High Efficiency and Plant Simplicity Produce Low-Cost Electricity and Minimize Waste
Economics
- Dramatic system simplification combined with high efficiency results in impressively low power costs.
- Fewer systems and fewer parts significantly reduce the complexities of conventional reactor systems.
- Modularized, factory-controlled, serial production ensures industrial-type economy based on established learning curves, rather than elusive economies of scale.
- Simple systems based on passive and inherent safety characteristics and slow transient responses mean simpler licensing and reduced staffing needs.
- Conservation
The GT-MHR technology can help reduce fossil-fuel usage four ways:
- Nuclear-generated electricity saves fossil fuels.
- High temperature characteristics make the MHR ideal for supplying high-grade thermal energy for oil and gas-intensive industrial processes.
- Waste heat is at the ideal temperature for use in district heating.
- Emission-free electricity can be used to charge electric vehicles, further saving gas and oil.
The Environment
- The GT-MHR is free of the emissions associated with burning fossil fuels.
- Radioactive emissions from helium-cooled (and water cooled) reactor plants are lower than those from comparably sized coal-fired plants.
- Worker radiation doses are significantly less than those from today's nuclear power plants.
- MHR thermal discharge to the environment is low, due to the system's high efficiency.
