The Eco-Friendly, Green and Compact Nuclear Reactor

I have had this idea for several years, and now realize that I have neither energy, time nor money for the Patent Cooperation Treaty application that is a must to patent this idea. I have chosen to disclose the invention right here and at this moment, to at least have some claim to the priority date of the invention. 

The System is a portable and compact turbo reactor power generating system comprises an integral turbo reactor - steam turbine coaxial assembly (the turbo reactor and the turbine in the drawing), charged with deuterium oxide containing coolant, and a conventional electrical generator detachably connected to the turbine of the turbo reactor assembly by a conventional direct or geared drive.

Simplifying the reactor design eliminates the need for separate and oversize reactor, a steam turbine, a primary and secondary steam pipework, multitude of pumps, control systems, and extensive cooling systems, complicated connections, and emergency power supply. The turbo reactor design allows for a highly efficient and safe energy output while occupying a minimal space and being very easy to manufacture and assemble, and transport.

The turbo reactor assembly can be easily miniaturized to dimensions that allow the reactor assembly to be easily transported by railroad, quickly connected to the electrical generator, all the while capable of producing the same amount of electrical energy as a reactor unit of standard water-cooled nuclear reactor power plant.

The important advantage of the system is that the rod control supplemented by the use of the deuterium oxide guarantees an assured safe shutdown without the need for any emergency power supply. The fuel used in the rods also offers a security advantage by precluding its potential enrichment for manufacturing nuclear weapons.

The Turbo Reactor

The turbo reactor part of the assembly is an equivalent of a conventional compressor turbine, except the heating of the coolant directly and immediately drives the turbine, and contains fuel rods. The rods are designed to protrude into the turbo reactor compression cavity through fluid-tight openings that also ensure the rods sliding inwardly-outwardly along their axes.

The rods, when inserted into the reactor section to an optimal depth, heat the coolant, which could be deuterium oxide containing fluid, vaporizing it and causing it under pressure that would act on the turbine rotors, thereby producing rotation energy to be transmitted directly to the electrical generator. The resultant heating is self-sustained, is easily controlled by the the insertion depth of the rods, or a valve, and requires no pumping.

The rods are similar in physical or nucleo-chemical design to the rods used in fuel clusters of the Canadian Deuterium (CANDU) reactors. The reactor containment vessel can be substantially similar to a casing of a conventional steam turbine, preferable manufactured of high-tensile metal.

The Rods

The rods are designed and engineered to be of optimal physical dimensions, of nuclear material and concentration thereof so as to ensure nearly critical reaction that results in production of heat, and when required, quickly stops the production of heat when moderated with the deuterium oxide containing coolant. It is envisioned that the rod dimensions could be of 1-6 cm in diameter, and 10-100 cm length.

The shape of a rod and the geometrical arrangement of the rods within the turbo-reactor are also optimized to produce prompt heat emission control. It is understood that there are variety of possibilities for the arrangement of the rods within the turboreactor cavity. The arrangement includes planarly radial, or angular with respect to the turbo reactor axis, planarly overlapping, and other three-dimensional variations thereof.

Additionally, the advantage of easy, on demand withdrawal of the rods from the turboreactor cavity, enables the rods to be inserted into a separate device, or devices, which is designed to function as a radioisotope thermoelectric generator with the rods inserted into this assembly.

The Control

The heat emission control is achieved by selective insertion or withdrawal of the rods, or only of a selected group of the rods, or by rotating a group of the rods with respect to their longitudinal axes.

The electrical energy production can also be modulated by the conventional means of controlling the pitch of the steam turbine blades, or by controlling the reduction of the generator drive ratio.