, would operate like a battery: it would be slotted into place in a power station built by an undisclosed partner company, connected, and generate power continuously for seven to 10 years without refuelling. Then it would be disconnected and left to cool down for up to two years (with water) before being removed and returned to the factory for dismantling.

Although no fuel has been tested or manufactured for the project, Deal said that fuel burns would begin before the end of the year. He said that Los Alamos National Laboratory, from whom Hyperion has licenced some of the technology, has researched uranium nitride. It said that the Russian military has used uranium nitride fuel and the lead-bismuth coolant.

Deal said in October that Hyperion is still planning to build a factory in the UK; but construction would be some way off. Initially he said that the company would rely on the supply chain for producing the first units.

He said that the company is looking to find six launch customers, some of which would run a prototype, including customers based in the US and UK. He said in mid-November that the company had signed 123 memorandums of understanding or letters of intent with customers.

Deal also said that in order to have operating units within four years, the company was also considering building its first pilot units in facilities that do not require approval from a nuclear regulator, such as US Department of Energy facilities, or military facilities.

In terms of suppliers, the company has signed up TetraTec as the architect-engineer-constructor, supported by Chamberlain.