New Energy Storage Equipment Reactor

What is a natrium reactor?

The Natrium reactor, unlike current Light Water reactors, is a 345-megawatt sodium fast reactor. It includes a new technology from TerraPower: a molten salt energy storage system. According to the company, the innovation allows the plant to store a large amount of energy, making it ideal for grids with lots of renewable energy.

What is a natrium energy storage system?

TerraPower and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy have announced the launch of the Natrium concept, which features a sodium fast reactor combined with a molten salt energy storage system that will allow over five hours of energy storage. The partners hope to commercialise the technology by the end of this decade.

Can thermal energy storage be integrated with nuclear energy?

In particular, thermal energy storage (TES) provides several advantages when integrated with nuclear energy. First, nuclear reactors are thermal generators, meaning that fewer energy transformation mechanisms are required when thermal energy is used as the coupling energy resource.

Are alternative nuclear reactors a good idea?

But now there’s renewed interest in getting alternative nuclear reactors up and running. New designs could help improve safety, efficiency, and even cost. Alternative coolants can improve on safety over water-based designs, since they don’t always need to be kept at high pressures.

Which reactor type is best suited for a developer?

Two-tank molten-salt, latent heat storage system, and solid-media storage system are ranked highly. It can be concluded that type of technology best suited for a developer’s individual reactor type greatly depends on the constraints defined by the NPP’s operating conditions.

Where will X-energy's Xe-100 gas reactor be located?

While X-energy’s project was originally slated to be developed with Energy Northwest in Washington state, the company announced in May 2023 that it would move its Xe-100 pebble-bed high-temperature gas reactor demonstration to a Dow site in Seadrift, Calhoun County, Texas.