The United States has approved the first Generation IV nuclear power reactor called "Hermes".

The United States has approved the first Generation IV nuclear power reactor.

On December 12, local time, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced that it had instructed staff to report to the Kailos Power Company (Kairos Power) issued a Construction Permit (CPA) allowing the company to build the Hermes non-powered demonstration reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA.

Hermes demonstration reactorThe application for construction was submitted by Kairos Power in September 2021 and is a fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (FHR).The reactor was built to provide operational data to support the development of large reactors for commercial power generation, not for power generation.

Named after the ancient Greek god of messenger commerce, the plant is the first non-water-cooled reactor to be approved for construction in the United States in more than 50 years, and the first Generation 4 reactor approved by the NRC for licensing.

美国能源部核能办公室助理秘书凯瑟琳·赫夫表示，Hermes demonstration reactor获批是核能领域的一个巨大里程碑，为部署新核react堆的未来设计应用指明了道路。

Hermes demonstration reactorThe molten fluoride salt is used to cool the reactor core, which is a derivative of the molten salt reactor (MSR) in Generation IV reactors and can achieve a thermal power level of 35 megawatts.

Molten fluoride salts have excellent chemical stability, great heat transfer capacity at high temperatures, and the ability to retain fission products. According to Caliros Power, various reactor studies in the United States have confirmed the compatibility of molten fluoride salts with traditional high-temperature construction materials, such as stainless steel, and that the reactor has commercial attractiveness for reliability and longevity.

according toAt the International Forum on Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems (GIF), the six types of Generation IV advanced reactors are sodium-cooled fast reactors, ultra-high temperature gas-cooled reactors, lead-cooled fast reactors, molten salt reactors, supercritical water-cooled reactors and gas-cooled fast reactors.

Hermes is one of several new reactor technologies supported by the U.S. Department of Energy through its Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP).

In December 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy announced that Cailos Power had wonARDP Risk Reduction Grant Awards with a total contract value of $629 million over the next seven years, for:Development of the Hermes reactor.

presentlyCaliros Power CompanyA separate operating permit application will also need to be submitted and approved before construction can officially beginHermes。 According to the plan, the Hermes reactor will be put into operation in 2026.

Hermes isCaliros Power CompanyA non-powered version of the fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor KP-HFR, which will eventually be used to support the development of the KP-HFR. With a power capacity of 140 megawatts, the KP-HFR uses a flexible steam cycle to generate heat, which is then converted into electricity from fission.

The KP-HFR is expected to be put into service in the 30s of this century.

presentlyNRC还at审查Caliros Power CompanyApplication for a construction permit for Hermes 2. Hermes 2 is a proposed two-unit demonstration plant that will build on Hermes' experience and demonstrate the full architecture of the company's future smaller commercial power plants and supply electricity to the grid.

Caliros Power CompanyThe Hermes family of demonstrator reactors will help reduce technical, permitting, supply chain and construction risks to achieve cost certainty for the KP-HFR technology, with the goal of commercial deployment in the early 30s.

As a member of GIF, China is mainly involved in the cooperative research and development of five other reactor types in addition to gas-cooled fast reactors，The world's first fourth-generation nuclear power Shidaowan high-temperature gas-cooled reactor was put into commercial operation on December 6。

The goal of the fourth-generation nuclear energy system is to make nuclear power more economically competitive, safe and reliable, requiring high fuel efficiency, low waste generation, and the ability to prevent proliferation and external aggression, which is the next direction of nuclear energy development.

The Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (LFR) is currently the most experienced advanced nuclear energy system, with a cumulative operating time of 400 reactor years worldwide.In December last year,An important breakthrough has been made in the research and development of nuclear power supply for small sodium-cooled fast reactors in China, internationallyFor the first time, the verification test of "one-key start-stop reactor" of non-nuclear integrated test device for nuclear power supply of small sodium-cooled fast reactor coupled with Stirling power generation system was realized.

此外，according to国家批复的总体目标，CNNC Xiapu Nuclear Power 600 MW Demonstration Fast Reactor Project (CFR600)Unit 1 is scheduled to be completed and put into operation in 2023.

atIn the case of molten salt reactors,On December 5,Jiangnan Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), officially released the world's first model、The largest in the world24000box核动力集装box船船型。该型船将采用国际上先进的第四代Heap-type molten saltreactHeap solutions。