China’s HTR-PM (High Temperature) modular pebble bed reactor has finally started commmercial operation. It has two small reactors (each of 250 MWt) that drive a single 210 MWe steam turbine. It uses helium as coolant and graphite as the moderator. Each reactor is loaded with more than 400,000 spherical fuel elements (‘pebbles’), each 60 mm in diameter and containing 7 g of fuel enriched to 8.5%. Each pebble has an outer layer of graphite and contains some 12,000 four-layer ceramic-coated fuel particles dispersed in a graphite matrix.
It is the world’s first commercial modular high temperature gas-cooled reactor nuclear power plant. It is a Gen IV reactor.
The main reactor elements are transportable on rail or via large trucks. This is far smaller than regular nuclear reactors. This pebble bed could also be used for nuclear submarines, nuclear aircraft carriers or for space based energy for moon bases or other space missions.
First concrete for the demonstration project was poured on December 2012, with the operating permit granted in August 2021 and the plant connected to the grid in December 2021. The plant has more than 2200 sets of first-of-a-kind equipment, including more than 660 sets of innovative equipment. The supporting fuel element production line has the largest production capacity in the world.
Beyond the HTR-PM, China proposes a scaled-up version – HTR-PM600 – with one turbine rated at 650 MWe driven by six reactor modules.
Zhang Zuoyi described the techniques that will be applied to lower the costs; he expects them to soon approach the $2,000 to $3,00 / kw capacity range. If this can be achieved then the 210 MW reactor would be $420 to $600 million. A 630 MW reactor would be $1.2 to $1.8 billion. It could be less if the 600 MW reactor only had to have the thermal unit and could use the turbine and other parts of an existing coal plant.
the HTR-PM600 plan was in a 2017 presentation.
The HTR-PM600 commercial system will have less than 40% of the costs for the HTR-PM. This would have costs of about $2500 per KWe. The 600 MWe unit would cost $1.5 billion if that cost target could be reached.
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I think the reactor itself is quite large for 250 MW. 400,000 60mm pellets is 45 m^3 of core; with 30% stacking void space it is 59 m^3 core volume. A 1.2GWe 4-loop PWR has a core volume of 32.6 m^3. The point is: it’s prolly not a good fit for marine propulsion, as you stated it is. It is a large core and it will not tuck nicely into a sub. A little PWR with LightBridge fuel however would fit very nicely into an icebreaker…. KLT40
Ha, the dimensions given for the core are 3m diameter 11m length for ~78m^3… and you’d generally want it oriented vertically to take advantage of buoyancy in accident scenarios…
I’m not a hater, but the PBMR is not a ‘killer app’.
I will do a dance when Kairos power disbands though. For the record, I was not pleased when the NuScale/UAMPS deal fell apart.
‘”The point is: it’s prolly not a good fit for marine propulsion, as you stated it is. It is a large core and it will not tuck nicely into a sub. ”
It could be okay for large container ships.
Sure, just not sure what advantage is to be had putting a reactor the size of a grain silo in the middle of a cargo ship… maybe tagline the marketing as “so safe, even drunken Filipino sailors can’t melt it.”
Might be nice to couple a very high temperature reactor like this to a very very large salt pool (ala Natrium) to meet all your peak power needs.
Having build the First of a Kind reactor and having established their supply chain it will be interesting to see if China moves forward with these reactors at any kind of scale.
I’m loving the anticlimax of the SMR movement.
The future of nuclear power is in Poland. The future of SMRs will be determined by either Nuscale or the BWRX.
This particular SMR isn’t a game changer. Expensive fuel, very high pressure (but very high temperature). It is a very expensive drop in replacement for a coal plant.
take deeply of the Kool-Aid.
the future of nuclear power is a pendulum swinging in the liberal hive mind.