China has the world’s first such reactor. It is not afraid of any temperature.

Behind him are representatives of Tsinghua University, who describe the details of their achievements in these pages. GoalThe launch of this device is, in part, a response to the problems that the Japanese were experiencing. They suffered the failure of the Fukushima reactor as a result of the unfortunate earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The facility there suffered a cooling failure, which led to the reactor exploding and releasing radioactive materials into the environment.

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The Chinese intend to focus on passive cooling. One such solution was to create a high-temperature reactor with a pebble bed. In this design, the fuel rod is inverted and uses a large amount of graphite. It is the latter that “locks” the uranium. Consequently, the energy density of the fuel is lower, which provides at least two distinct advantages. The fission reaction is slower, and in addition, heat dissipation can cover a larger surface area, which facilitates the cooling process.

The ambitious plans of the Middle Kingdom scientists were partially realized. Construction began in 2016, with the aim of conducting reactor tests in 2017. Reality showed that such measures became possible only in December of last year. Fortunately, in other aspects, the project was much better. The purpose of the tests was to show whether it was possible to cool the two units without an external power source. Therefore, they were turned off while members of the research team monitored the temperature changes occurring in the reactor.

The nuclear reactor designed by Chinese scientists is capable of cooling itself reliably. The high efficiency in this area greatly increases its safety.

The effects, in short, turned out to be very satisfactory. The cooling process went as planned, and after 35 hours of shutdown, the reactors reached a stable temperature. This is great news, although we also have some less positive news. The proposed solution will work very well in facilities that have not yet been built, but it cannot be implemented in those that are already operating. In other words, the technology will not be compatible with operating nuclear reactors.

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However, the news coming from Asia should be positive. First and foremost, it makes us believe that nuclear power does not have to be doomed to failure. In an era of abandoning fossil fuels and switching to renewable energy sources – which are not without their drawbacks – the energy generated by such reactors could be the ideal security for the global energy industry. In the long term, they could be replaced by thermonuclear reactors, although in this case we are talking about a very distant future.