The Modular High-Temperature Reactor

Nearly all problems encountered in large high-temperature reactor power plants with respect to design and safety are related to the mere physical size of a larger reactor core. Our analyses show that it is feasible to subdivide a larger reactor core into modular units, analogous to the common practice of using several smaller units instead of one large unit. In connecting several modular reactor units in series, a larger power output can be obtained by merely using simple technical designs, in addition to utilizing the favorable safety characteristics of small pebble-bed cores. It can be shown that for these cores such classical safety devices as shutdown systems and decay heat removal systems lose their dominance in respect to risk evaluations.