In the era of finally developing 3D printers for reactors, what is the most advanced reactor development project “Transformational Challenge Reactor”?
With the evolution of 3D printers, it has become possible to output various things such as
Home-Transformational Challenge Reactor Transformational Challenge Reactor
https://tcr.ornl.gov/
3-D-printed nuclear reactor promises faster, more economical path to nuclear energy
https://techxplore.com/news/2020-05-d-printed-nuclear-reactor-faster-economical.html
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory originates from a research facility built as part of the Manhattan Project , and under the jurisdiction of the Department of Energy of the United States, promotes various projects including R & D of nuclear reactors.
According to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in the United States where almost 20% of the power supply is provided by nuclear power generation, light water reactors that are small in size and large in output and can be constructed at relatively low cost are mainly adopted as nuclear reactors. However, due to licensing issues, it is highly likely that it will be abolished by 2055, and development of a nuclear reactor to replace the light water reactor is required. However, active research and development of nuclear reactors took place at the peak in the 1950s and 1960s, and it is very costly to design and install a new reactor from the present day 1.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory's TCR is a project that uses the latest technology to reduce the cost of complex designs that were previously considered expensive to manufacture.
Kurt Tillani, technical director of TCR, said, `` We have been actively developing this program for the last few months to make this program a reality, and with that effort, the core output of 3D printer The current nuclear situation is disastrous, but the TCR is a fundamental initiative that will fuel rapid innovation in the nuclear community. ”
You can see the output of the core model used in TCR using a 3D printer in the following movie.
The following is the output of the reactor core with a 3D metal printer. The nuclear reactor developed at TCR will use uranium nitride TRISO type coated fuel particles as fuel and yttrium hydride as moderator. This will enable the critical state to be maintained with less fuel than before, says Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The output core model looks like this. Not only development at TCR, but also operation tests and performance analysis of the reactor using AI are being conducted, and it seems that the widest possible tests are being carried out so that it can be commercialized immediately.
“The TCR concept has come to fruition because of significant advances in additive manufacturing (3D printing) technology. The use of 3D printing has made technology unavailable to the nuclear community in the last few decades. And materials can be used, 'said Tirani.
“The nuclear industry is still constrained in how it designs, builds and deploys nuclear energy technology,” said Thomas Zakaria, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. We will provide a new model to accelerate the deployment of energy systems. If we do not address costs and construction time in the near future, the United States will eventually not emit carbon and will lose its single largest power source. ” I comment.
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