A Very Fast, Very Safe, Very SLIMM Nuclear Reactor:
"One of the latest to emerge is the SLIMM – the Scalable LIquid Metal–cooled small
Modular reactor. This is a fast reactor that uses liquid sodium (Na) to cool and
exchange heat, and that generates 10 to 100 MW for many years, even decades,
without refueling, depending on what power level is desired. It’s very smaller version,
the VSLIMM, generates 1 to 10 MW.
Its designers, Drs. Mohamed S. El-Genk, Luis Palomino and Timothy Schriener from
the University of New Mexico’s Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies in
Albuquerque, describe it thus:
"Fully passive operation with no single point failure, cooled by natural circulation of
sodium during operation and after shutdown, high negative temperature reactivity
feedback and redundant control and safety shutdown, walk-away safe, long life
without refueling, factory fabricated, assembled and sealed, shipped to the
construction site by rail, truck, or barge, installed below ground to avoid direct impact
by missiles or aircraft, and mounted on seismic oscillation bearings to resist
earthquakes.”
The reactor has redundant and passive decay heat removal by heat pipes and natural
circulation of ambient air.
In other words, it can’t melt down, is cheap to construct and only needs ordinary
outside air to cool off if it does shut down quickly for any reason. With Na’s very low
vapor pressure, the reactor operates below atmospheric pressure so there is no
pressure vessel to worry about."
See:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesco.../#694ed09b2c5c