Fixed bed suspended core nuclear reactor concept

The fixed bed nuclear reactor (FBNR) is essentially a pressurized light water reactor having spherical fuel elements constituting a suspended reactor core at its lowest bed porosity. The principle features of the proposed reactor are that the concept is polyvalent, simple in design, may operate either as fixed or fluidized bed, have the core suspended contributing to inherent safety, passive cooling features of the reactor. The reactor is modular and has an integrated primary system utilizing either water, supercritical steam or helium gas as its coolant. Some of the advantages of the proposed reactor are being modular low environmental impact, exclusion of severe accidents, short construction period, flexible adaptation to demand, excellent load following characteristics, and competitive economics.