Abstract This paper describes the pre-conceptual design for a high temperature (>1300 °C), ultra-small (1–10 MWe) modular reactor with a high efficiency (>50%) thermophotovoltaic (TPV) power-block. The integration of the TPV is attractive for increased efficiency over the heat cycles of traditional nuclear power plants (NPP) and increased inherent safety from the elimination of a working fluid. Allowing for heat removal through radiative and passive convective cooling, the design must operate at low power densities. A preliminary sampling of the design space was performed using coupled thermal and neutronic analysis on a simplified model. This study shows the viability of the design and reveals the favorability of using uranium nitride fuel that allow the core to operate safely at approximately 1–2 W/cm3 within the desired temperature limits. Although preliminary, the depletion and economic analyses reveal an operational time on the order of ten thousand days and approximately 43% savings in NPP capital costs.

中文翻译：

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高温超小型模块化反应器：预概念设计

摘要 本文描述了具有高效率 (>50%) 热光伏 (TPV) 功率块的高温 (>1300 °C)、超小型 (1-10 MWe) 模块化反应堆的概念前设计。TPV 的集成对于提高传统核电站 (NPP) 热循环的效率和消除工作流体带来的固有安全性具有吸引力。允许通过辐射和被动对流冷却散热，设计必须在低功率密度下运行。设计空间的初步采样是在简化模型上使用耦合热和中子分析进行的。该研究显示了该设计的可行性，并揭示了使用氮化铀燃料的有利性，该燃料可使堆芯在所需温度限制内以大约 1-2 W/cm3 的功率安全运行。