TOPAZ-II and the HITEC: A Thermionic Reactor Design Comparison

摘要

TEC based energy conversion schemes for nuclear applications show great promise in contributing to current DOE initiatives in deploying efficient, economical, reliable and multipurpose advanced nuclear reactors. Though proposing a path to commercialization for TEC based reactors at this point would be premature, the authors believe that developing competency in nuclear thermionic design and manufacturing capability is possible by allocating the two efforts to different initiatives: the former to established national lab programs in multiphysics modeling and simulation of advanced reactors and the latter to current efforts in developing advanced fuels and manufacmring capabilities for Gen. IV reactors. This strategy is proposed in the hope of reducing the budget "footprint" by nuclear thennionics while simultaneously keeping both its modeling/simulation expertise and manufacturing capability current and aligned with one another. This would allow nuclear thennionics to be more quickly deployed once a clear mission is identified.