GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and Bill Gates’ nuclear innovation startup TerraPower are ready to demonstrate a “cost-competitive” advanced nuclear //

Key to the system’s cost-effectiveness is its tight energy system architecture, which simplifies previous reactor types. A typical Natrium site, for example, will span about 44 acres, with a nuclear island of about 16 acres. “When normalized to power rating, the Natrium system has a smaller footprint compared to other Generation IV reactors. Similarly, Natrium has a smaller footprint than most multi-unit plants with light water reactors operating today,” TerraPower said. One benefit of a plant with the Natrium technology the companies highlighted is its significantly reduced emergency planning zone, “which allows it to be sited in many locations without affecting local population centers.”

The system design also involves fewer equipment interfaces, which could dramatically slash the amount of nuclear-grade concrete by 80% compared to larger reactors. “Non-nuclear mechanical, electrical and other equipment will be housed in separate structures, reducing complexity and cost,” TerraPower said. “The design is intended to permit significant cost savings by allowing major portions of the plant to be built to industrial standards.”

Its most significant attribute, perhaps, is that the system can generate power with the heat produced by the SFR or store it using nitrate salt molten salt energy storage technology, which has the potential to “boost the system’s output to 500 MWe of power for more than five and a half hours when needed.”