Nuclear Technology / Volume 209 / Number 1S / January 2023 / Pages S73-S91
Technical Paper / dx.doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1997540
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The eBlock37 is a subscale electrically heated and heat-pipe-cooled prototype of a fast spectrum microreactor that is under development at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The prototype consists of an electrically heated core and gas-cooled heat exchanger. These subassemblies, both built from 316 L stainless steel, are thermally linked by an array of 37 sodium heat pipes that transfer a nominal 100 kW from the core at 700°C. An overarching objective of this effort is to overcome challenges associated with core block and heat exchanger manufacture and integration of high-temperature heat pipes into the assembly. Components that would be safety critical in an actual reactor, such as the heat pipe wicks, are being built under a Nuclear Quality Assurance 1 quality program. The completed assembly is intended for non-nuclear electrically heated testing, which will be conducted at a demonstration facility at Idaho National Laboratory. This paper provides a top-level summary of the efforts to date.