DISQUS

Brickmuppet · 1 year ago

So is this an RTG or does the thing require steam connections?

Either way this looks like a superb robust distributed power source.

nextbigfuture · 1 year ago

It is a molten core uranium hydride reactor. It has power conversion systems too.

The present invention is of a nuclear power reactor and method that is a dramatic departure from conventional reactor designs. The present invention is based on and 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, 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.

[0021] The invention provides a novel technique for power generation and can compliment existing commercial power nuclear reactors. Extensive deployment of small nuclear power modules according to the invention can substantially improve our national energy independence. Each such unit would preferably generate modest thermal power (tens of megawatts) per unit and preferably operate at a maximum fuel temperature less than 800° C. Such nuclear power modules would be inherently fail-safe from over-temperature excursions and may be mass-produced as turnkey modules due to inherent design simplicity and compactness.

The patent has the details