Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries plans to develop and commercialize nuclear reactors small enough to be transported on trucks by the end of the next decade. The company hopes to attract demand for zero-carbon energy.
At 3m high and 4m wide, the micro reactors will weigh less than 40 tons. The reactor and power generation equipment will fit inside a container truck. Thus, reactors can be transported to remote or disaster-affected areas.
They are small enough to be buried in the ground, minimizing the risk of an accident. This technology could also be used in space exploration.
The micro-reactors will have a maximum capacity of 500 kilowatts, equivalent to 1/20 the capacity of conventional nuclear reactors generating more than 1 gigawatt.
Mitsubishi plans to commercialize the technology as early as the 2030s, after receiving approval from Japan and other governments.
Mini-reactors will have to be made safer than conventional reactors, since they operate closer to densely populated areas. The nuclear reactor core, coolant and all other equipment will be contained in sealed compartments.
Highly enriched uranium will be used as a fuel and will not need to be replaced for about 25 years. Once the fuel is used up, the entire reactor can be recovered. Reactors can be installed underground to reduce the risk of natural disasters and terrorism.
Mitsubishi will also reduce the risk of a coolant disaster. Instead of a liquid coolant, mobile reactors will use a solid-state graphite material with high thermal conductivity.
Graphite surrounds the core and transfers heat to the power generation system during normal operation. If something goes wrong, the excessive heat from the core will be cooled through the natural environment.
Each micro-reactor will cost tens of millions of dollars, much less than the $6 billion or more to build a 1.2 gigawatt nuclear plant.
The cost to produce 1 kilowatt-hour from a nuclear reactor on a truck will be higher than that of a conventional reactor. But it would match current costs to power isolated islands. The reactors will allow remote areas to access an economical source of energy that does not depend on carbon.
Nuclear energy, which has been seen as “poisoning the world”, is being viewed in a different light in the context of the push for global decarbonisation. This year, the European Union launched a plan to designate nuclear power and natural gas as alternative low-carbon energy solutions.
According to Nikkei Asia
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