SSTAR: the U.S. lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR)

Abstract

It is widely recognized that the developing world is the next area for major energy demand growth, including demand for new and advanced nuclear energy systems. With limited existing industrial and grid infrastructures, there will be an important need for future nuclear energy systems that can provide small or moderate increments of electric power (10-700 MWe) on small or immature grids in developing nations. Most recently, the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) has identified, as one of its key objectives, the development and demonstration of concepts for small and medium sized reactors (SMRs) that can be globally deployed while assuring a high level of proliferation resistance. Lead-cooled systems offer several key advantages in meeting these goals. The small lead-cooled fast reactor concept known as the Small Secure Transportable Autonomous Reactor (SSTAR) reactor has been under ongoing development under the U.S. Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems Initiative. It a system designed to provide energy security to developing nations while incorporating features to achieve nonproliferation aims, anticipating GNEP objectives. This paper presents the motivation for development of internationally deployable nuclear energy systems as well as a summary of one such system, SSTAR, which is the U.S. Generation IV Lead-cooled Fast Reactor system.