Preliminary Design of an LMFR Power Plant

A study group comprising personnel from seventeen industrial organizations and working at Brookhaven National Laboratory has evaluated the Liquid Metal Fuel Reactor (LMFR) concept, and has prepared a preliminary design of a large central station power plant feasible for construction in the near future. This paper presents the important characteristics of that design, together with discussions of the economics and of the remaining research and development work required. The plant utilizes a 550 Mw reactor with a circulating fuel solution of U²³³ dissolved in bismuth and a breeder fluid of thorium bismuthide dispersed in bismuth. Two-thousand (2000) psig, 975°F steam is delivered to a turbo-generator plant, producing 226,000 kw of net electrical power. Power costs, based on both single plants and multiple units utilizing common chemical processing facilities, range from 6.5 to 8.5 mils/kw-hr.