Re:Application submitted for US molten salt research reactor
by philipkglass on Monday August 22, 2022 @01:51PM
(#32554834)
There are two kinds of conventional light water reactor. In the pressurized water reactor (PWR), the most common, there is indeed an additional heat exchanger between the water in the core and the water that turns to steam. In the boiling water reactor (BWR), the second most common, the slightly radioactive steam from the core goes directly to a turbine.
Re:Application submitted for US molten salt research reactor
by tadfisher on Monday August 22, 2022 @01:52PM
(#32554847)
Correct, in a PWR or BWR the hot side is in a closed loop. There's a great PDF here: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/students/for-educat...
Re:Application submitted for US molten salt research reactor
by marcosdumay on Monday August 22, 2022 @01:49PM
(#32554811)
Also, AFAIK, those high-temperature reactors are normally made with a molten metal intermediate cycle (normally sodium) and a gas-only external cycle (normally CO2).
Water enters only to cools the cold side of the external cycle.
Re:Application submitted for US molten salt research reactor
by dangerlibrary on Monday August 22, 2022 @01:45PM
(#32554762)
That makes a lot of sense.
I think I was confused by news stories about situations where the reactor has failed in some way, and then there are stories of how radioactive water needs to be stored / disposed of somehow.
Re:Application submitted for US molten salt research reactor
by ethbr0 on Tuesday August 23, 2022 @07:51AM
(#32563448)
In those historical cases, the priority was cooling the core, the easiest method (especially if a substantial amount of plumbing is wrecked or questionable) is dumping water into it.
Which then becomes irradiated, and pools via gravity in any lower voids, and then eventually needs to be dealt with.
I was under the impression that there was a heat exchanger in the path - that is the reactor turns water into slightly radioacive steam, which is sent through a heat exchanger to turn different water into non (or way less anyway)- radioactive steam for the turbines. So both are indirect.
(This is just a nit comment, I think your main points about efficiency still hold, and your materials questions are good!)