Part 1 of 3 Parts
Nuclear power plants have a well-deserved reputation for cost overruns and schedule delays. None of the 93 nuclear power plants in operation today in the U.S. came in on time and on budget. Even after construction is finished and operations have begun, nuclear power plants still need dozens of train experts to monitor and maintain them
Yasir Arafat is the technical lead for the microreactor project at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), one of the preeminent nuclear research labs in the U.S. He does not believe that nuclear power must always be this way. He is leading the effort to construct a tiny, relatively inexpensive nuclear reactor. Arafat says that it is more of a nuclear battery.
Arafat grew up in Bangladesh and then came to the U.S. to go to college. He is motivated by a deep sense of urgency to help the world reduce carbon emissions. In Bangladesh, global warming is not an abstract, academic issue. It is already a part of daily life. Once nuclear power plants are constructed and fuel is mined and refined, they generate no carbon dioxide as they operate. Arafat hopes to contribute to the fight against global warming by building a microreactor prototype that can help the further development of the global nuclear industry.
The prototype for the new microreactor has been named the “MARVEL” reactor. MARVEL is an acronym for Microreactor Applications Research Validation and Evaluation. Arafat’s goal is to have the prototype operating by December 2023. If he succeeds, it will be the first advanced microreactor in the U.S. An early protype of the new reactor ran on electric heat instead of nuclear energy for research purposes.
The INL started design and modeling the MARVEL reactor project in June 2020 led by Arafat with the blessing of the Department of Energy. The MARVEL is a sodium-potassium cooled tiny reactor. Arafat said, “We use modelling tools to help regulators have confidence in the reactor design, but we can't model all aspects of the flow and heat dynamics. A demonstration is necessary for us to be certain that the final reactor will perform to a high degree of reliability and confidence level.”
The demonstration prototype is known as the primary coolant apparatus test (PCAT). It will be used to confirm simulation results, which will allow the MARVEL team then to use modelling and simulation tools allowing the MARVEL team to verify and support the reactor’s safety case.
The PCAT was constructed by INL machinists in just nine months. It is comprised of several components including four Stirling engines that will generate electricity through primary and intermediate coolant pumps. It weighs over two thousand pounds.
If it is completed as intended, the MARVEL microreactor “will be the first of its kind that will be able to demonstrate how we can really miniaturize a nuclear system into something that is portable and transportable, and also able to deliver heat and electricity to the end customer,” according to Arafat.
Please read Part 2 next