China: China's nuclear microreactors move from lab to commercialization, promising portable clean power.
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Summary
The Sichuan Nuclear Energy Industry Co. is a newly established industrial platform for nuclear microreactor in southwest China’s Chengdu City. Nuclear microreactors can generate anywhere from 1 to 50 megawatts of clean electricity in a transportable system that can operate independently or together with a larger power grid. This device generates no more than 10. Cui Huaiming, deputy chief engineer, China Nuclear Power Research and Design Institute: "The reactor core is about the size of a household refrigerator, and the entire power generation system can fit into two or three containers. So it can be transported by trucks on land, an aircraft in the sky or a ship at sea." Officials from the China Nuclear Power Research and Design Institute say they were among the first in the world to propose the technical route of a uranium-zirconium hydride fuel in a lead-bismuth cooled microreactor. Sun Chao, deputy director, Fourth Institute of China Nuclear Power Research and Design Institute： "The core safety advantage of the micro reactor comes from the overlay of an inherently safe fuel plus an inherently safe reactor type. The uranium-zirconium hydride fuel it uses has a built-in 'brake' function: once the temperature rises, the nuclear reaction automatically weakens or even stops, fundamentally preventing the reaction from running out of control." The researcher says the micro reactor’s brake-function makes it inherently safe, so there’s no need for a containment facility or off-site emergency system. [Restrictions: No access Chinese mainland]
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