HTR-10 is a 10 MWt prototype high-temperature gas-cooled, pebble-bed reactor at Tsinghua University in China. Construction began in 1995, achieving its first criticality in December 2000, and was operated in full power condition in January 2003.[1]
HTR-10 | |
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![]() Control room of HTR-10 reactor | |
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Country | People's Republic of China |
Location | |
Coordinates | 40°15′26″N 116°08′59″E / 40.257169°N 116.149758°E |
Status | Operational |
Construction began | 1995 |
Commission date | January 2003 |
Owner(s) | Tsinghua University |
Nuclear power station | |
Reactor type | pebble-bed reactor HTGR |
Cooling source | |
Power generation | |
Units operational | 10 MW |
Two HTR-PM reactors, scaled up versions of the HTR-10 with 250-MWt capacity, were installed at the Shidao Bay Nuclear Power Plant near the city of Rongcheng in Shandong Province and achieved first criticality in September 2021.
HTR-10 is modeled after the German HTR-MODUL. Like the HTR-MODUL, HTR-10 is claimed to be fundamentally safer,[2] potentially cheaper and more efficient than other nuclear reactor designs.[citation needed] Outlet temperature ranges between 700 and 750 °C (1,300–1,375 °F).[3][4]
HTR-10 is a pebble-bed high-temperature gas reactor utilizing spherical fuel elements with ceramic coated fuel particles. The reactor core has a diameter of 1.8 m, a mean height of 1.97 m and the volume of 5.0 m³, and is surrounded by graphite reflectors. The core is composed of 27,000 fuel elements. The fuel elements use low enriched uranium with a design mean burn up of 80,000 MWd/t. The pressure of the primary helium coolant circuit is 3.0 Mpa.[3]