U-battery is a micro–

small modular reactor Small modular reactors (SMRs) are a proposed class of nuclear fission reactors, smaller than conventional nuclear reactors, which can be built in one location (such as a factory), then shipped, commissioned, and operated at a separate site. The ...

design of a nuclear reactor.

History

The design for U-Battery was created at

Delft University of Technology Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...

in the Netherlands and

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

in the United Kingdom basing it on high temperature reactor (HTR) technology which was already available in Europe. A consortium was formed to develop the product, participants including consortium that includes

Urenco The Urenco Group is a British-German-Dutch nuclear fuel consortium operating several uranium enrichment plants in Germany, the Netherlands, United States, and United Kingdom. It supplies nuclear power stations in about 15 countries, and stat ...

, Kinectrics and

Jacobs Solutions Jacobs Solutions Inc. is an American international technical professional services firm. The company provides engineering, technical, professional and construction services, as well as scientific and specialty consulting for a broad range of cli ...

. Finance has been supported by grants from the UK government's Advanced Modular Reactor Feasibility and Development project, being selected for phase two in July 2020. Each reactor is targeted to cost £50m. The design is for a 10MWt / 4MWe micro-

. The design is

graphite Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on large ...

-moderated,

helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...

-cooled and based on high temperature reactor (HTR) concepts some of which were pioneered from the

Dragon reactor DRAGON Reactor Experiment (DRE) was an experimental high temperature gas-cooled reactor at Winfrith in Dorset, England, an experimental reactor of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (O.E.C.D) High Temperature Reactor Projec ...

, while the fuel block is based on the earlier Fort St. Vrain reactor. The target fuel is

TRISO Nuclear fuel is material used in nuclear power stations to produce heat to power turbines. Heat is created when nuclear fuel undergoes nuclear fission. Most nuclear fuels contain heavy fissile actinide elements that are capable of undergoin ...

with 1720%

enriched uranium Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238 ...

which might be supplemented by

thorium Thorium is a weakly radioactive metallic chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. Thorium is silvery and tarnishes black when it is exposed to air, forming thorium dioxide; it is moderately soft and malleable and has a high me ...

with a

beryllium oxide Beryllium oxide (BeO), also known as beryllia, is an inorganic compound with the formula BeO. This colourless solid is a notable electrical insulator with a higher thermal conductivity than any other non-metal except diamond, and exceeds that of m ...

reflector. A £1.6million mock up has been set up at

Whetstone, Leicestershire Whetstone is a village and civil parish in the Blaby district of Leicestershire, England and largely acts as a commuter village for Leicester, five miles to the north. The population at the 2011 census was 6,556. It is part of the Leicester ...

. The first site in the UK could be at

Capenhurst Capenhurst is a village and civil parish in Chester in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire England. According to the 2001 Census, Capenhurst had a population of 237, increasing to 380 at the 2 ...

. In March 2023, Urenco ended its support, saying "we can no longer continue our support of the U-Battery Advanced Modular Reactor project, having exhausted our attempts to secure the commitment of new commercial investors." Intellectual property in the design will be transferred to the

National Nuclear Laboratory The National Nuclear Laboratory (informally NNL, formerly Nexia Solutions) is a UK government owned and operated nuclear services technology provider covering the whole of the nuclear fuel cycle. It is fully customer-funded and operates at six ...

History

References

Notes

Footnotes

Sources