Designing DOE’s NGNP: Don’t Forget High-Temperature Gas Reactor (HTGR) Experience

The U.S Department of Energy’s (DOE) Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) has three goals in its mission: deliver (1) electricity, (2) process steam and heat, and (3) generate hydrogen to support a hydrogen economy. DOE selected the high-temperature, helium-cooled graphite (moderated) reactor (HTGR) technology for its fundamental design. However, the NGNP faces many challenging design, licensing and cost hurdles. With huge risks and its associated expenses, the NGNP — a completely new reactor technology — requires an open-minded understanding, consideration and application of earlier HTGR design features. This paper suggests reconsidering some HTGR features in an updated Generation IV HTGR as a design alternative.