Westinghouse Very Small Modular Reactor Progress

[gmax137]

https://www.powermag.com/westinghouse-secures-first-customer-for-evinci-nuclear-microreactor/

Westinghouse’s first customer for its eVinci microreactor—a flagship 5-MWe/13-MWth “nuclear battery”—is poised to be the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC), Canada’s second-largest research and technology organization...

 

[Andrew Mason]

Thanks for the link to the article. I live in Saskatchewan and I was puzzled by the article in our local paper today quoting Westinghouse CEO as saying that it does not require water (Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, Nov 27, 2023, p.1):

I was interested to know two things:
1. how is it cooled?
2. how does the heat from the fission reactions generate electricity?

From the link to the article you provided, the answer to the first question appears to be "heat pipes" and answer to the second question is that heat is transferred passively to air and the hot air drives a Brayton cycle turbine. What I don't understand, then, is the statement: "heat pipe reactors are not pressurized and have no moving parts"

AM

 

[gmax137]

What I don't understand, then, is the statement: "heat pipe reactors are not pressurized and have no moving parts"

I really don't know much about the eVinci, I was not involved in that at all. Maybe this will lead to answers:
https://www.westinghousenuclear.com/energy-systems/evinci-microreactor

 

[gmax137]

Well that link is interesting but doesn't help much.

This is an abstract to a paywalled paper
https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ICONE/proceedings-abstract/ICONE28/85246/1122366

This one is older but provides a few more hints
https://www.westinghousenuclear.com...vincitm/eVinci Micro Reactor NPJ M-A 2019.pdf

I'm going to see if I can find more technical info on the NRC ADAMS system.

 

[gmax137]

Searching ADAMS for evinci in the document name finds hits but they all look like meeting notices. I'm thinking the technical stuff is proprietary. Not sure where to find something in the middle, between advertising and Topical Reports. There should be non-prop Topicals.

 

[Tom.G]

This says a bit about the technology:
https://www.westinghousenuclear.com/Portals/0/new plants/evincitm/GTO-0001 eVinci flysheet.pdf

(above, and more, found with:
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=theory+of+operation+eVinci+reactor)

Cheers,
Tom

 

[rpp]

I was interested to know two things:
1. how is it cooled?
2. how does the heat from the fission reactions generate electricity?

From the link to the article you provided, the answer to the first question appears to be "heat pipes" and answer to the second question is that heat is transferred passively to air and the hot air drives a Brayton cycle turbine. What I don't understand, then, is the statement: "heat pipe reactors are not pressurized and have no moving parts"

AM

The reactor is composed of fuel and heat pipes. The fuel generates heat, the heat pipes then transport the heat to a heat exchanger, which then heats up the gas. There are no moving parts in the reactor itself. There is moving fluid in the heat pipes, but this isn't considered "moving parts".

The Brayton cycle is a standard "heat engine" that is used to turn a generator. It is composed of a heat exchanger (where the energy comes from), a turbine and generator (where the energy is transferred to), and a compressor. In a closed cycle, there is another heat exchanger to transmit unused heat from the system. There are moving parts in the Brayton cycle.
You can refer to Wikipedia for more information on the Brayton Cycle.