Brief Description of Reactor Design: STAR-H2

STAR-H2 is a variant of the Secure Transportable Autonomous Reactor - Liquid Metal (STAR-LM) which has been adapted for operation within a hydrogen economy.

The concept of a hydrogen economy is that hydrogen replace fossil fuels whenever practicable as an ecologically preferable alternative, since there are no greenhouse gases generated as it burns. Hydrogen is storable and couples to modern energy converter such gas turbines and fuel cells and it can be created by nuclear or solar powered conversion units, which also do not release greenhouse gases.

In this conceived application the basic STAR-LM unit is modified to heat helium or another heat transport gas to a high temperature which can be used in a water cracking cycle, thus producing hydrogen for power production and oxygen for industrial uses. The "waste" heat from this process can be applied as process heat for industry, district heating or desalination purposes.

The STAR-H2 program is a NERI-00 project and has multiple participants, Argonne, Texas A&M University, General Electric and international collaborators. The project also maximizes the use of the nuclear heat produced compared to a more conventional steam turbine generation cycle by adding a topping cycle (for Hydrogen generation) and a bottoming cycle (for desalination or industrial processes).

[Source: Argonne National Laboratory, "Small Modular Reactors", August 30, 2001]