Thermal Assessment of Very High Temperature Reactors: Direct and Indirect Brayton Power Cycles

Search for a sustainable energy supply system has driven nuclear engineering towards what has been termed Generation IV. One of the main objectives of these innovative nuclear designs is to reach a high thermal efficiency in their power cycles. This way a substantial fuel saving and waste reduction is achieved, which would enhance competitiveness of the nuclear kWh. This paper investigates the thermal performance of helium-cooled power cycles based on the characteristic working parameters of Very High Temperature Reactor systems both at present and at the near future. Direct (C(IC){sup 2}HTRTX) and indirect (C(IC){sup 2}(IHX)TX) cycle baselines have been modelled and both have shown an excellent thermal performance ( with thermal efficiencies near or even higher than 50%). Enhancement of associated technology would increase thermal performance (i.e., and wnet) of both cycles drastically. The analysis of the results indicate that from the thermal performance standpoint, the cycle C(IC){sup 2}HTRTX would be a better option. However, when advances in associated technologies are considered, the efficiency gap between the two baselines analyzed become smaller. In no case net power turned out to be a differential feature between the layouts. (authors)