Cesium vapor cycle for an advanced LMFBR

A review indicates that a cesium vapor topping cycle appears attractive for use in the intermediate fluid circuit of an advanced LMFBR designed for a reactor outlet temperature of 12500F or more and would have the following advantages: (1) it would increase the thermal efficiency by about 5 to 10 points (from approximately 40 percent to approximately 45 to 50 percent) thus reducing the amount of waste heat rejected to the environment by 15 to 30 percent. (2) the higher thermal efficiency should reduce the overall capital cost of the reactor plant in dollars per kilowatt. (3) the cesium can be distilled out of the intermediate fluid circuit to leave it bone-dry, thus greatly reducing the time and cost of maintenance work (particularly for the steam generator). (4) the large volume and low pressure of the cesium vapor region in the cesium condenser-steam generator greatly reduces the magnitude of pressure fluctuations that might occur in the event of a leak in a steam generator tube, and the characteristics inherent in a condenser make it easy to design for rapid concentration of any noncondensibles that may form as a consequence of a steam leak into the cesium region so that a steam leak can be detected easily in the very early stages of its development