ORNL-5388 - the Molten Salt Energy Technologies Web Site

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A safety analysis report for denatured thorium fuels would be prepared as part
of this development task and pursued with licensing authorities through approval.
The reactor development cost associated with comnercializing the LWR on the DUTH fuel
cycle is thought to be about $200 million.
mercial status of the LWR and from the relatively small risk associated with deploying a
new fuel type, since if the demonstration program is unsuccessful, the reactor can always
be returned to uranium fueling. The estimated cost for the light-water reactor is based
on an assumed 25% government subsidy for a three-year in-reactor demonstration. The 25%
subsidy is intended primarily to ensure the sponsoring utility against the potential for
decreased reactor avai labi 1 i ty which might result from unsatisfactory performance of the
DUTH fuel.
discussed in Section 5.2.)
This relatively low cost results from the com-
(The cost of the fuel itself is included in the fuel recycle development costs
5.1.2. Hi gh-Temperature Gas-Cool ed Reactors
A1 though a number of a1 ternate high-temperature gas-cooled reactor technologies have
been or are being developed by various countries, this discussion considers the reactor con-
cept developed by the General Atomic Company. U. s. experience with high-temperature gascooled
reactors dates from March 3, 1966, when the 40-MWe Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station
became operable.
and is currently undergoing in1 tial rise-to-power testing.
the U. S. is considered to be at the prototype stage and the basic reactor development
still required is that associated with the demonstration of a large plant design. Al-
though the success of the Fort St. Vrain prototype cannot be fully assessed until after
several years of operation, in this discussion satisfactory performance of the Fort St.
Vrain plant has been assumed.
More recently, the 330-MWe Fort St. Vrain HTGR plant has been completed
Consequently, HTGR status in
Cost estimates for the R&D requirements for the development of a large commercial
HTGR on its reference HEU/Th cycle are shown in Table 5.1-2.
that R&D required relative to the Fort St. Vrain plant. As these tables indicate, the
majority of the R&D expenditures would be directed toward component R&D and component
design, specifically for the development of the PCRV (prestressed concrete reactor vessel),
steam generator, instrumentation and control, materials and methods, and the main helium
circulators and service systems. In addition, an estimated $30 million to $60 million
would be required for licensing and preparing a safety analysis report for the initial
power reactor demonstration program.
These estimates include only
The cost of a power reactor demonstration plant for the HTGR on its reference cycle
would be significantly higher than the Cost given earlier for an LWR on a DUTH cycle,
reflecting the increased cost and risk associated with deploying new concepts.
developing the potential reactor demonstration costs for the HTGR, we have assumed that
a substantial government subsidy (50%) would be required for the first unit. Since it
will be necessary to commit at least the second through fifth of a kind prior to the
successful operation of this initial demonstration unit if the postulated deployment
In