High Temperature super-critical CO (2)-cooled Integrated Multi-Modular Thermal Reactor

Advanced small modular reactors (SMRs) are characterized by their novel design and performance domains accounting for inherent safety, broad range of
applications and performance environments.[1] In recent studies it has been concluded that SMRs have many significant advantages vs. conventional power units.[1,2] Economical fabrication, simplified transportation, faster
and less expensive construction, substantially enhanced plant safety in normal and off-normal conditions, demand-driven adaptability of power output including capabilities to produce high temperature heat for industrial applications, inherent integration to common grid configurations, and reduced environmental impacts of SMRs are among the key factors contributing to their
competitiveness in energy markets worldwide. Because of these factors, SMRs are expected to be less risky from the economics point of view.[2]
Fig. 1. Overall layout and components of the HT-IMMTR design. These considerations have led to a substantially increased interest in advanced SMRs. In response to the increasing anticipated competitiveness of SMRs and their projected favorable economics vs. traditional large power units, DOE Nuclear Energy office seeks to establish R&D efforts to explore feasibility and deployment scenarios of promising SMR concepts and ultimately prove their viability.[3]
This paper is focused on a novel High Temperature super-critical CO2-cooled Integrated Multi-Modular Thermal Reactor (HT-IMMTR). The modularization
approach via splitting a reactor core into a number of integrated self-consistent subcritical modules facilitates inherent safety characteristics and adaptability to
application-driven deployment scenarios.