Reactor Physics Design for Cost Competitiveness & Risk Reduction in Fission & Fusion Reactors
Abstract: This talk will give an overview of a few different projects at UW-Madison with the central theme of designing new components & systems to enhance the flexibility and cost competitive of nuclear fission and fusion reactors. Firstly, an irregular design of PWR assembly is introduced, which allows the number of pins to be increased while maintaining backward compatibility, hence facilitating core uprates. Secondly, design, analysis & experimental work on a telescopic control rod for high temperature reactors is presented, which allows the height of a conventional HTR to be reduced with potentially major cost reduction potential. Finally a new fusion system breeding blanket option is identified, which utilizes a chloride molten salt enriched in Cl-37. This allows breeding ratios competitive with fluoride molten salts at reduced operating temperatures, which could be of benefit for deployment with current fusion structural materials.
Bio: Dr Ben Lindley is an Assistant Professor in Nuclear Engineering at UW-Madison. His current research spans nuclear reactor physics, advanced reactor design and integrated energy systems, with the common theme of reducing the cost and/or increasing the market potential of advanced fission and fusion reactors through innovative design and/or integration with thermal energy storage and process heat applications. Ben holds a joint faculty appointment at Argonne National Laboratory and co-founded Realta Fusion, a UW-Madison spinout aiming to commercialize fusion energy. Prior to joining UW-Madison, Ben spent 6 years working in the UK nuclear industry, primarily in the development and application of the UK reactor physics codes to current and next generation nuclear systems. He worked on several advanced reactor design efforts spanning SMRs, high temperature reactors and molten salt reactors; alongside working on utility projects. Ben holds a PhD in Nuclear Engineering and MEng & BA degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cambridge, UK (2007-2014).