Latest news with #MoltenSaltReactorExperiment
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Nuclear Power Renaissance Underway in West Texas
When you think of innovative advancements in nuclear power technology, places like the Idaho National Laboratory and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology probably come to mind. But today, some very exciting nuclear power development work is being done in West Texas, specifically, at Abilene Christian University (ACU). That's where Natura Resources is working to construct a molten salt–cooled, liquid-fueled reactor (MSR). 'We are in the process of building, most likely, the country's first advanced nuclear reactor,' Doug Robison, founder and CEO of Natura Resources, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast. Natura has taken an iterative, milestone-based approach to advanced reactor development and deployment, focused on efficiency and performance. This started in 2020 when the company brought together ACU's NEXT Lab with Texas A&M University; the University of Texas, Austin; and the Georgia Institute of Technology to form the Natura Resources Research Alliance. In only four years, Natura and its partners developed a unique nuclear power system and successfully licensed the design. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a construction permit for deployment of the system at ACU last September. Called the MSR-1, ACU's unit will be a 1-MWth molten salt research reactor (MSRR). It is expected to provide valuable operational data to support Natura's 100-MWe systems. It will also serve as a 'world-class research tool' to train advanced reactor operators and educate students, the company said. The technology is not new. It was actually proven decades ago. 'A molten salt reactor was built at Oak Ridge in the 1960s—the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment or the MSRE—and that reactor functioned for about five years, then was shelved in favor of solid-fuel or light-water reactors [LWRs] that we're all familiar with,' Robison explained. 'That was really a decision made because the customer in the 1960s was the Department of Defense, and Admiral Rickover was building a nuclear Navy, and they needed to enrich uranium to plutonium for warheads, and solid fuel reactors are more suited for those purposes,' Robison added. The coolant is one of the main differences between LWRs and MSRs. As the names imply, an LWR is cooled by water, while an MSR is cooled by molten salt. LWRs require thick pressure vessels and high-pressure piping to safely contain pressurized water, provide radiation shielding, and ensure long-term structural integrity. Today, there are no U.S. manufacturers with the capability to forge a large nuclear reactor vessel, so they must be sourced overseas. Notably, molten salt turns from a solid to a liquid at about 450C, but it doesn't turn to a gas until about 1,400C, which is above the melting point of stainless steel. 'What that means is you can never get to the point to where the salt flashes to a steam, so we operate at very, very high temperatures, which is a big advantage because the high process heat—from an efficiency standpoint and manufacturing standpoint—is incredibly valuable, but we operate at atmospheric pressure, because the salt never transfers into a gas. It goes from a solid to a liquid. And, if you were to have some kind of leak or release, once you drop below 450 degrees C, it immediately freezes back into a solid, so kind of picture candle wax, if you will. So, it's called 'walk-away safe' for that reason. You don't need a containment dome,' explained Robison. These factors significantly reduce the cost of MSR facilities compared to LWR plants. MSR reactor vessels, for example, can be manufactured by Teledyne Brown Engineering in Huntsville, Alabama, and perhaps elsewhere in the U.S. Robison said everything needed to construct an MSR can be made in America, and he expects much of it to be manufactured in Texas. 'Governor Abbott has said, 'We want Texas to capture this industry,' ' noted Robison. 'Houston, Texas refers to itself as the energy capital of the world. So, we've been working with the Greater Houston Partnership and the Houston Energy Transition Initiative [to answer the question] 'How does that manufacturing happen not just in the U.S., but how does it happen in Texas?' ' Liquid fuel also provides an advantage for MSRs versus the LWR's solid-fuel design. '[In] the solid-fueled reactor, you have the fuel inside the fuel rod. And under current technology, when you burn 3% to 5% of the fuel, then at that point, the rod begins to decay. That is your first level of containment, so you have to pull the rod. That now becomes 'spent nuclear fuel' and enters into the waste stream. You still have 95% to 97% of perfectly good fuel inside that fuel rod. And now the problem becomes: 'What do we do with this nuclear waste that's going to be around for 100,000 years?' ' In an MSR, the fuel is dissolved in the salt. 'What that means is we burn practically 100% of the fuel. We do not throw unspent nuclear fuel away, and so our efficiency goes way up. We do not generate the waste that you see with a light-water reactor,' said Robison. 'In fact, molten salt reactors can utilize current stockpiles of spent nuclear fuel that is sitting in storage at different nuclear reactors around the nation, and we can take that fuel, and re-utilize that as fuel for a molten salt reactor.' Natura is not only focused on its ACU project, but it is also moving forward on commercial reactor projects. In February, the company announced the deployment of two advanced nuclear projects, which are also in Texas. These deployments, located in the Permian Basin and at Texas A&M University's RELLIS Campus, represent significant strides in addressing energy and water needs in the state. 'Our first was a deployment of a Natura commercial reactor in the Permian Basin, which is where I spent my career. We're partnering with a Texas produced-water consortium that was created by the legislature in 2021,' said Robison. 'Produced water' is the water brought to the surface during oil and gas extraction processes. It is a byproduct of hydrocarbon production and typically consists of formation water that was originally present in the underground reservoir, along with additional water introduced during extraction operations. It typically has a salinity that is three times that of seawater, but it can be double or triple that in some instances. In any case, it cannot be released on the surface and must currently be reinjected back into the formation, which can create additional problems. One of the things that can be done with the high process heat from an MSR is desalinization. 'So, we're going to be desalinating produced water and providing power—clean power—to the oil and gas industry for their operations in the Permian Basin,' said Robison. Meanwhile, at Texas A&M's RELLIS Campus, which is located about eight miles northwest of the university's main campus in College Station, Texas, a Natura MSR-100 reactor will be deployed. The initiative is part of a broader project known as 'The Energy Proving Ground,' which involves multiple nuclear reactor companies. The project aims to bring commercial-ready small modular reactors (SMRs) to the site, providing a reliable source of clean energy for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Robison believes the Stargate Project, a massive $500 billion initiative aimed at building advanced hyperscale data centers across the U.S. to power next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) models, could also present an opportunity for Natura. 'The very first deployment of Stargate is scheduled to be in Abilene, Texas. We can actually see the data center that's being constructed from the windows of our offices,' he said. 'We may see something happen there just given the proximity of what they're doing and what we're doing,' Robison envisaged. To hear the full interview with Robison, which contains more about the creation of Natura Resources, the selection of MSR technology for its design, its collaboration with ACU, the work done to license the reactor, and much more, listen to The POWER Podcast. Click on the SoundCloud player below to listen in your browser now or use the following links to reach the show page on your favorite podcast platform: Apple Podcasts Spotify YouTube YouTube Music Amazon Music iHeart TuneIn SoundCloud The POWER Podcast · 184. Nuclear Power Renaissance Underway in West Texas For more power podcasts, visit The POWER Podcast archives. —Aaron Larson is POWER's executive editor (@AaronL_Power, @POWERmagazine).
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Kairos Power's reactors will include technologies based on ORNL innovations
This is the second of two stories on Kairos Power's plans for building test reactors in Oak Ridge this decade and nuclear power plants next decade using two technologies based on Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) innovations. The three Hermes demonstration reactors that Kairos Power plans to build in Oak Ridge's Heritage Center will incorporate two technologies based on innovations originating at the nearby Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Kairos Power scientists and engineers also are or will be meeting with ORNL experts on these technologies to acquire the knowledge they need for the Hermes reactor projects. The goal is to ensure successful demonstrations of their three planned test reactors' Kairos Power fluoride-salt-cooled, high-temperature reactor (KP-FHR) technology. Those were two of the messages this volunteer reporter for The Oak Ridger heard in a conversation by Zoom with Edward Blandford, Kairos Power's co-founder and chief technology officer. He is responsible for all engineering and technology development functions at Kairos Power. These include hardware demonstrations, fuel and salt supply infrastructure, manufacturing, supply chain and procurement, environmental health and safety, construction management and engineering operations. In the 1960s, ORNL ran a successful Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) that showed the advantages of using a molten salt containing lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride (FLiBe) instead of water for cooling a reactor that can operate at a high temperature but under low pressure. Kairos Power will use FLiBe salt to cool its Hermes reactors and carry away their heat, which for the second and third reactors will produce steam for generating electricity. The MSR technology was championed by ORNL Director Alvin Weinberg, who co-invented the pressurized water reactor (water-cooled reactor run at high pressure), which is at the heart of two-thirds of the nuclear power plants operating in the world today. ORNL researchers working in a program to develop the high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor were the first to invent TRISO (tristructural isotropic) nuclear fuel. For the Kairos Power reactors, the TRISO fuel will be embedded in graphite pebbles, each containing thousands of coated uranium fuel particles the size of poppy seeds. The spherical TRISO particles feature a robust, triple-layered ceramic shell that withstands high temperatures and prevents the release of radioactive fission products. Blandford said Kairos Power is working with the Low Enriched Fuel Fabrication Facility at the U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico to manufacture HALEU TRISO fuel pebbles for the Hermes reactors. HALEU stands for High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium. This nuclear fuel is enriched in uranium-235 at a level between 5% and 20%, higher than the level for traditional reactor fuel Kairos Power partnered with Materion Corp. in Elmore, Ohio, to commission the construction and operation of the Molten Salt Purification Plant (MSPP). In 2022 it produced unenriched FLiBe for the Engineering Test Unit (ETU) series. Kairos Power is now integrating lessons learned from MSPP into a Salt Production Facility that will produce reactor-grade FLiBe enriched in lithium-7 for the Hermes reactor series. Blandford was asked how ORNL researchers are helping the Kairos Power staff with the Hermes reactor projects. He answered that Kairos Power is acquiring information from ORNL in four main areas: the characterization of TRISO fuel, safeguards approaches, the lab's advanced manufacturing methods and capabilities, as well as the know-how and knowledge contained in documents from the lab's historical MSRE program, including ORNL's experience with the FLiBe salt coolant. 'Knowledge transfer is something that Kairos is looking for from Oak Ridge,' he said. Kairos has committed to investing at least $100 million and creating more than 55 full-time jobs in the Oak Ridge area to support the construction and operation of the Hermes 1 reactor. DOE is investing up to $303 million through a performance-based milestone contract funded by the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program to support the reactor's design, construction and commissioning. In May 2021, Kairos established a cooperative development agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority, which will provide engineering, operations and licensing support for the Hermes 1 reactor. Successful operation of the three demonstration reactors, including the two reactors that will generate up to 28 megawatts of electricity for the grid, should enable Kairos Power to reach the next level in the early 2030s, Blandford said. That step would be building in a not-yet-determined location the KP-X commercial demonstration plant, he added. It would house a single reactor with a power output of 50 megawatts (50 MWe) operating at near-atmospheric pressure and a reactor outlet temperature of 650 degrees Celsius made of stainless-steel structural material. The uranium fuel will be enriched in fissionable uranium-235 at a level of 19.75%. Following KP-X, Kairos Power will deploy commercial plants with a standard configuration of two 75-MWe reactors connected to a shared power generation system for a total output of 150 MWe. The company is partnering with Google to deploy reactors for power-hungry data centers that the search engine company will need for training artificial intelligence models. In October 2024, according to a news release, 'Kairos Power and Google signed a Master Plant Development Agreement, creating a path to deploy a U.S. fleet of advanced nuclear power projects totaling 500 megawatts by 2035.' In a Feb. 4, 2025, news release, it was announced that 'Kairos Power, the Texas A&M University System and prospective customers have agreed to explore the potential to site one or more commercial Kairos Power nuclear power plants at the Texas A&M-RELLIS campus as part of the university's initiative to build a proving ground for the next generation of nuclear reactors. 'Texas A&M selected Kairos Power's proposal as the largest commercial project to anchor an expansion of the RELLIS campus that would advance new nuclear technologies to supply clean, firm electricity for data centers and other commercial applications.' One Texas A&M aim is to enhance students' education by providing unprecedented access to the latest advanced reactor technologies. Blandford was asked about the success of the Kairos Power staff's interactions with the Nuclear Regulatory Comission (NRC) staff in obtaining construction permits for the Hermes reactor series. He said the Kairos Power staff engaged with the NRC staff during each step of the construction permit application. He compared the application process to a book report. Instead of submitting a 10-page report on a book all up front, he said, the Kairos Power staff prepared the equivalent of a short report on various sections and obtained feedback from NRC. These smaller reports, called Licensing Topical Reports, allowed the NRC staff to take formal licensing positions and parallelize the review. Blandford was asked whether building and operating a few commercial 150-MWe KP-FHR power plants would be more economical than a 1,000-MWe pressurized water reactor used in many of the world's nuclear power plants. He said that building and operating a new 1,000-MWe nuclear power plant incorporating a pressurized water reactor or boiling water reactor is 'a big investment for utilities to make. "A large utility needs a substantial market capitalization to make that level of investment," Blandford said. He added that water-cooled reactors are 'a more mature technology, but at such a large size and a scale that there's a lot of project risk in translating the design of a nuclear power plant to a particular site.' In addition, it takes at least 10 years to build such plants 'and the people that built those plants are no longer there waiting for new work.' Blandford argued that the KP-FHR technology is at a smaller scale, 'allowing us to bring down the cost curve quicker and sooner' than can be done by megaprojects. Also, he added, because the Kairos Power innovation is a high-temperature, low-pressure reactor, it does not require the huge, expensive pressure vessel and containment structure used by each water-cooled reactor to ensure its safe operation. 'Our reactors, which rely on what is called functional containment, are designed to have very little stored energy in the system,' he said. 'In the large, light-water reactors, accidents can evolve relatively quickly, so stored energy must be appropriately managed through active and passive means. The FHR safety case is built on removing those accident sequences from the design.' He added that reactor costs and construction time will decrease if standardized reactor parts can be built in a factory environment and transported to multiple locations where nuclear power plants using Gen IV reactors like KP-FHRs are assembled on site. But, he stated, Kairos Power will be building and demonstrating a first-of-a-kind technology, so there will be some upfront costs in showing when the KP-FHR power plants are ready to be standardized, modularized and commercialized. This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Kairos Power reactors will include tech based on ORNL innovations
