Abstract and subjects
Recently, worldwide interest in nuclear energy has focused on small reactors (10 to 300 MWe) to address emerging energy needs in remote locations. These designs are new to varying degrees but share similar approaches and common weaknesses with regard to primary heat rejection that differ little from reactor designs of the late 1950's. Here, an innovative concept, heat-pipe reactors, is discussed. The concept is unique in its simplicity and potential for safe, affordable, and reliable energy. Given the potential for reactors to meet worldwide energy needs and the pivotal role of heat rejection in overall reactor safety, the potential societal impact of this type of innovation is substantial. Heat-pipe-cooled, fast-spectrum reactors have been proposed for government applications requiring a robust, reliable, remotely controlled system with capacity much less than 1 MWe; however, they have not been designed for power ranges greater than 1 MWe. Los Alamos National Laboratory has initiated a study to design heat-pipe-cooled, fast-fission reactors and to generate a point design of a > 10-MWe-class machine suitable for next-generation compact reactors at remote locations. (authors)