In October, the Nationwide Reactor Innovation Heart (NRIC) kicked off a ceremony to repurpose the enduring Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) containment construction at Idaho Nationwide Laboratory (INL) as a brand new check mattress for increased thermal energy reactor initiatives.
Division of Power (DOE) Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Power Dr. Kathryn Huff shed extra gentle on NRIC’s Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME), which is located inside INL’s Supplies and Fuels Complicated, together with the Laboratory for Operations and Testing within the U.S. (LOTUS), one other check mattress NRIC is designing and constructing at an INL web site that when hosted an experimental reactor.
NRIC says DOME, which includes an 80-foot concrete and metal edifice, is “versatile sufficient” to check 4 to 5 small modular reactors and may host microreactors as much as 20 MWth that use high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuels. The DOE lately picked three microreactor builders—Westinghouse, Radiant Nuclear, and Extremely Secure Nuclear Corp.—which is able to design the primary experiments at DOME. (See the total story right here: “DOE Picks Nuclear Designs for First Microreactor Experiments at INL’s New Check Mattress.”) NRIC has now accomplished the ultimate design for DOME and expects the ability to be prepared for testing in 2026.
LOTUS will set up a Zero Physics Reactor (ZPRR) reactor cell as a Hazard Class 2 check mattress with applicable safety controls to assist testing of superior reactor ideas (of as much as 500 KWth) that use “extremely enriched uranium and plutonium fuels.” Its first anticipated person would be the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE) being developed by Southern Co. and Terrapower. NRIC says it has accomplished the conceptual design of LOTUS, and it’s anticipated to be operational as quickly as the tip of 2027.
POWER: What’s DOME?
The Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) is certainly one of two new check beds being developed for fueled reactor checks at Idaho Nationwide Laboratory (INL). It’s going to host microreactor checks producing as much as 20 MWth. The check mattress will present the infrastructure the place business can check their ideas to generate knowledge to assist design verification and licensing actions.
The decommissioned Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) facility can be repurposed to assist the DOME mission. The idea of DOME was launched in 2020 in response to a spot evaluation performed by the Nationwide Reactor Innovation Heart (NRIC) to determine nationwide laboratory capabilities wanted to allow superior reactor testing and demonstration. DOME could have an roughly 78 ft diameter flooring area to accommodate a delivery container-sized experiment. DOME will assist testing of a number of reactors one experiment at a time, sequentially, roughly each 12 to 24 months.
POWER: What does repurposing EBR-II entail?
EBR-II was a 62.5-MWe reactor that operated for about 30 years inside a containment dome. Although EBR-II has been decommissioned, the containment construction continues to be in place. This containment facility can be repurposed to permit for testing of assorted superior reactor ideas. Repurposing the EBR-II containment construction into DOME will embody repairing and updating current infrastructure, akin to electrical, HVAC, mechanical, containment, and different assist techniques. By repurposing EBR-II, DOE is making use of current infrastructure at a primary location central to the experience of the Supplies and Fuels Complicated on the INL.
POWER: Will the DOE’s choices in October—Westinghouse, Radiant Nuclear, and Extremely Secure Nuclear Corp.—signify the primary experiments at DOME?
This has not been determined but. The three awardees will design experiments to function in DOME. The awards will fund the experimental design course of in collaboration with NRIC. Different reactor builders can select to self-fund the front-end engineering and experiment design (FEEED) course of and request to make use of DOME at any time. Based mostly on design opinions and the maturity stage of the experiment design, NRIC will set up a schedule for experiments to function in DOME. The primary may very well be as early as 2026.
POWER: How lengthy would the experiments final? Is there an urgency to get them began and accomplished?
DOME is required to spur the testing of superior reactors by expediting the testing course of and decreasing total mission threat. Superior reactor builders want to check their ideas to generate knowledge to assist design and licensing actions. The FEEED course of will assist affirm anticipated testing period for every experiment. Developer testing campaigns and experiments are anticipated to run from as little as just a few months to 24 months relying on the information they should assist their designs and the complexity of their checks. After operation is full, the experiments can be decommissioned. The primary may very well be as early as 2026.
POWER: Does DOE anticipate awarding extra designs?
Presumably. Further FEEED funding alternatives will depend upon funding availability and curiosity from business. There may be alternatives for business companions to work immediately with NRIC to self-fund the FEEED course of via a cooperative analysis and growth settlement (CRADA) or strategic partnership mission (SPP). corporations are welcome to contact NRIC for data on various mechanisms for conducting FEEED research.
POWER: The place would LOTUS be sited? Additionally at EBR-II?
No. The Laboratory for Operations and Testing within the U.S. (LOTUS) is a separate check mattress. Each check beds repurpose amenities that had been initially constructed within the Sixties on the Supplies and Fuels Complicated on the INL web site. Each LOTUS and DOME are being retrofitted to fulfill the calls for of latest applied sciences. LOTUS will repurpose a cell on the Zero Energy Physics Reactor facility.
POWER: Why did the DOE take into account these check mattress capabilities important? Why are they suited to those designs?
Superior reactors provide many potential benefits akin to improved effectivity and economics, comparatively small bodily footprints, diminished capital funding, potential to be sited in areas not doable for bigger reactors, compatibility with renewable applied sciences, and provisions for incremental energy additions. Additionally they provide distinct safeguards, safety, and nonproliferation benefits. DOE has a singular position to assist offset early dangers and assist the event, demonstration, and commercialization of those modern applied sciences. Each DOME and LOTUS assist accomplish this aim by offering the mandatory testing infrastructure wanted to speed up commercialization of superior reactors.
Superior reactor builders want to check their ideas to generate knowledge to assist design and licensing actions. It may be cost-prohibitive for personal corporations to assemble their very own testing amenities. These check beds are anticipated to defray the price to construct new containment buildings and carry out fueled reactor experiments for builders.
—Sonal Patel is a POWER senior affiliate editor (@sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine).
