GTHTR300—A nuclear power plant design with 50% generating efficiency

Abstract GTHTR300 is a gas turbine high temperature reactor power generation plant design. The baseline design reported by Japan Atomic Energy Agency a decade ago attained 45.6% net efficiency. Technological improvements have since been made that make further increase in efficiency practical: first, the cycle parameters are upgraded by utilizing the newly acquired design data including those from component tests. Next, the core design is optimized to raise the reactor outlet coolant temperature from the baseline of 850 °C to the level of 950 °C demonstrated on the long-term test reactor operation. Both core physics and thermal hydraulics are investigated to demonstrate the corresponding temperature rise is within the design limit so that the existing fuel design can continue to apply. Finally, an advanced type of turbine blade material that has only recently entered in commercial service in aircraft engine is found to be useable for this design to realize a turbine inlet temperature of 950 °C without requiring blade cooling. As detailed in this paper, these design improvements result in a nearly 5% gain in overall plant efficiency and enable the GTHTR300 to break the 50% efficiency barrier of nuclear plant while using only the existing technologies. This result is expected to contribute to the early market deployment of high temperature gas-cooled reactor.