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Idaho National Laboratory
ABSTRACT: The nuclear power renaissance has begun, and the technology driving the new reactor designs is different this time around. While Light Water Reactor (LWR) technology is still the preferred method of producing power by nuclear energy and will continue to dominate in the future, the new Generation IV nuclear reactor designs currently being researched and deployed in the near future are completely different. From the fuel compositions to the primary coolants to how these new reactors will eventually be used, the technological advances have challenged the nuclear research and commercial industry more than at any other time since the 50s and 60s. These technological differences between the various reactor designs will be outlined and discussed along with a “somewhat” accurate timeline of when you can expect to see these new designs actually being built in the USA. Focus will then switch to the most technologically ready design – the High Temperature Reactor (HTR) concept which uses no water, operates at 600-900°C (2-3 times LWR temperatures), cannot melt, is passively safe, and uses a radically different fuel form from the LWR design. How does it achieve these remarkable attributes? Why by using nuclear graphite, of course. Graphite isn’t the first choice people think of when they imagine advanced nuclear core component material due its propensity for brittle fracture, inability to be joined/welded, being full of cracks, and ready oxidize when exposed to oxygen at temperature. However, for the HTR design it is the perfect fit and these high temperature reactors will be the first of the new Gen IV concepts to be built in the USA and the rest of the world. Why graphite is used, what are its technological advantages, and what do we need to look out for from this material in the near and intermediate future will be explored.
Speaker Bio: Dr. Will Windes has over 35 years’ experience in extreme materials research with the majority being in nuclear materials. He has dabbled in numerous material science fields from solid oxide fuel cell development to space nuclear propulsion systems to EV batteries to spent nuclear fuel issues. However, his focus for the past 20 years has been in the “black art” of nuclear graphite research for the new High Temperature Reactor design. As the DOE Advanced Reactor Technologies’ Technical Lead in graphite, he oversees the largest graphite irradiation experiment in the world (the AGC), the largest unirradiated nuclear graphite material property database, and collaborates with numerous universities, national and international organizations on fundamental irradiation damage mechanisms for nuclear graphite. Will holds a doctorate in Material Science from the University of Idaho and a Master and Bachelor in Nuclear Engineering from University of Illinois and UC Santa Barbara, respectively. He lives with his wife, Dina, 3 dogs, and 3 cats in southeast Idaho where he likes to hike, ski, mountain bike, snowshoe, and just generally hang out in the woods when not being over-worked in the office.