The HT3R - A Next Generation Teaching and Training Reactor

The High-Temperature Teaching and Test Reactor (HT3R) is a high temperature, gas cooled reactor (HTGR) with passively safe design features. The reactor has been designed with a thermal power output of 25 MW(t), which, when coupled with an appropriate power conversion system, can generate a net electrical output of ∼ 10 MW(e). The reactor will use TRISO ceramic-coated fuel particles in a prismatic graphite-block core supported by graphite structural components which moderate and reflect neutrons. The HT3R has been designed to heat the helium gas coolant to temperatures in the range 850 - 900 deg. C, and ultimately achieve 950 deg. C. The HT3R Facility is being designed as a multifaceted energy research facility with four research, development and testing components: the reactor itself, a materials radiation laboratory, a high temperature process heat utilization laboratory, and an advanced energy conversion laboratory. The proposed design of the HT3R and its associated facilities are also synergistic with the proposed Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) proposed for deployment in the United States, as well as the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP). The HT3R will be a research and test facility that can support the education and training of the next generation of nuclear scientists and engineers, as well as high-temperature R and D on materials and processes for the economic production of electricity, hydrogen, synthetic hydrocarbon fuels, and desalinated water. (author)